Josh Heupel on what Tennessee vs. Oklahoma meant to his late mother: 'She was looking forward to this game'
Josh Heupel’s return to Norman this past weekend was special for several reasons. For one, the Tennessee head coach quarterbacked Oklahoma to a national title in 2000, served as a graduate assistant for the Sooners in 2004 and ultimately spent nine additional years on staff from 2006-14, including four as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, before he was fired.
He was facing Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, who was the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach on the 2000 Sooners squad Heupel piloted.
Plus, Saturday marked Oklahoma’s first-ever SEC game. And it’s one Heupel’s late mother Cindy had circled on the calendar.
“She was looking forward to this game,” Heupel said postgame of his mom, who died in May at 69.
“She’s got a lot of friends across the state that know that she was looking forward to it. So it was a unique game to come back and have it be a road game for me and this football team but a home game for a lot of my family.”
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Tennessee, now No. 5 in the AP Poll, remained undefeated with a 25-15 win over then-No. 15 Oklahoma. The Volunteers outscored their first three opponents this season, 191-13. They pressed pause on their quick-scoring, high-octane offense and instead maintained possession for nearly 36 minutes. Heupel’s team delivered a strong defensive effort, holding the Sooners to only 222 yards of offense.
Afterward, when Heupel met with ESPN’s Holly Rowe for a postgame interview, Heupel continued to deflect questions about the personal significance of Saturday’s triumph, however, he did let a bit more emotion leak out than he did in the week leading up to the top-15 clash.
“This game coming back for our football team wasn’t about me. It was about this ’24 journey and our football team,” Heupel said. “But they realized it was important for me to come back and that I wanted to get a win.”
Soon after that, Heupel added: “Ultimately, I know mom’s watching up top. But this the next step for this football team in this journey.”
In just his fourth year as head coach, Heupel has now led Tennessee to 10 victories over AP Top 25 opponents. The 2022 SEC Coach of the Year once again has his Volunteers in the College Football Playoff conversation.
Following the conclusion of his postgame press conference Saturday, he stayed at the mic for a brief moment.
“I’m going to say something real quick, two things: One, I had a bunch of teammates that reached out to me, and I just want to say thank you to all of you guys that reached out to me,” Heupel said. “A lot of you I didn’t get back to, I will on the plane ride back, but you guys have changed my life and my family’s life forever, and I’m eternally grateful for all of you, a lot of former players as well that I should mention.
“Second thing is, I’ve gotten a chance to meet a lot of people that had an impact on my mom while she was here. And there’s a bunch that I haven’t, but I just want to say thank you for the relationships and what you meant to her. So, thank you.”