How Josh Heupel's Tennessee football ascent required reheating Jeremy Pruitt leftovers | Toppmeyer
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Two days after Tennessee fired Jeremy Pruitt in January 2021, four Vols starters entered the transfer portal.
The mass exodus was in full swing.
Used to be, when a coach inherited his predecessor’s roster, he could expect most players would stick around for at least a season and try playing for the new staff before considering a transfer.
That's passé.
In total, nine Vols starters and some other key pieces transferred after the 2020 season, amid a tumultuous offseason.
Josh Heupel inherited a depleted depth chart, but the Vols who stayed proved more valuable than those who exited.
The stars of this Tennessee Revi-Vol are Pruitt’s leftovers, guys like quarterback Hendon Hooker, wide receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman, running back Jabari Small, right tackle Darnell Wright and linebacker Jeremy Banks.
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In fact, 18 of Tennessee’s 22 offensive or defensive starters in last week’s win over Kentucky signed during the Pruitt era.
Pruitt’s scraps are now linchpins of Heupel’s second Tennessee team – a team positioned to become the Vols’ best since at least 2001 and perhaps 1998.
“This is the group of individuals that chose to stay. They wanted to be here,” Heupel said after Tennessee’s 44-6 romp of Kentucky.
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No. 3 Tennessee (8-0) will play No. 1 Georgia (8-0) on Saturday. The winner will seize a stranglehold on the SEC East.
This is not to suggest Pruitt deserves much credit for Heupel’s success.
Pruitt scored some recruiting triumphs, but Heupel developed these holdovers – and united them.
“They’ve grown individually in just who they are, what they’re about, how they compete everyday, collectively,” Heupel said. “You can see that they care about each other. Once you start having a group like that, man, you can cover a lot of ground really quickly as a football program. Obviously, we’ve taken some huge strides.”
A standard media relations move calls for players to say they're not surprised by their team's success, no matter how surprising it truly is.
But defensive back Doneiko Slaughter embraced the truth.
“Yes. Yes, I am,” Slaughter, a veteran of the Pruitt era, admitted when asked if he’s surprised the same program program that went 3-7 in 2020 is now 8-0.
“As soon as (Heupel) stepped in … the whole room’s mood changed,” Slaughter added.
I don’t fault the players who transferred amid the coaching transition.
When your school unceremoniously fires the coach for whom you signed, it’s only reasonable to consider a reboot. That’s especially true when you consider Tennessee hired Heupel while the NCAA was investigating misdeeds pertaining to impermissible benefits that occurred under Pruitt’s watch. At the time of Heupel’s arrival, Tennessee appeared in danger of a postseason ban. That threat that later reduced, although sanctions still have not been issued.
That winter of transition weighed on players, Hyatt said, and he contemplated how to best position himself for his future.
He stayed the course.
“When Coach Heup got here, it surprised me, because you look at his résumé, you look at his offense he had at UCF, it speaks for itself,” Hyatt said. “We’re just blessed that he’s here, blessed to have the opportunity to play for him.”
To appreciate the Heupel effect, check out the Hooker-to-Hyatt connection that continues to befuddle opposing defenses.
Hyatt, a four-star prospect, signed with UT over Virginia Tech. Credit Pruitt's staff for that.
Credit Heupel for retaining Hyatt and then putting him in a system that positioned him to excel. Time and again, Hyatt gets matched up against linebackers or safeties who have no chance of keeping up with the speedster.
And Hooker keeps finding him – for 14 touchdowns.
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One of Pruitt’s final acts was securing Hooker as a transfer from Virginia Tech, where he’d lost his starting job. Anyone who watched Pruitt manage quarterbacks for three seasons knows Hooker is better off playing for Heupel.
Hooker experienced a renaissance here. He’s the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy – the award Heupel placed second for in 2000 as Oklahoma’s star quarterback.
“This offense is amazing,” Hooker said earlier this season. “I remember when (Heupel coached) UCF, I used to watch their games on ESPN whenever I could. I was a big fan.”
Heupel still catches some criticism for selecting Joe Milton as his starting quarterback to open the 2021 season – Hooker became the starter in Week 3 last year, beginning this streak of 19 consecutive starts – but I’m more wowed by how Hooker looks today as compared to at Virginia Tech.
“The first day of spring ball (in 2021) to who he is now, just fundamentally completely changing who he is, platform in the pocket, the ability to subtly move in the pocket, find the soft spot (in the defense), keep his eyes down the field, be in a good position, deliver the football,” Heupel said Monday, while he ticked off the boxes of Hooker’s improvement. “His motion has become way more consistent, which has allowed his accuracy to improve.
“Then you pair that with his football IQ, understanding of what we’re doing, then understanding defenses at a completely different level than when we first got here, has allowed him to be extremely decisive.”
Heupel offered this checklist to applaud Hooker’s growth, rather than to toot his own quarterback development chops. But I think Heupel’s assessment serves as a twin compliment.
Hooker’s ascent is the byproduct of a quarterback who had a willingness to improve and a coach who knew how to help make that happen.
And this season is the byproduct of a coach taking his predecessor’s leftovers and reheating them into a product far better than the original.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Josh Heupel's Tennessee football climb reheats Jeremy Pruitt leftovers
