Josh Heupel discusses plans for return to Norman ahead of Tennessee-Oklahoma game

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel will be returning to a familiar place on Sept. 21 when his Vols travel to Norman to face Oklahoma.

Heupel led the Sooners to a national championship during his playing days, before being drafted in the sixth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He was then a grad assistant at Oklahoma in 2004 and was on staff with the Sooners from 2006-14.

Now, he is returning to Norman with a team of his own as Oklahoma begins its first season in the SEC. Heupel spoke at SEC Media Days about what it will be like returning to Norman.

“The first time that I will have been back. It will be unique for myself to be on the other sideline,” Josh Heupel said. “Obviously there’s been a lot of Saturdays where I was on the home sideline. But there’s so many great teammates, friends that will be there.”

Heupel has been the head coach at Tennessee since 2021 and has by all accounts done an excellent job. The Vols are coming off of a 9-4 season in 2023, and expectations are high with quarterback Nico Iamaleava at the helm.

You can bet that Brent Venables and Oklahoma will be ready to play too, though, as they enter their first season in the SEC. Heupel is anxious to face off against his former team and against some of his friends.

“Got great respect for the University, the program. A lot of friends that are coaching on the opposing sideline that day. Former teammates that will be coaching on that opposing sideline, too,” Heupel said. “So it will be unique to be back there but excited to be there.”

Brent Venables speaks on his relationship with Josh Heupel

The connection between Brent Venables and Josh Heupel goes way throughout the 2000s in their times together at Oklahoma. Now, with the Sooners joining the Southeastern Conference and, therefore, meeting with Tennessee, it’s another chance for the two to connect once more on the field.

Venables discussed his relationship with Heupel during his time at the podium during SEC Media Days on Tuesday. With the pair of them going all the way back together to 1999, he has had just over a quarter century to get to know him in more than one way and respect him all the more for them.

“Yeah, so, I was speaking about Josh earlier,” Venables said. “I have this deep appreciation for Josh.”

That naturally starts back in Norman in 1999 and 2000 when both were under Bob Stoops. Venables was a defensive assistant at that time while Heupel was the starting quarterback. In that time, OU went 20-5 overall, including an undefeated, national title-winning season at 13-0 in 2000. That run also saw Heupel finish as the runner-up for The Heisman Trophy.

That’s why Heupel’s first impression on Venables was certainly a lasting one.

“Certainly, first and foremost, as a player to experience my first national championship as a coach? I’ve always looked back and said we couldn’t have done it without Heup – his leadership, what he was able to do from a transformation standpoint to our locker room, the guts and the toughness that he played through in that 2000 season,” Venables said. “I’ve always held him up here on this pedestal when it comes from a player standpoint.

“No surprise, as a coach’s son, the level of success that he has had as a coach. I’ve stayed in touch with him pretty much every step of the way through this process. We competed on the field in 2014. He went to Utah State, then to Central Florida, and then to Tennessee. We’ve stayed in touch through those moments of success and some of the moments, the challenges a football season will bring you.”