The Early Years

Born on May 22, 1978 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Joshua Heupel is a former college and NFL football player, who ventured into the world of professional coaching upon retirement in 2002.

Heupel’s father was a revered coach at Northern State University, so Joshua had a fascination with the game from a young age.

At high school he played for the Golden Eagles at Central High School in Aberdeen, where he was named player of the year as a senior.

Unlike other players, he didn’t remain at one college after high school. He initially attended Weber State University in Ogden, before transferring to Snow College in Utah.

Though offered a scholarship by Utah State University, he chose to play for the Sooners and instead attended the University of Oklahoma.

During his non-professional playing career, Heupel achieved multiple awards including nine accolades in 2000 alone. These include the Walter Camp Award in, Quarterback of the Year and Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Heupel was subsequently drafted into the NFL, with plans to play for the Miami Dolphins in 2001. However, due to injury he was unable to play for the season.

During the offseason in 2002, the Green Bay Packers signed Heupel but unfortunately he was discharged before the start of training camp.

Coaching History & Timeline

Although Heupel had shown great promise to become an excellent professional player, multiple injuries prevented him from fulfilling his potential.

Instead, he chose to put his talents and abilities to use in the coaching arena, beginning as a graduate assistant coach for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2004.

After this initial season, he became the Tight ends coach at the University of Arizona for the 2005 season before spending the next nine years back at Oklahoma University.

Heupel spent half a decade as the Quarterbacks coach for the Sooners, before adding Co-offensive coordinator to his job description for the next four years.

In 2015, Utah State hired him in multiple roles, mainly as assistant head coach but also as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

He then spent the next two seasons at the University of Missouri as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before taking on his first role as Head Coach at the University of Central Florida.

He had an excellent record at UCF, going 28-8 during his two years as Head Coach.

In 2021, Heupel was hired as Head Coach for the Volunteers at the University of Tennessee. He lead the Volunteers to a 38-6 victory against Bowling Green State University in the season opener, and overall the Volunteers went 7-6 for the season.

There were some incredible wins, including a shutout against Tennessee Tech with the Volunteers going 56-0 and a victory against Vanderbilt University going 45-21.

It was apparent that Heupel was just getting warmed up, as the 2022 season was another winning one for the Volunteers, going 11-2. He was able to lead the Volunteers to eight straight victories before they lost their first match of the season to the University of Georgia on November 5, 2022.

Whilst there was another loss, to the University of South Carolina, the Volunteers finished the season strong, including an incredible shutout against Vanderbilt in the penultimate match of the season, going 56-0.

Present Day

Heupel continues to hold the position of Head Coach at the University of Tennessee, and has started the current season strong with a record of 3-1 so far.

Notable Awards

AAC Championship (2018)

AAC East Division (2018)

FWAA First Year Coach of the Year 2018

FWAA First Year Coach of the Year 2021

SEC Coach of the Year 2022