This Week in Coaching: Josh Heupel steals a page from Mike Leach's playbook, Nick Saban sends stern message to Alabama players

At the midway point of the 2022 season, Josh Heupel is the odds-on favorite to win SEC Coach of the Year, especially after the Vols ended 15 years of misery with their cathartic last-second win over Alabama last weekend. UT leads the nation in total offense (551 yards per game), is No. 2 in scoring (47.7 points per game) and No. 4 in yards per play (7.35).

Tennessee racked up 385 yards passing and five touchdowns against the Tide’s secondary, with quarterback Hendon Hooker consistently targeting Alabama’s safeties using stack formations.

The Vols torched DeMarrco Hellams and Malachi Moore for a combined 8-of-9 targets for 233 yards. 

Seemingly every time Tennessee needed a spark, Heupel dialed up a shot play. 

In addition to being UT’s head coach, Heupel is the Vols’ primary play caller, running a modern version of the ‘Run ’N Shoot’ offense. It’s a variation of the Art Briles ‘Air Raid’ offense, which originated under Mike Leach. 

Josh Heupel’s first offensive coordinator at Oklahoma? Mike Leach. 

Earlier this week, the Mississippi State head coach was asked about his now SEC counterpart and former player, joking that Heupel has absolutely adopted some of Leach’s old-school ‘Air Raid’ concepts — only Tennessee’s head coach and former Heisman Trophy candidate has a better trigger-man actually running the plays now. 

“He’s definitely got some things that look familiar. I can think of a play in particular that we ran back in the day. He’s got his quarterback running that play better than he ran it,” Leach quipped. 

Under Heupel, Hooker has already bested the best seasons his head coach ever had with the Sooners. The former Virginia Tech transfer had a 31-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio in 2021, and through six games this season, he’s among the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy with more than 2,000 total yards and 18 touchdowns. 

As for Leach, he added that he was “happy” to see Heupel’s success but that it’s difficult to truly appreciate the trickle-down effect from his coaching tree because “You’re busy tending to your own team. You kind of hear about it secondhand. I’m happy for them. But to really enjoy it, you gotta be out of it to do that.”

But perhaps Leach can take something from Heupel after watching Tennessee’s film over Alabama. 

The Bulldogs face the Tide this weekend, they’re looking to get back on track offensively after they had just 203 passing yards (5.5 per attempt) and one touchdown in the loss to Kentucky. 

DID YOU KNOW?

… That Dino Babers has Syracuse off to its best start since 1987? The Orange are 6-0 for the first time in 35 years with a Top 25 game against No. 5 Clemson looming this weekend. 

Babers, in Year 7 at Syracuse, entered the 2022 seat as a potential hot seat candidate, with just six wins the previous two seasons combined — including a brutal 1-11 season in 2020. 

But with some noted changes on the coaching staff, namely hiring Virginia coordinator Robert Anae (another Mike Leach disciple) to juice up a new-look Orange offense, and a veteran roster that’s had time to develop and gel, ‘the Cuse have wildly exceeded preseason expectations. 

The Orange returned 17 starters this season and close to 80% of their total production from last season. Their defense is salty (Top 10 nationally in yards per play) and quarterback Garrett Shrader has ascended in a new scheme, giving Babers his second cycle-up season (he won 10 games in 2018) with the Orange. 

COORDINATOR OF THE WEEK TO WATCH

One of the bigger games in Week 8 is Kansas State traveling to TCU in a Big 12 showdown featuring a pair of undefeated teams in conference play. 

Under first-year coach Sonny Dykes, the Horned Frogs’ resurgence has been well-documented. 

The Wildcats made a significant coaching change to its staff last offseason, too. 

Chris Klieman is still K-State’s head coach, but following the 2021 season, he made the unusual move of promoting someone he’d already demoted: Former heralded Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein.

In 2018, Klein, a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012, served as Kansas State’s co-offensive coordinator in the final year of Bill Snyder’s second go-around with the Wildcats. 

Klieman retained Klein on staff, but took away his OC title and named him K-State’s quarterbacks coach. The former electric playmaker served in that capacity the last three seasons before Klieman opted to make an OC change before the 2022 season, firing Courtney Messingham and naming Klein the new play-caller. 

Through six games, the overall raw stats don’t look a whole lot different for K-State. Scoring is slightly up, while its yards per play are down. 

But the Wildcats are efficiently running the football again, spear headed by a spread-option quarterback who plays a lot like Collin Klein. 

With Skylar Thompson off to the NFL, Kansas State plucked former Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez out of the transfer portal. 

So far in 2022, Martinez has done his best No. 7 impersonation, already rushing for 546 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He’s averaging nearly as many yards per rush (6.1 including sacks) as per pass attempt (6.5). Wildcats tailback Deuce Vaughn has 661 yards on 120 carries, forming the best 1-2 rushing duo in the Big 12. 

The Wildcats were stymied in their 10-9 win over Iowa State two weeks ago (just 131 rushing yards on 38 carries), but otherwise, they’ve been unstoppable running the ball. If they want to upset TCU this weekend, they’ll need to get back to grounding opponents into the dirt, with Klein charged with devising a game plan to score around 30+ points. 

QUOTABLE

“We can’t continue to tolerate guys that aren’t doing the things they need to do to be successful. Nobody is entitled to a position. Everybody’s earned the position that they’re in by showing they have the capability and ability to do it on a consistent basis.

“And that’s something that you have to continue. And the grind of the season – being the middle of the season, being a little bit hurt, tired or whatever – you can’t lose your focus on doing the things you need to do to continue to improve and get better because other people are looking at your flaws, too.”

— Alabama head coach Nick Saban

Things aren’t exactly swell in Tuscaloosa right now. On the heels of Alabama’s painful 52-49 loss at Tennessee last weekend, its Hall of Fame head coach issued a stern directive toward his players following another sloppy, undisciplined performance. 

Alabama was penalized a school-record 17 times in the loss to Tennessee. The Tide also committed a bone-headed special team turnover, causing Saban to go ballistic on the sidelines. 

*Saves gif* insert caption here 😅

No. 6 Tennessee leads No. 3 Alabama 28-10.

🎥 @CFBONFOXpic.twitter.com/G87ZOQlMir

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 15, 2022

We’ll see if Saban’s strong message actually resonates, as I’m skeptical Alabama will suddenly start playing different personnel. 

Much of Alabama’s issues with discipline ultimately fall at the feet of its coaching staff. They were sloppy on the road at Texas (15 penalties). They were sloppy on the road at Arkansas (10 flags) and the same in Knoxville. 

It definitely is uncharacteristic for a Saban team to rank dead last in the nation in flags (66). The Tide also leads all Power 5 schools in penalties per game (9.4) and has among the worst turnover margins in the country (No. 114th nationally).

The good news for Saban is Alabama is home this weekend, where it’s averaging only 6.0 flags per game.