New Tennessee athletic director Danny White didn’t have to go far to get his football coach.
Sources told ESPN that White is hiring Josh Heupel of UCF as the next Vols coach. White also hired Heupel when White was UCF’s athletic director. Tennessee called a team meeting at 8:30 am on Wednesday.
White, announced last Thursday as Tennessee’s new AD, has been working quickly to find a replacement for Jeremy Pruitt, who was fired for just cause on Jan. 18 after an investigation into what the university chancellor Donde Plowman called “serious violations of NCAA rules”. White launched a broad network through the Parker Search Firm and reached and / or interviewed several candidates, including James Franklin of Penn State, Luke Fickell of Cincinnati, Sonny Dykes of SMU, PJ Fleck of Minnesota and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott of Clemson, among others.
Sources told ESPN that Elliott has had serious discussions about the job in recent days, but turned down Tennessee’s proposals and decided to stay in Clemson.
Heupel, 42, has been UCF’s head coach for the past three seasons after taking over from Scott Frost, who led UCF to a 13-0 unbeaten run in 2017. Heupel is 28-8 with the Knights, including a record 12-1 in their first season in 2018. They finished 6-4 last season. Heupel owed UCF a $ 3.4 million acquisition under the terms of his contract.
UCF is ranked in the national top 8 in offensive scoring in all three seasons in Orlando and averaged at least 42.2 points per game in the three seasons.
A runner-up to the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback for the Oklahoma national championship team in 2000, Heupel has experience as a SEC coach. He was the offensive coordinator / coach of Missouri quarterbacks in 2016-17 before securing the position of head coach of UCF. Heupel was also the co-offensive coordinator / coach of defenders under Bob Stoops in Oklahoma for four seasons, but was fired after the 2014 season, when the Sooners went 8-5.
Heupel would be the sixth different coach from the Vols, returning to Phillip Fulmer, who was fired at the end of the 2008 season.