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HOOVER, Alabama – Following Tennessee’s worst football season in nearly a century, first-year coach Josh Heupel intends to turn things around quickly.
First of all, he will modernize the archaic and uncontrollable offensive that Jeremy Pruitt’s teams have trotted. He will replace him with a quick schedule and a proven track record of prolific infractions and quarterback development.
In his first media days with the SEC on Tuesday, Heupel painted a vivid picture of what he hopes Flights can look like following last year’s debacle 3-7: electric, physical and, possibly, an offense that can lead the SEC.
“We want to play fast with the beat, “said Heupel,” but as a whole football program we want to play fast and be physical. “
How fast can Tennessee take off? Well, the biggest variable transcends the roster, recruiting, and program. The specter of a major NCAA investigation hangs over the Tennessee program, as the Vols self-declared major violations that ultimately ended the terms of Pruitt and athletic director Phil Fulmer.
The school chancellor has publicly stated that the investigation involved multiple Level I and II violations, and by firing Pruitt for just cause the school will try not to pay Pruitt’s buyout of nearly $ 12 million. dollars. The school is betting that the self-report will bring financial relief and help them in the often obscure NCAA process.
Heupel told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday that he was optimistic the school should know the severity of the penalties by the end of the year. He said there was hope that Tennessee’s cooperation with the investigation would help achieve an early resolution.
“What’s unique about the way Tennessee approached this is that it was found by Tennessee, [and we] brought in the NCAA and our law firm at the same time, ”Heupel said. “He has the ability to speed up and change what a normal NCAA process looks like. It is certainly the hope, and it is the feeling that I have.
When it comes to timelines, the old NCAA joke remains that the only reliable and predictable thing about NCAA investigations is that they will move slowly. But Heupel seemed optimistic. Tennessee should have clarity by the end of the year.
“It would be ideal,” Heupel said. “I would say the hope is that we know. I believe right now, if I guessed, this is where I think we would land.
“It’s a different landscape in terms of the way it’s been treated. Our university found it. Our university used the NCAA and a law firm at the same time. This is a unique situation compared to what usually happens.
Heupel said staff in Tennessee have been transparent with recruits and the school hopes to sign a full recruiting class this winter.
“We’ve positioned ourselves in a way that I think these things are going to be managed and supported here in this first year,” Heupel said.
When Heupel spoke to Tennessee athletic director Danny White about the job, he almost immediately asked about the NCAA’s issues. In Heupel’s contract, there is a clause that automatically extends his contract by one year if Tennessee is taken away eight or more scholarships or a playoff ban of two or more years.
Heupel painted a clear vision for what Tennessee football could look like on Tuesday. He pointed out that the last three national title winners – Clemson (527.2), LSU (568.4) and Alabama (541.6) – have all averaged over 525 yards per game. He pointed out that in Missouri he inherited a unit that finished 124th in all-out attack and turned it into the No. 13 unit in the country that led the SEC on attack. At UCF, Heupel’s attacks finished in the top five of three seasons – the only team in the country to do so.
The prize list is apparently here to take off. The vision is defined, the pattern is tested. But until the notoriously slow NCAA process moves forward, uncertainty will linger in Knoxville.
“Everything we do is focused on the future, isn’t it? Heupel said. “But the past impacts us.”
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