Josh Heupel responds to Brent Venables story from Oklahoma recruitment: 'I probably was a little pasty'

The Tennessee Volunteers are preparing for a marquee game this weekend on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners. For head coach Josh Heupel, it’s more than a big game. It’s also a homecoming of sorts.

A former quarterback at Oklahoma, Heupel joined the team when current Sooners head coach Brent Venables was a staffer there and, at the time he was recruited, Heupel had a hard time impressing Venables who referred to him as pasty and with a wobbly ball at the time.

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“I probably was a little pasty,” Josh Heupel said. “I was hiding in hibernation in the early part of my life.”

Prior to going to Oklahoma, Heupel spent time at Snow College and Weber State, both of which are in Utah. For his part, he was born and raised in Aberdeen, South Dakota. So, Heupel had plenty of experience with winter before getting to Oklahoma.

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“When we got there, I certainly had to continue to grow as a player,” Heupel said. “I might’ve always had a little wobble on my ball, but the staff there, Mike [Leach] and obviously the strength staff, there did a great job of helping me transform but really our entire football roster.”

In the end, Josh Heupel found plenty of success during his time with the Sooners. In 2000 under head coach Bob Stoops, Heupel was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and the Heisman Trophy runner-up. That same season, he led Oklahoma to a BCS National Championship win over Florida State. So, it’s pretty clear the pasty kid with a wobbly ball worked out.

Brent Venables reveals battle with Mike Leach over recruitment of Josh Heupel

As a player, Josh Heupel wasn’t a sure thing and Brent Venables didn’t see what made him special. Luckily for everyone, then-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Leach did see the kind of player Heupel could become.

“We didn’t know anything about Josh, but he was outside of the office windows and he’s on a visit. There was maybe two guys on the visit and he was one of them. We had an old turf field down there and he was playing catch. Again, I’m saying this with incredible appreciation and respect for Josh. Couldn’t have been more wrong. Don’t judge a book by its cover. He was skinny and just frail,” Venables said.

“It was in the middle of winter. Just kind of pasty. The ball was coming off — he was a southpaw and probably hadn’t played in a couple of months — the ball was wobbly. We’re like, ‘that ain’t it.’ Leach, he didn’t even want to bring Akili Smith in on a visit. So lesson learned.”

Now, Josh Heupel is set to coach against Brent Venables in one of the biggest games of the season to this point when Tennessee travels to Norman to take on Oklahoma.