Josh Heupel: NCAA chapter closing gives Vols chance to 'put this behind and move forward'

Josh Heupel knew what he was getting into at the University of Tennessee in January 2021, when he was leaving his job as Central Florida’s head football coach to take over the Vols.

Heupel was following his old UCF boss, athletic director Danny White, who had taken over at Tennessee only days before. And he knew a black cloud in the form of an NCAA investigation was hovering over the program. 

Jeremy Pruitt and his staff were alleged to have committed multiple recruiting violations, leading to his firing along with his coaching staff and recruiting staff. Phillip Fulmer, then athletic director, stepped down too. 

Heupel never focused on the negatives, though. He only saw the positives and the potential.

“For me,” Heupel said Friday afternoon during an appearance on the Paul Finebaum Show, “it was the opportunity to take over a program like this and to be able to put your own stamp on it. To be able to compete for championships is certainly something I wanted to be a part of.”

Josh Heupel last year led Vols to first 11-win season since 2001

Heupel wasted no time with his stamp. Despite a roster decimated by the NCAA Transfer Portal, he led his first Tennessee team to seven wins and a trip to the Music City Bowl in 2021.

Last year he led the Vols to their first 11-win season since 2001, including wins over Florida and Alabama at home, a 40-13 thumping of LSU in Baton Rouge, a No. 1 ranking in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 of the season in November and a win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl in December. 

Everything Heupel’s teams have accomplished was the vision he had from the start. He wanted to get Tennessee back to being Tennessee, even in the face of so much adversity.

“This is an iconic brand and such a powerful and rich tradition inside the landscape of college sports and certainly in college football too,” Heupel said. “You’re talking about a program that is top ten in the history of wins, first-round draft picks, bowls, bowl wins. 

“I grew up watching the game and just remember the great players and deep tradition of what was going on at Neyland Stadium.”

Along the way Heupel would refer to the ongoing NCAA investigation as merely a speed bump, with his staff having nothing to do with the wrongdoings of the past. 

From the start, Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman had initiated an internal investigation and cooperated with the NCAA while fighting against a bowl ban and punishment of players that had nothing to do with the over 200 infractions committed by Pruitt and his staff. 

On Friday Heupel again referred to the investigation as nothing more than a speed bump.

“You talk about our leadership from president to chancellor,” Heupel said, “but having the ability to have real, open dialog with Danny during the process and to have great trust in where they ultimately thought this would end up – it gave me great confidence to be able to hit the ground running. 

“It was going to be a speed bump for our program when I took over, but it wasn’t going to be anything that delayed our progress.”

NCAA Committee on Infractions issued Tennessee’s penalties on Friday

The chapter closed Friday morning, when the NCAA Committee on Infractions finally announced punishment for the Vols. 

Tennessee was fined $8 million, put on probation for five years, will face a reduction of 28 total scholarships — the Vols have already forfeited 18 scholarships, leaving 10 scholarships reduced during the five-year probation period — and will have recruiting limitations. 

There was no bowl ban, allowing Heupel and his program to keep moving forward, full speed ahead. 

“We are certainly excited about our football team we have coming back for 2023,” Heupel said, “and looking forward to what we’re doing in recruiting and the ability to build a consistent, championship caliber football program.

“We wanted to protect our athletes and make sure they had an opportunity to compete for championships. We were able to do that. Really happy that we get a chance to put this behind us and move forward now.”