Kirk Herbstreit heaps praise on Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Josh Heupel and Tennessee are going bowling. The Volunteers got their sixth win last week to become bowl eligible, and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit is most impressed with their turnaround this season.

After going 3-7 under Jeremy Pruitt last year, Heupel came in from UCF and turned things around in Knoxville. Some important pieces transferred and Tennessee was picked to finish fifth out of seven teams in the SEC East.

Now, the Volunteers are 6-5 — and Herbstreit talked about the job Heupel has done in year one at the helm.

“Raise your hand. How many people had Josh Heupel getting to six, more likely seven wins, and going to a bowl game in his first year?” Herbstreit said on the ESPN College Football Podcast on Monday. “After everything, the transfer portal, it was a one-way street out of Knoxville, and this dude goes in there with a new AD in Danny White out of UCF and these boys, they’re creating a little bit of buzz, man. With that offense, Hendon Hooker, scoring on a lot of people, including Alabama, they’ve become a fun team to watch and they’re going to recruit very well.

“Tennessee is a stock that’s … going up. You’re going to want to buy that stock. Good for ‘Heup’ getting his team to a bowl game, as well.”

The Volunteers are getting ready to close out the regular season this week against Vanderbilt, which hasn’t won an SEC game this season. Kickoff for that game is coming up Saturday at 3:45 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.

Josh Heupel shares what bowl eligibility means in first year at Tennessee

Last year under Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee went 3-7. This season, Josh Heupel has the Volunteers in a bowl game in year one of his tenure.

Tennessee is 6-5 this year, securing a bowl appearance for the first time since 2019. In his weekly press conference last week, Heupel was asked about what making a bowl game would mean for the program in his first season at the helm.

“It’s big because it shows progress in year one over the course of the season, but then the practices on the back end of it [are] instrumental,” Heupel told reporters on Monday. “Continuing to develop your young guys. You get another few weeks with them, strength and conditioning in the weight room, too. All those things are huge as you push your program forward.”