Tennessee Vols fan bashes Josh Heupel for game management — but I disagree | Adams

I just returned from my fifth vacation this year, so it’s understandable my mailbag has filled up.

Here are a few samples:

Jim writes: First, I love your columns and your views are 99% of the time spot on even though most Vol fans may not agree thru their Orange colored glasses.

To be blunt, I don’t think Josh Heupel can coach. I think he has a gimmick of running up to the line of scrimmage and trying to hit the defense before they are set. This works extremely well early with his scripted plays or against plainly inferior teams which we are playing many this year, I'm almost ashamed to say. Especially since we ducked Army in favor of Akron.

The bowl game really bothered me with coaching mistakes so I went back and looked at other games. John, Josh has no concept of clock and game management that most high school coaches have! Go back and look at the tapes. The number of timeouts he left on the field also is almost sinful.

My response: Hopefully, other readers will take note of your opening line. That’s the best wording to get your email published.

As for Heupel’s coaching, his biggest mistake last season was choosing Joe Milton as his starting quarterback. To Heupel’s credit, he quickly corrected that mistake. But before he gave the job to Hendon Hooker, the Vols lost a game they could have won against Pittsburgh.

The late-game play-calling against Purdue proved costly. But overall, Heupel is an excellent offensive coach.

Big picture: He took a minimally talented offense and averaged 39.3 points per game. That’s a sign of good things to come at Tennessee.

Mike writes: I am laughing at people who speculate that UCLA and USC fans will be upset about traveling to the cold Midwest for a snowy November football game.  People don't seem to understand that UCLA and USC fans don't bother to attend home football games, and so they certainly are not likely to travel thousands of miles to an out of town game.

My response: I’m laughing, too.

The Big Ten might be euphoric over adding Los Angeles to its television market. However, LA has long been a pro town, not a college one.

USC and UCLA seldom fill their stadiums – no matter how good their teams are.

In the early 2000s, the Trojans were in the middle of a mini-dynasty under coach Pete Carroll. They didn’t just win. They won with Hollywood flair.

But when USC played Texas for the 2005 national championship in Pasadena, California, its fans were far outnumbered by Texas fans in the Rose Bowl.

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Mark writes: So, USC and UCLA want to join the Big 10, 12, 14 whatever conference. Nothing like a leisurely road trip drive from the 3rd world city of LA to oh I don't know, let's say uhh, Happy Valley, or worse, vice versa.

Major college football proves once again, greed has no limits.  The real question is, what kind of 5G stupid plans can these greedy schools and AD's come up with next to further destroy all that is good about College Football.   Cue the mike drop, I'm done.

My response: It’s not just about greed. It’s about building compelling new Big Ten rivalries.

I can’t wait to see UCLA and Rutgers kick off.

Mike writes: John, do you think the Big Ten will finally change its name to more accurately reflect the number of teams in the conference?  Maybe it will become the Sweet Sixteen.

My response: Conferences have become no more concerned with numbers than geography.

Since the expanded “Big Ten” will stretch from New Jersey to Southern California, why not call it the “Bi-Coastal” and eliminate the misleading numerical designation.

Shemp writes: “The last shall be first and….”

There is more than a little irony in Ole Miss winning the College World Series.

A team that had a losing SEC record, lost the first game of the SEC Tournament, and was the 64th (last) team in the tournament.

While the first seeded team, do we need to name them, didn’t even make the finals!

Of course even more irony in that the first place team from last year from the same state didn’t even make the tournament this year.

“…the first shall be last!”

My response: Postseason college baseball is about as unpredictable of a sport as you will find. And I watched a lot this summer. In fact, I watched more NCAA Tournament baseball games than I had in the previous 10 years combined.

The upsets add to the sport’s appeal – unless, of course, your team is the one being upset.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee Vols fan bashes Josh Heupel for game management | Adams