Josh Heupel placed on the “pressure index” of a Fox college football analyst

AtoZ Sports

Lucas Panzica discusses how the fallout of former quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the uncertainties surrounding the QB position at Tennessee lead to Volunteers football head coach Josh Heupel being placed on Joel Klatt's pressure index

Transcript

00:00Is Josh Heupel a head coach under pressure going into 2025?

00:03One major college football analyst believes the answer is yes.

00:07We'll fill you in just ahead.

00:11Hey, Lucas Panzeke here from 104.5 The Zone and A to Z Sports.

00:15So Joel Klatt, Fox Sports college football analyst,

00:18put out his pressure index for head coaches going into the 2025 college football season.

00:24Now, there are five categories on this pressure index.

00:27They are as follows.

00:28Number one, just happy you're here.

00:31Number two, we like you, but.

00:34Number three, trying to be patient.

00:36Number four, is this going to work?

00:39And number five, it's time.

00:42Those are the five categories.

00:43He has placed Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel in one of these categories.

00:47He has placed Heupel in the category of we like you, but.

00:52And he has placed Heupel alongside two other head coaches in Florida State's Mike Norvell

00:57and Florida's Billy Napier.

00:59Now, let's just start there.

01:01The biggest place where I disagree with Joel Klatt is placing Josh Heupel anywhere in the

01:06same conversation with Mike Norvell and Billy Napier as it pertains to head coaches that

01:11might be feeling their seat getting a little warm.

01:14Now, in the case of Billy Napier, he was the most pre-fired coach in America in 2024, and

01:20to his credit, he led Florida to a winning season in the midst of a crazy difficult schedule.

01:26And there's a beacon of hope in Gainesville with true freshman DJ Lagway, who's now going

01:31into his sophomore year.

01:32The former five-star projects to be potentially one of the best quarterbacks in all of college

01:37football.

01:37So Billy Napier absolutely got himself off of that hot seat in terms of what the discussion

01:43was a year ago.

01:44But make no mistake, if Florida falls flat in 2025, that discussion will get ramped up

01:50one more time.

01:51And Mike Norvell, two years removed from leading Florida State to that undefeated ACC championship

01:56season, but missing the final 14 playoff is coming off a 2-10 disaster last year, where

02:03he replaced the majority of his coaching staff and is basically trying to rebuild that program

02:09to show that that 2023 season was not a fluke.

02:13Josh Heupel is on much more stable ground than either of those coaches.

02:17If things go south for either Mike Norvell or Billy Napier, there is absolutely a scenario

02:22where either one of those coaches could get fired by their respective athletic departments.

02:27It's really hard to imagine a scenario where Josh Heupel loses his job at Tennessee in 2025.

02:33Now, the main reasoning for Joel Klatt putting Josh Heupel in this category of his pressure

02:38index is the fallout from the Nico Iamaliava saga, where he says that Tennessee kind of

02:43threw Nico under the bus in the whole situation.

02:46Klatt does acknowledge that Nico Iamaliava and his camp were not innocent in the whole situation,

02:52but when he looks ahead to the season, he mentions the pressure games of Alabama, of course,

02:57but mainly Oklahoma and Florida late in the season.

03:01And I absolutely agree with Klatt that both of those games could be turning points in

03:05Tennessee's season.

03:06They are both games upon which Josh Heupel will be judged in 2025.

03:11But there's a big picture to look at here with Tennessee.

03:14Number one, Tennessee fans look at the Nico Iamaliava situation and don't blame Josh Heupel.

03:19They blame Nico Iamaliava.

03:21If Tennessee struggles in 2025 due to poor quarterback play, it will be because, in the eyes of Tennessee

03:26fans, at least, and I would imagine leadership at Tennessee, it would be because Nico Iamaliava

03:31in his camp messed up the situation, not because Josh Heupel in the football program messed up

03:37that situation.

03:38Not to mention, coming down the pipe in the class of 2026 is a five-star quarterback in

03:43Faizan Brandon, who impressed at Elite 11 finals last week, who 247 Sports has named their

03:48number one overall prospect in the class of 2026.

03:52So, Tennessee, yes, could absolutely and likely will take a step back in 2025, but it's with

03:58an eye towards 2026.

04:01And Josh Heupel has built up this program from a talent profile standpoint to where a bottoming

04:06out, a 4-8, 5-7 type of season doesn't necessarily feel likely.

04:12Anything is possible in the world of college football.

04:14And yes, does the pressure get ramped up if that does indeed happen to Tennessee in 2025?

04:19Absolutely, but I wouldn't exactly place Heupel in a category of Billy Napier and Mike Norvell

04:25type of pressure.

04:27Now, Klatt has another category here in this pressure index that is named, is this going

04:32to work?

04:33And then another one, trying to be patient.

04:35That one holds the names Luke Fickle of Wisconsin and Alabama's Kalen DeBoer.

04:40I think that one would be a little bit more apt for Josh Heupel.

04:43As Tennessee fans and the program love Heupel as a head coach and what he has done to bring

04:47Tennessee back to relevance, but a little bit of patience is required, understanding

04:51that 2025 is a much different picture, a different scenario with Nico Imaliava out of it.

04:57And you have an eye towards 2026 in the future.

05:00That absolutely takes some patience, but I would not necessarily agree with putting Josh

05:04Heupel in the, we like you, but category of pressure.

05:08Pressure comes with all of these jobs and it can ramp up at any moment.

05:12But right now I would say Josh Heupel is on pretty stable ground at the University of

05:16Tennessee.

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