Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel agrees to one-year extension through 2030

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has received a contract extension through the 2030 season. The Vols announced the extension on Tuesday, coming off of Tennessee’s College Football Playoff run last season and just head of Saturday’s season-opener against Syracuse in Atlanta.

Heupel’s contract will now run through 2030 and he has more use of planes for personal use. Heupel under his new deal now has 30 hours of personal use within the continental United States.

“I greatly appreciate the support of Danny White, President Boyd and Chancellor Plowman,” Heupel said. “During an era of change in our sport, their leadership and commitment to helping us build a championship football program is strong.

“We took over a program in 2021 during a turbulent time. We quickly built a resilient, player-driven culture and have enjoyed great success on and off the field, but there is still much left to do. I am excited about the future of Tennessee Football, and I can’t wait to run through the T once again with Vol Nation proudly supporting us.”

The extension did not come with a raise for Heupel, who currently making $9 million per year.

“The revival of our football program under Josh’s leadership has made everyone in Big Orange Country proud to be a Vol,” Athletics Director Danny White said. “Josh has brought Tennessee Football back to its rightful place among the nation’s elite programs, and he and his staff have fostered a positive culture within the team. Our commitment to supporting Josh and his staff remains strong and unwavering.”

The buyout of Heupel by the University and if Heupel were to leave on his own has also been amended. If Heupel were terminated before December 15, 2025 then the University would owe the head coach the full amount remaining on his contract. That drops to 75% after the December 15, 2025 and before December 15, 2027.

If Heupel were to leave before December 15, 2025, he would owe the University $8 million dollars. The buyout number drops by 2 million a year over the following two years.

White indicated that the extension for Heupel and new deals for assistants have been in the works for a while.

“Generally when attorneys get involved, everything takes longer,” White said. “But couldn’t be more excited about what Josh is doing, his staff making the playoff last year was an awesome step in our program’s development. He’s building it the right way. We have a great culture. We’re excited about this coming season and expect something to be public about those things (contracts) in the short term. 

“But our commitment and support of Josh and his staff is unwavering.”

Heupel led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff with a 10-3 record last season and went 11-2 in 2022, beating Clemson in the Orange Bowl in the first New Year’s Six bowl game for the Vols in the College Football Playoff era. His first Tennessee team went 7-6 in 2021 and the Vols were 9-4 in 2023.  

Heupel is 65-23 overall as a head coach, after going 28-8 in three seasons at UCF before taking the Tennessee job in January 2021. Heupel was hired away from UCF a week after White left UCF as athletic director to take the same job at Tennessee.

Heupel is currently seventh on Tennessee Football’s all-time wins list, with his 37 wins.

General Robert Neyland is No. 1 with a 173-31-12 record, ahead of Phillip Fulmer (151-52-1), Johnny Majors (116-62-8), Bill Battle (59-22-2), Bowden Wyatt (49-29-4) and Doug Dickey (46-15-4). Heupel’s .712 win percentage is also seventh best.