MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Josh Heupel was (unofficially) inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Heupel spoke to reporters during a break on the second day of the SEC spring meetings. Among Heupel’s answers on some pretty heavy topics off the field about the direction of college football, an Oklahoma reporter congratulated Heupel on his Hall of Fame induction.
Just one problem with that.
Heupel is not in the Hall of Fame.
He was in voting, along with 77 other former players last year, but Heupel was not selected in the 2024 class.
“I’m not in the Hall of Fame, but I appreciate that,” Tennessee coach Heupel said with a smile in response to the reporter who congratulated him. “For everyone here, if we can do this, that would be great.”
Heupel is normally quite dry and professional in his interactions with the media, but his good-natured response to the reporter’s slip of the tongue drew laughter from the assembled sportswriters.
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Heupel’s resume makes him a worthy Hall of Fame candidate, at the very least. He finished runner-up for the 2000 Heisman Trophy and led Oklahoma to the national championship that season.
Heupel took a circuitous path to Sooner stardom. He had a distinguished career as quarterback for Aberdeen Central in South Dakota, but FBS offers did not materialize in high school.
“I was a left-handed quarterback from the middle of nowhere, in some ways,” Heupel told me in 2021. “At that time, at WAC schools, I was the second or third pick at BYU or Wyoming.
“I was scheduled for an official visit to the University of Houston in early January and they ended up getting someone else’s commitment. So that’s how recruiting fell for me.”
He signed with Weber State, an FCS program, and spent three seasons there before transferring to play one season at Snow College.
Then Heupel got his big break.
Mike Leach was Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops and Leach recruited Heupel to be OU’s transfer quarterback and the triggerman for Leach’s aerial attack.
Heupel appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot as a Sooner, but will return to Norman with the Vols in September when Tennessee plays Oklahoma in the Sooners’ first season as a member of the SEC.
“It will be unique to go back and play inside that stadium, being on the other side of the line,” Heupel said.
In two seasons with the Sooners, Heupel passed for 6,852 yards and Oklahoma finished undefeated during his senior season. The 2000 season remains OU’s last national championship team.
Are these the achievements of a college Hall of Famer?
Either way, an Oklahoma reporter certainly thinks so.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
Also, check out his podcast, Unfiltered SEC Football, and newsletter, Unfiltered SEC Football. Subscribe to read all your columns.
This article originally appeared in the Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Josh Heupel made the media laugh after reporter’s slip of the tongue
