Josh Heupel has undoubtedly revived the Tennessee football program in his four-plus seasons as its head coach.

He once did it as a player, too.

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Heupel led Oklahoma to a national championship as a quarterback in 2000–the program’s last.

He was a Heisman finalist that year, his second with the Sooners after beginning his college career at Weber State and Snow College.

Those accolades landed Heupel on ESPN’s Top 30 college football head coaches as players where he was ranked No. 3 under coaches that played for Power 4 teams.

Only Colorado’s Dieon Sanders—a former All-American defensive back at Florida State and first-year Bowling Green coach Eddie George, who was a Heisman-winning running back at Ohio State in 1996–were ranked ahead of Heupel at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

“Heupel grew up in South Dakota and was the state's player of the year in high school,” ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg wrote. “But without a clear path to start for a major college program, he first went to Weber State, where he went through an ACL injury and appeared in only four games before transferring within the state to Snow College. Heupel earned junior college All-America honors there before transferring to Oklahoma. He immediately made his presence known in 1999 with 3,850 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. Heupel then led the Sooners to a national title in 2000, recording 3,606 passing yards and 20 touchdowns.

“He was named AP Player of the Year, won the Walter Camp Award and consensus All-America honors, and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. A sixth-round NFL draft pick in 2001, Heupel didn't see time in the pros.”

Oklahoma had 15-year national title drought before Heupel’s 2000 campaign.

The Sooners, went unbeaten, rolling through their regular season to a Big 12 title before beating Florida State, 13-2 in the Orange Bowl.

Heupel, who is 37-15 in four seasons with the Vols, brought quick success to Tennessee after a decade-long stretch of dormancy. He was hired away from Central Florida in 2021 and managed to win seven games despite a patch-work roster.

Tennessee won 11 games for the first time in more than 20 years in Heupel’s second season, beating Clemson in the Orange Bowl behind a record-breaking season for the Vols offense.

Tennessee won 10 games for the second time in three years and reached the College Football Playoff in Heupel’s fourth season in 2024

Heupel returned to Oklahoma during that run, the place where he played and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant and later as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.

The Vols won, 25-15 at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as part of a 4-0 start.

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