Steve Spurrier praises Josh Heupel, the job he's done at Tennessee

On the Thursday edition of the Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network, former South Carolina and Florida coach Steve Spurrier called in to break down some of the major topics across college football. One of the storylines Finebaum asked the legendary coach about was the rise of Tennessee under head coach Josh Heupel.

Of course, the Volunteers were a longtime rival of Spurrier’s, given that he spent extensive time at two other SEC East mainstays in Florida and South Carolina. So he’s had an up-close view of the program at its best and for a long while at its worst. He’s just impressed at how quickly the program was able to whip up a contender. He credits Heupel, that offense, and certainly that QB that are powering the Vols.

Here was what he shared on them on Finebaum:

“Well, I think they’re the best offense in the country right now. Josh Heupel’s Coach of the Year. [Hendon] Hooker’s the leading Heisman candidate. Yeah, I admire what they’ve done up there. They throw it around maybe better than anybody in the country right now. So if that continues, I think they got a chance for that real big season.”

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Spurrier also shared a funny anecdote from a recent get-together where one of his friends was shocked that he was rooting for Tennessee during one of their games.

“I was watching that Alabama game with some friends, and a guy looked at me and said, ‘Coach, are you pulling for Tennessee?’ I said, ‘Well, of course I’m pulling for Tennessee, I’m from Tennessee! You didn’t know that?’ He said ‘Well, I thought we always pulled against them.’ I said ‘Well, if the division race depended on them losing, of course we’d hope that would happen.'”

A Tennessee team that enchanted even Steve Spurrier. Heck of a group down there in Knoxville.