Tennessee Expected to Hire Josh Heupel as Next Head Coach

Tennessee is now set to hire Josh Heupel as its next head coach, sources confirmed to VR2 on SI. 

The news was first reported by Yahoo Sports Pete Thamel. 

Heupel emerged as the front-runner last night as VolQuest first reported. 

Danny White is expected to meet with the Tennessee team within the hour. Heupel, the offensive mastermind, is expected in Knoxville later today. 

White hired Heupel at UCF following the departure of Scott Frost in 2017, and he has produced a 28-8 record since. Heupel is known as an offensive mastermind, and he already has a strong rapport with Danny White.

According to Heupel’s UCF bio: "The (UCF) 2018 offense churned out an average of 522.7 yards per game to finish the season ranked fifth in the nation—and the 2019 version proved even better than that in averaging 536.6 yards, best in UCF history and ranking fourth nationally. The Knights’ ground game set a program single-season record with 3,448 yards on the ground in 2018—as UCF averaged 265.2 yards rushing per game, eighth in the country. Running back Greg McCrae in 2018 became UCF’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2013 with 1,182 yards on the ground, fourth most in program history. Then in 2019 a diversified Knights’ run game saw the top four runners combine for 2,488 yards, 27 TDs and an amazing average of 6.46 yards per carry. Those figures allowed UCF to average more than 200 yards per game on the ground over two straight years for the first time.