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WATCH: Josh Heupel settles hotly contested and baffling Gatorade debate

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•08/19/22•

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Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Controversy has struck in Knoxville but not in a way you’d think. Gatorade has been the topic of discussion for the Tennessee Football team, specifically when discussing the lemon-lime flavor and what color it is.

Players were debating if the sports drink was yellow or green. While some were saying yellow, the people who thought green were getting upset. Comparing it to a grape — that may have been the best overall argument. Even a few staffers got involved, giving their opinion.

However, the debate ended when head coach Josh Heupel said his piece. Heupel went with the color yellow, with players having different reactions. Some celebrated, others were in disbelief, while the person leading the charge of Team Green hilariously flung the bottle away.

You can watch the full video here.

Having fun during training camp is important, no matter what the situation is. Debating over Gatorade colors is lighthearted even if the players are passionate about their answers. Getting Heupel involved to settle the debate puts a perfect cap on everything.

Josh Heupel reveals offensive philosophy

Heupel first started picking up on the up-tempo ideas as an assistant on Oklahoma’s staff in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when he served as quarterbacks coach and then co-offensive coordinator. In particular, it was a 48-28 loss at the hands of Rich Rodriguez’s high-octane West Virginia team in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl influenced the Sooners and Heupel to pick up the pace.

“Some of the wide splits we started messing with when I was at Oklahoma,” Heupel said. “We played with a ton of tempo early in my tenure at Oklahoma. We had actually, dating back to that, we played West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. They were no huddle at that time with Rich Rod and we incorporated that the following season and had great experience with it. Got away from it on the backend just because, philosophically, that’s the what the head coach wanted to do.”