Tennessee football fan wonders: Will Oklahoma Sooners call Vols coach Josh Heupel home? | Adams

While Tennessee was drubbing LSU last week, Oklahoma was suffering a historic 49-0 loss to Texas.

Wonder if any Oklahoma fans were wishing the Sooners had hired Tennessee coach Josh Heupel instead of former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables?

One of my readers also was thinking that.

Mike writes: After the victory over LSU, Heupel may be entertaining Okie calls.

My response: Oklahoma is Heupel’s alma mater. And he once quarterbacked the Sooners to a national championship. But they also fired him as offensive coordinator.

He likely realizes he’s better off at Tennessee.

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Ray writes: Should Coach Heupel’s success extend through Saturday’s game against the Tide, I agree that he certainly deserves a nickname. My suggestion: “Windex. No Streaks.”

My response: He already has ended UT losing streaks to Pittsburgh, Florida and LSU. If he ends UT’s 15-game losing streak to Alabama, Tennessee fans also will be calling him “genius.”

Marie writes: It’s Bama week and for the first time in forever there’s an orange light at the end of the tunnel. How well I recall Bama week back in the 70s when no radio station could play Sweet Home Alabama - this team has everyone smiling and back-slapping. The all too familiar four-letter word Bama has been replaced with another — Hope. Here’s hoping our world is orange come Saturday evening.

My response: As former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt implied: The Vols would close the gap on Alabama. Getting rid of him was the first step.

Mike writes: In late 2020 when Tennessee football hit rock bottom, I would never have imagined that in less than two years, the program would have made the strides it has. Josh Heupel and his staff have done an incredible job of resurrecting a program that had become one of the worst in college football.

And let's not forget the wisdom Danny White showed in selecting Heupel to be the Vols' coach. At the time the announcement was made, I was not sure Heupel was the right choice and boy was I wrong. This is the most excited I have seen Tennessee fans in years.

My response: I agree it was hard to envision Heupel being this successful this fast at Tennessee. Now, he's recognized as one of the best offensive coaches in college football.

Too bad for the Vols that they didn’t hire him instead of Jeremy Pruitt after the 2017 season.

Bill writes: What kind of goofball would leave a playoff contender Notre Dame team to go to semi-downtrodden LSU? The same kind of goofball who'd say, "no, sorry, I can't consider moving from Cincinnati to Knoxville because my family is too involved in Cincinnati social life."

At least that's what I remember him saying way back then.

My response: I don’t remember that quote. And although LSU played poorly against Tennessee, Kelly has a better chance of winning a national championship at LSU than he did at Notre Dame.

Kelly is a better coach than Ed Orgeron and Les Miles, and both won national titles at LSU. He’s also working on a top-10 recruiting class in his first year at LSU.

Myron writes: Being a 1970 to 1974 undergraduate at Tennessee, I really appreciate Hooker wearing the Condredge Holloway T-shirt at his postgame interview.

I wish Hooker the very best for this season and for his post-college future.

My response: Hooker has represented Tennessee well on and off the field.

Sam writes: How do you think Ohio State and Clemson compare to Alabama and Georgia?

My response: I’ve seen Clemson a couple of times but only highlights of the Buckeyes. I would favor Georgia and Alabama over Clemson. I question whether Alabama or Georgia could keep up with the Ohio State offense. But I will get back to you after the Ohio State-Michigan game.

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 football fan wonders will Oklahoma call Josh Heupel home?