Coaches constantly preach about taking things a game at a time and never looking ahead on the schedule. But Josh Heupel’s former teammates and friends at Oklahoma were already looking ahead to this weekend’s top 15 showdown between the Vols and Sooners last week.
“It will be unique. I have teammates and friends back there,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said of his upcoming return to his alma mater on Monday. “They hit me up a little bit early. They were starting last week already.”
Tennessee’s trip to Oklahoma marks Josh Heupel’s first football trip to his alma mater in a decade after Bob Stoops fired him as his offensive coordinator following the 2014 season. Ironically, the Vols played at Oklahoma that season and suffered a 34-10 defeat.
Heupel’s spent the bulk of his football life at Oklahoma, spending two seasons as the Sooners’ starting quarterback where he helped lead Oklahoma to the 2000 National Championship and finished runner up for the Heisman Trophy.
Tennessee’s fourth-year head coach began his coaching career at Oklahoma and spent 10 total years on Bob Stoops staff.
“It will be unique going back into that stadium,” Heupel said. “It’s going to be a (different) viewpoint. I am not sure I spent a day on the opposing sideline inside the stadium — not even for scrimmage. It will be different. But it is one that I am really looking forward to. There are so many people have been a huge part of my journey that I get a chance to go back and, hopefully, get a chance to say hi to a bunch of them. It starts with teammates. It’s coaches that I had. It’s a lot of coaches that I coached with. There’s lot of personnel that are still there. Guys that I coached. Guy that was in my wedding. There’s a lot of people back there that I’m familiar with and have a lot of respect for.”
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Much has been made about Heupel’s apparently frosty relationship with Oklahoma after Stoops fired him as offensive coordinator. Stoops has talked little about Heupel the coach in recent years or in recent weeks leading up to the matchup.
But Heupel didn’t take any clear or subtle shots at his former coach Monday. Instead, Tennessee’s head coach just talked about how integral his time at Oklahoma was to making him the coach that he is today.
“I am good with any question about Oklahoma,” Heupel said. “The opportunity that I got from Bob (Stoops) and from Mike (Leach) to come there and play, what we were able to build there in a short amount of time as a player. But then my coaching career, from the guys that I played for to all the coaches that were there during my career, all made a huge impact on me. I wouldn’t be here today at Tennessee if I didn’t have all those experiences. Tremendously grateful for all those people.”
Heupel won’t face Stoops on the sideline this week, though he is 3-0 against Bob’s brother Mark during his time at Tennessee. However, Heupel will face his former co-worker and Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables on the opposite sideline this Saturday.
The two head coaches were both assistant coaches at Oklahoma for seven years under Stoops and Heupel credits Venables for helping him grow as a young coach.
“A guy that I got so much respect for,” Heupel said of Venables. “Got a great family. Somebody that poured into me as a young coach and learn so much from him. He’s as good as they come when you look at what he’s done historically as a defensive coordinator. A lot of respect. Huge challenge for us this week.”
Kickoff between Tennessee and Oklahoma is at 7:30 p.m. ET at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday night. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
