“We’re working through all of that, but we will absolutely recognize him in a way that is appropriate,” Castiglione said.
And then the game will begin, with Heupel standing on the opposing sideline as the red-hot coach of the Vols, thanks in part to the fact that Oklahoma fired him a decade ago, the inflection moment of Heupel’s coaching career.
The January 2015 day that Bob Stoops canned Heupel, his former star quarterback and longtime lieutenant, placed an even bigger chip on Heupel’s shoulder.
It also freed Heupel of his bonds to his alma mater and afforded him the chance to restart.
Heupel set out from Norman to freely build the offense he wanted to operate. That offense put Heupel on a path to restoring Tennessee to prominence, rather than face the burden of Stoops’ shadow.
Heupel’s career shines as bright as ever.
So, is he ready to call his firing from OU a blessing in disguise?
“Yeah, absolutely,” Heupel said Wednesday. “Proud of a lot of what we did or I was a part of while I was (at Oklahoma), but I wouldn’t change anything.
“I’m fortunate and blessed to be here and absolutely love it on Rocky Top.”
Brent Venables recalls how Josh Heupel put his body on line for Oklahoma
Barry Odom needed only one game against Josh Heupel, a 1999 Big 12 meetup in Norman, to realize this guy was unlike most quarterbacks he faced.
“He talked a little more trash than I was used to quarterbacks talking,” said Odom, the former Missouri linebacker who’s now UNLV’s coach, “and he backed it up with his play.”
That chip on Heupel’s shoulder existed before Stoops fired him.
Maybe, that chip traces to Heupel being under-recruited as a star quarterback from Aberdeen, South Dakota. Heupel journeyed through the Football Championship Subdivision and junior college pitstops before Mike Leach recruited Heupel to play quarterback for Stoops and the Sooners. In 2000, Heupel became the Heisman runner-up and led Oklahoma to its lone national championship in the past 38 years.
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