Why was Josh Heupel fired at Oklahoma? Explaining Tennessee coach’s exit at alma mater
Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel returns to his alma mater on Saturday when the Vols face Oklahoma in their SEC opener, but it isn’t all good memories for the former Heisman Trophy runner-up.
Despite leading the Sooners to their most recent national championship win in 2000, and finishing runner-up to Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke for the Heisman, Heupel was fired as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator after the 2014 season despite spending time with the program for over 10 years as an assistant until point.
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Heupel resurrected his career after his firing, serving as the offensive coordinator at Utah State in 2015 before spending time at Missouri from 2016-17. He was then named the head coach at UCF from 2018-20 before taking the Tennessee job in 2021
Heupel, of course, has been successful at Tennessee, leading the program to an 11-2 finish in his second season in 2022, leading the Vols to an Orange Bowl win over Clemson and a road win over Alabama during the regular season.
Here’s an explanation of why Heupel was fired at his alma mater after the 2014 season:
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Why was Josh Heupel fired?
There are plenty of potential reasons as to why Heupel was fired after the 2014 season, but the root of the issue stems from Oklahoma’s struggles in 2014, a year the Sooners finished 8-5, which was the program’s worst finish since Stoops, inaugural season in 1999.
Oklahoma finished the year with a 40-6 beatdown against Clemson, whose third-year defensive coordinator Brent Venables formerly ran Stoops’ defense at OU for over a decade. The offense struggled against Venables’ squad, gaining only 275 yards with five turnovers in the loss.
Obviously, the defense wasn’t much better under Mike Stoops, Stoops’ brother, who was retained by the staff following the 2014 season.
Heupel, along with co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell, was not, however.
Some have suggested Heupel, who was the play caller, served as the scapegoat for the disappointing season. Others have said Stoops would never fire his brother, who struggled to form a solid defense for multiple seasons at Oklahoma but wasn’t let go until 2018, when Lincoln Riley took over the head coaching job for Stoops.
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