“The results over Josh’s first two seasons speak for themselves,” White said. “He and his staff have energized both our football program and our fanbase with an aggressive brand of football, a competitive culture that creates leaders and a relentless approach to raising the bar every single day. Despite a brief period of dormancy, Tennessee never surrendered its status as a college football powerhouse. We just needed an innovative leader like Josh Heupel to reignite the spark. It’s been fun to crash the party, but as Josh said after our Orange Bowl triumph, the best is yet to come.”
In two seasons, Heupel’s remarkable revival of the Volunteers has seen him produce an 18-8 overall record, seven victories over Top 25 teams at the time of meeting, the program’s first New Year’s Six berth in the College Football Playoff era and a No. 6 final ranking. The seven ranked wins are third nationally among FBS head coaches during that span. UT was 3-7 a season prior to Heupel’s arrival.
“I am grateful to President Boyd, Chancellor Plowman, Danny White and of Vol Nation for their tremendous support,” Heupel said. “Our staff takes great pride in representing the Power T, and it’s something we never take for granted. We will continue to work tirelessly to build a championship program that all of Vol Nation and all VFLs can be proud of.
“Most importantly, our players are the people who deserve all of the credit for our resurgence on Rocky Top. Over the last two years, they believed in us and poured their energy into every single day with hard work, leadership, cohesiveness and consistent habits. I am proud to be their coach.”
In both seasons under Heupel, Tennessee has surpassed its SEC preseason projected order of finish. Heupel’s Vols entered the 2022 campaign unranked but ascended to No. 1 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings after a rapid 8-0 start, giving UT its first top poll position since the 1998 national championship season. Heupel joined College Football Hall of Famers Phillip Fulmer (1998), General Robert Neyland (1939, ’51) and Bowden Wyatt (1956) to lead a Tennessee team to a No. 1 ranking.
Heupel became…
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