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Why Josh Heupel was fired as Oklahoma football scapegoat before thriving at Tennessee
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- Why Josh Heupel was fired as Oklahoma football scapegoat before thriving at Tennessee
Almost a decade ago, Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops said offensive coordinator Josh Heupel wasn't the scapegoat for arguably the worst season of his Sooners tenure.
But Stoops said that during a 44-minute press conference on Jan. 6, 2015, three days after firing Heupel and retaining his own brother , defensive coordinator Mike Stoops.
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The reasons to fire Heupel weren't entirely defensible.
Heupel had been Stoops' national champion quarterback. He had mentored two Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks. He had a top-20 scoring offense that 2014 season despite being hamstrung by Stoops.
And Heupel had outcoached Nick Saban for Oklahoma's memorable Sugar Bowl win over two-time defending national champion Alabama a year before Stoops fired him.
So you can see why Heupel may have left Oklahoma with hard feelings.
Heupel, now Tennessee 's coach, will return to Norman when the No. 7 Vols (3-0) play No. 13 Oklahoma (3-0) on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
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Tennessee fans will be rooting for Heupel to get revenge or redemption, but most don't really know the details of his departure from Oklahoma. They're just happy it led him to Knoxville.
The relationship between Heupel and Stoops, reportedly, has been icy since 2015, but it's thawed somewhat in recent years.
Publicly, all sides have made peace.
On Sunday, Stoops wished Heupel well but then shut down interviews during game week. On Monday, Heupel thanked Stoops and Oklahoma for their impact on his career. And Oklahoma plans to recognize Heupel before Saturday's game.
And both sides rebounded from the break-up.
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Stoops replaced Heupel with Lincoln Riley, who produced Heisman winning quarterbacks and led Oklahoma into the top 10 as head coach before bolting to USC.
Heupel rebuilt his career and landed at Tennessee, where he's got a top-10 team for the second time in three seasons.But that doesn't erase the sting he felt from being discarded by Oklahoma.
Here's why Heupel was fired and why it felt unfair, then and now.
JOSH HEUPEL ON BOB STOOPS Coach's jokes ease Oklahoma tension before Tennessee vs Sooners
Bob Stoops wouldn't fire his brother
Oklahoma's offense and defense needed retooling after the 2014 season, but Bob Stoops opted for different solutions.
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On offense, Stoops fired Heupel and co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell. And he didn't offer Heupel, who developed Heisman winners Sam Bradford and Jason White , a chance to return to quarterbacks coach.
On defense, he elevated defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery to co-defensive coordinator but retained Mike Stoops in that role. He said that was because the defense would return experienced players the next season, so stability was needed.
Kansas City, MO. USA. Saturday, December 6, 2003: Big 12 Championship College Football Arrowhead Stadium, University of Oklahoma vs Kansas State University (KSU): OU coaches Brent Venables, Mike and Bob Stoops send signals to their defense. Staff photo by Steve Sisney.
"None of us did a good enough job, including Mike, including me, including everybody," Bob Stoops said in that 2015 press conference. "(Mike Stoops) is right there with every other guy."
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Heupel's offense ranked 20th in scoring in 2014, averaging 36.4 points per game. Mike Stoops' defense ranked 55th in scoring, allowing 25.4 points per game.
Heupel took blame for Bob Stoops' worst season
Oklahoma went 8-5 in 2014 for arguably the worst season of Bob Stoops' 18-year tenure. His teams finished ranked in the Top 25 in 13 of the previous 14 seasons, including nine times in the top 10.
Stoops said the dissappointing 2014 season was his fault instead of the coaches he fired.
"I take accountability, responsibility for all of it," Stoops said in 2015. "By no means does this mean that it's (Heupel's and Norvell's) responsibility in the way the season went. By no means are they scapegoats."
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Heupel's offense deserved some blame. It scored just two TDs in a 48-14 loss to Baylor. And it had only a fourth-quarter TD in a 40-6 loss to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
But Oklahoma also suffered three losses by four points or less, so it could've easily gone 11-2. And Heupel's offense wasn't solely to blame.
In a 31-30 loss to Kansas State, Oklahoma kicker Michael Hunnicutt missed a 19-yard field goal with 3:53 remaining that would've put the Sooners ahead. Earlier in that game, he missed another field goal and had a PAT kick blocked.
In a 38-35 loss to Oklahoma State, special teams again blew the game. OSU's Tyreek Hill returned a punt 92 yards for a TD with 45 seconds left to force overtime. And Hunnicutt missed a 44-yard field goal in overtime for Oklahoma to end it.
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Those were not Heupel's fault.
Oklahoma offensive co-coordinators Jay Norvell, left, and Josh Heupel, right, speak to the media during a press conference at the New Orleans Downtown Marriott at the Convention Center on Monday Dec. 30, 2013 in New Orleans, La. Alabama and Oklahoma will meet for the 2014 Sugar Bowl on Thursday Jan. 2, 2014. staff photo | Robert Sutton
Oklahoma quickly forgot Heupel beat Nick Saban
Stoops didn't like the direction of the offense, but there were signs that Heupel could fix it.
One year before Heupel was fired, his offense torched two-time defending national champion Alabama in a 45-31 win in the Sugar Bowl. Trevor Knight, his inexperienced freshman quarterback, passed for a then-Sugar Bowl record 32 completions for 348 yards and four TDs against Saban's defense.
Mike Stoops' defense forced five turnovers in that Sugar Bowl, but also gave up 516 yards of total offense.
Saban acknowledged that Heupel's offense was the difference: "We put over 500 yards of offense up. Somebody had to do something right."
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Before that disappointing 2014 season, Oklahoma went 31-8 in three seasons with Heupel as offensive coordinator. It won the Big 12 title in 2012 and finished No. 6 in the AP poll in 2013.
Heupel wasn't allowed to run his offense
Heupel and Stoops disagreed on the direction of the offense.
Heupel wanted to run up-tempo with wide formations to spread out defenses. It was the origins of what he now runs at Tennessee, but Stoops wanted something different.
"(I) got away from (the up-tempo offense) on the back end (of my Oklahoma tenure) because, philosophically, that's what the head coach wanted to do," Heupel explained on ESPN's "Always College Football" podcast in 2022.
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Stoops' instructions to Heupel seem confusing in retrospect.
In 2015, The Oklahoman reported that the Sooners were using a quarterback-run offense without actually running the quarterback. And that's because Stoops wanted Heupel to protect the quarterback at all cost, which inevitably would tighten formations.
They clearly weren't on the same page.
As a head coach, Heupel called the shots at UCF (2018-20) and since 2021 at Tennessee. He's had a top-10 scoring offense in six of the past seven seasons, including No. 1 in 2022 and 2024.
Obviously, he was on to something at Oklahoma, but he was prevented from innovating.
Sep 14, 2013; Norman, OK; Oklahoma Sooners offensive coordinator Josh Heupel before the game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Oklahoma won 51-20. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Stoops didn't believe in Heupel's passing game
Stoops was Florida 's defensive coordinator in the 1990s when Steve Spurrier ran his Fun 'n' Gun offense. He wanted his own passing attack at Oklahoma, but he didn't think Heupel could pull it off.
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"I always want to be able to throw the football. When we can run with it, it's a bonus," Stoops said in 2015 after firing Heupel. "We need to throw the football better and that's painfully obvious."
If Heupel had run the offense exactly how he wanted, Stoops may have gotten the air attack he craved.
Two years after he was fired, Heupel was given free rein of Missouri 's offense as coordinator. His quarterback, Drew Lock , broke the SEC single-season passing record with 3,964 yards in 2017.
His UCF quarterback, Dillon Gabriel , led the nation with 357 yards passing per game in 2020.
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His Tennessee quarterback, Hendon Hooker , ranked No. 2 in the nation in passer rating in 2022. And that squad broke almost every Vols' single-season team passing record.
Heupel flourished after Oklahoma, proving he was a better coach than the one Bob Stoops thought needed to be fired. And the Sooners moved on successfully, as well.
But don't expect Tennessee's coach to forget why he was discarded by his alma mater.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com . X, formerly known as Twitter @AdamSparks . Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe .
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Josh Heupel's time as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator ended with his firing, coming off one of Bob Stoops' worst seasons as head coach in 2014. While the icy relationship has been publicly mended, Heupel will still seek revenge Sept. 21 as he leads the Tennessee Volunteers against the Sooners in Norman.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel: Tennessee football coach was fired as Oklahoma scapegoat
