Josh Heupel says NCAA investigation led to negative recruiting by Tennessee rivals

After leaving UCF, Josh Heupel walked into a rough situation when he took the job at Tennessee. The program was coming off the firing of Jeremy Pruitt in light of 18 NCAA violations — an investigation that ended Friday, more than two years after Heupel accepted the job.

It hasn’t been easy for the program in the time since Pruitt’s dismissal. As it turns out, it made things tougher for Heupel on the recruiting trail as he tried to rebuild the program.

He opened up about that on The Paul Finebaum Show on Friday.

“Our players, because they are with you every day, have a lot of trust in what you are doing in leading that program and what you’re going to try and get accomplished for them,” Heupel told Peter Burns. “I think the hardest thing for our entire staff was in recruiting because it had nothing to do with us who are currently there. People tried to use it against us in recruiting, negatively. We had to develop great trust with the recruits and their families.

“You talk about the culture you are building, and you talk about what happened and what you think the end result will be with the NCAA. Today’s work gives us the ability to put it behind us. It’s out in the open and it’s finalized. They can all realize that they have an opportunity to go and play for championships.”

Heupel officially took over in January 2021, meaning he’s had two full recruiting cycles since arriving on Rocky Top. Tennessee brought in the No. 15-ranked recruiting class from the 2022 cycle and has the No. 12 class coming in from 2023, according to the On3 Industry Team Recruiting Ranking. The Volunteers currently hold the No. 14-ranked group from the 2024 cycle.

The transfer portal also served as a key resource for Heupel and the Vols. Hendon Hooker was a key part of the turnaround over the last two years, helping take the program from a 5-7 record in Heupel’s first season to an 11-2 mark in 2022. Now, another transfer quarterback — Joe Milton — will take the reins as the starter now that Hooker is off to the NFL.

But now, the investigation into Tennessee is over. The Volunteers avoided a bowl ban, but still received an $8 million fine and Pruitt received a six-year show-cause, the NCAA announced Friday. Heupel addressed the decision not to ban the program from bowl games, and that added to his excitement about the decision.

“You don’t know until today what it’s actually going to be,” Heupel told ESPN. “It’s hugely important that our players were protected and the future players were protected as well. I’m really excited about the outcome.”