Central Florida coach Josh Heupel is finalizing a deal to become Tennessee’s next coach, sources told Yahoo Sports. A deal is expected to be announced on Wednesday.
Tennessee’s move to hire Heupel will bring him together with his former athletic director, Danny White, who became AD in Knoxville less than a week ago.
The decision culminates in a frantic week for White, who came from UCF last week and decided to bring his former trainer with him after an extensive search. Other names that were associated with the Tennessee search included James Franklin of Penn State, Clemson’s offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and Lance Leipold of Buffalo.
Heupel is expected to earn around $ 4 million annually, which will leave him a large salary reserve for a renowned defensive coordinator and a team that can recruit the SEC’s footprint. Tennessee’s search faced significant headwinds as the athletic department is in a financial crisis, the program is under NCAA investigation and White was tasked with explaining to candidates that he was unable to quantify how serious the inevitable NCAA sanctions would be. .
Heupel brings a 28-8 record in three seasons as a head coach, SEC experience from his time in Missouri and a decade as a coach in Oklahoma, which included four seasons as a co-offensive coordinator. Along the way, he developed a reputation for high-scoring offenses and defender development, two things he has virtually lost in the past two decades in Tennessee.
Heupel recruited the future choice of first shift Jordan Love for the state of Utah, which was Love’s only scholarship offer. He also played a key role in the development of Drew Lock from Missouri, McKenzie Milton and Dillon Gabriel from UCF and trained Sam Bradford from Oklahoma during his Heisman Trophy season.
Heupel’s identity at UCF is a time-based spreading attack that scores in groups. UCF finished in the top six nationwide in offensive scoring in its first two seasons at UCF, averaging 43.2 points per game in a 2018 season that is remembered for an undefeated regular season and an offer in the Fiesta Bowl. UCF finished fifth in the offensive score in 2019, averaging 43.4 points per game on the way to a 10-3 season.
Heupel’s purchase is almost $ 3.45 million, which is 50% of his remaining guaranteed contract. Considering that Tennessee paid an estimated purchase of $ 2.5 million for the purchase of White, this means that UCF will have nearly $ 6 million through these transactions to help with AD and bus searches.
Josh Heupel was an All-American quarterback in Oklahoma who led the Sooners to a national title and finished second in the vote for the Heisman Trophy. He finished behind current Tennessee quarterback coach Chris Weinke and ahead of former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees.
Heupel is the son of a South Dakota coach and started his university career at Weber State before going to college and then Oklahoma, where he played for coach Bob Stoops.
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