SEC media days: Josh Heupel didn't leave OU the way he wanted, but he's excited to return with Tennessee
Sooners open SEC play with Vols.
Coverage of SEC football media days brought to you by Fowler Auto and Scott at Trademark Exteriors Restoration.
DALLAS — A smile kept creeping across Josh Heupel's face whenever another familiar face popped up inside the big ballroom at SEC football media days.
Or rather, another old familiar face.
No doubt the Tennessee coach recognized lots of media types from the Volunteer State. He's been on Rocky Top for three seasons, after all. But seeing folks from the Sooner State, those of us from his more distant past, seemed to give him a charge.
"I thought I would only get one Oklahoma question," he said with another smile.
Had Vegas set that line, I'd have bet the house on the over.
Heupel's old school has come to his new school's conference. The program he quarterbacked to its last national championship will make its SEC debut this season by hosting the program he now hopes to lead to glory.
Tennessee at OU.
September 21.
"It'll be unique to be on the other side of the sidelines," Heupel said. "Obviously, there's been a lot of Saturdays where I was on the home sideline. ... Got a lot of friends that are coaching on the opposing sideline, former teammates that will be coaching on that opposing sideline, too.
"So it'll be unique to be back there, but excited to be there."
The way Heupel talked — the cadence of his words, the look on his face — you knew he was being sincere.
He genuinely is excited to return to Norman for a game, something he said he hasn't done since he was fired in January 2015 after nine seasons as a Sooner assistant, the last four as offensive coordinator.
Those inside the program said feelings between Heupel and his alma mater were raw for years after that. Heupel, it was said, was particularly prickly with Bob Stoops, who, for his part, wrote in his memoir that firing Heupel was his worst day as OU head coach.
Time has softened the barbs; the two apparently crossed paths at a function in recent years and exchanged pleasantries.
Probably doesn't hurt that things have worked out smashingly for Heupel since his dismissal. Stints at Utah State and Missouri as offensive coordinator ultimately led to the head coaching job at UCF.
After three wildly successful seasons in Orlando, Tennessee came calling.
"No surprise, as a coach's son, the level of success that he has had as a coach," OU coach Brent Venables said. "I've stayed in touch with him pretty much every step of the way through this process."
Venables and Heupel, after all, first arrived in Norman at the same time. Venables was hired as co-defensive coordinator on Stoops' first staff, and soon after, offensive coordinator Mike Leach brought in Heupel, a little-known quarterback from Snow Junior College in Utah.
Heupel became arguably the most important player in the history of OU football — Jack Mildren is the only Sooner with a similarly strong case — as Heupel was the catalyst that took the program from dormant to dominant.
"I have this deep appreciation for Josh, certainly first and foremost as a player," Venables said. "To experience my first national championship as a coach, I've always looked back and said, 'Man, we couldn't have done it without Heup.'
"His leadership, what he was able to do from a transformation standpoint to our locker room, the guts and the toughness that he played through that 2000 season ... I've always held him up here on this pedestal when it comes from a player's standpoint."
The admiration is mutual.
"As a player, I thought he was one of the cornerstone pieces on the staff," Heupel said of Venables, "and that's from a player's perspective of helping us get to where we got. His consistency, his competitive drive were things that you noticed as a player.
"I've got great respect for Brent."
The two were also OU assistants together for six years before Venables moved to Clemson. That forged a tighter bond between the two men that extended their families.
Venables and Heupel remain close friends.
"Not gonna like him as much when I'm coaching against him," Heupel deadpanned.
Then, he smiled again.
I'm not sure if Venables and his bosses at OU have talked about what they might do to honor Heupel when Tennessee comes to Norman. A short pregame video? A quick acknowledgment of his importance in Sooner history?
No doubt OU fans will add a loud ovation regardless.
"It’ll be a great moment," Venables said. "I know the fans will show their appreciation for him."
Then, Venables had his own deadpan.
"At least pregame."
I suspect a pregame tip-of-the-cap would mean something to Heupel, too. Sure, he acts like a no-nonsense, hard-charging football coach, but a quarter of a century ago, I sat in his family's home in Aberdeen, South Dakota, sent there to do a story on the Sooner signal caller. He told me he loved football for lots of reasons, but he said one thing tugged at his heartstrings.
"The thing I most enjoy is people coming from completely different backgrounds," Heupel told me back then. "And you're all basically becoming brothers. Rich, poor, whatever. Black, white, doesn't matter."
For Heupel, football means belonging, and even though he didn't leave Norman the way he'd hoped, he is belongs in the Sooner family.
I asked him Tuesday if his feelings about OU had evolved since he was let go. But Heupel insisted his feelings hadn't changed to get to where they are today; they were always positive.
"Got a great respect and admiration for the university and the leadership that's been there," he said. "Man, unique time going there as a player and what we were able to accomplish. Great teammates. Great coaches. A lot of friends. I've always had great admiration for the people inside that state."
Many of those people are now on this current Sooner staff. In addition to Venables, Heupel played at OU alongside offensive coordinator Seth Littrell and SOUL Mission director Josh Norman, coached tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley and coached alongside offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh.
Maybe all of that has softened Heupel's view of his alma mater, making old familiar faces look good and leaving him excited for a return to Norman this season.
But maybe that appreciation never waned.
"For me," Heupel said, "I'm not at Tennessee if I wasn't at Oklahoma."
Nice article. We sure needed Heupel. Glad he has no hard feelings.