Josh Heupel

Josh Heupel

Joshua Kenneth Heupel (born March 22, 1978) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Tennessee. Heupel was the architect of a unit that ranked in the FBS top 10 in points per game in each of his three seasons as UCF Head Coach—eighth in 2020 (42.2), fifth in 2019 (43.4) and sixth in 2018 (43.2). The Knights also ranked in the top five in the FBS in total offense per game in each of those three seasons—second in 2020 (568.1), second in 2019 (540.5) and fourth in 2018 (522.7). Heupel played college football as quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. During his college playing career, he was recognized as a consensus All-American, won numerous awards, and led Oklahoma to the 2000 BCS National Championship. After two years unsuccessfully trying to make an NFL roster (featuring brief stints with the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers), Heupel became a coach. He served as co-offensive coordinator for Oklahoma until January 6, 2015, when he was let go in a restructuring of the program despite having four successful seasons. He was named the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach for the Utah State University (USU) Aggies on January 23, 2015. After one season at USU, he was hired on Barry Odom's staff at the University of Missouri, where he was the offensive coordinator before being hired for his first head coaching position at UCF. On December 2017, Heupel was named the UCF Head Football Coach, following the resignation of Scott Frost, who left for the head coaching job at his alma mater Nebraska. On January 27, 2021, Heupel was named the 27th head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers football team, after former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt was fired due to NCAA violations. Heupel offenses frequently rank in the top ten nationally in total offense.

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