Josh Heupel
Josh Heupel went 79–29 as a head coach, 2018–2026, at UCF and Tennessee. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (2026, 5–1); by them his record is 78–29. Share
- Record
- 79–29 career
- Seasons
- 9
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 2 seasons
- Born
- Mar 22, 1978
- Best season
- 2022 11–2, No. 6
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | UCF | 12–1 | 1st | Fiesta Bowl L | 12 | |
| 2019 | UCF | 10–3 | 2nd | Gasparilla Bowl W | 24 | |
| 2020 | UCF | 6–4 | T–3rd | Boca Raton Bowl L | ||
| 2021 | Tennessee | 7–6 | 3rd | Music City Bowl L | ||
| 2022 | Tennessee | 11–2 | 2nd | Orange Bowl W | 6 | |
| 2023 | Tennessee | 9–4 | 3rd | Citrus Bowl W | 17 | |
| 2024 | Tennessee | 10–3 | T–2nd | CFP First Round L | 9 | |
| 2025 | Tennessee | 8–5 | T–8th | Music City Bowl L | ||
| 2026 | Tennessee | 6–1 (Wikipedia: 5–1) |
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 31 | 13–18 | 42% |
| Against top-10 teams | 13 | 4–9 | 31% |
| Against rivals | 39 | 26–13 | 67% |
| Conference games | 68 | 46–22 | 68% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 8 | 3–5 | 38% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 28 | 13–15 | 46% |
| At home | 59 | 49–10 | 83% |
| On the road | 39 | 24–15 | 62% |
| At neutral sites | 10 | 6–4 | 60% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 83 | 69–14 | 83% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 25 | 10–15 | 40% |
His own 108 games on file, 2018–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Stoops 2021–2025 | 5–0 | Kentucky | 5 | |
| Clark Lea 2021–2025 | 4–1 | Vanderbilt | 5 | |
| Kirby Smart 2021–2025 | 0–5 | Georgia | 5 | |
| Pat Narduzzi 2018–2022 | 2–2 | Pittsburgh | 4 | |
| Lane Kiffin 2018–2021 | 2–1 | Florida Atlantic, Ole Miss | 3 | |
| Eli Drinkwitz 2021–2023 | 2–1 | Missouri | 3 | |
| Shane Beamer 2021–2023 | 2–1 | South Carolina | 3 | |
| Billy Napier 2022–2024 | 2–1 | Florida | 3 | |
| Kalen DeBoer 2024–2026 | 2–1 | Alabama | 3 | |
| Luke Fickell 2018–2020 | 1–2 | Cincinnati | 3 |
Josh Heupel’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Alabamaseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Kentuckyseries | 5 | 5–0 |
| Vanderbiltseries | 5 | 4–1 |
| Floridaseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| Georgiaseries | 5 | 0–5 |
| Pittsburghseries | 4 | 2–2 |
| UConnseries | 3 | 3–0 |
| South Floridaseries | 3 | 3–0 |
How he was hired
- Hired by UCF for the 2018 season from Missouri, where he was offensive coordinator.
- Hired by Tennessee for the 2021 season from UCF, where he was head coach.
Power-conference head-coaching hires since 2010, with each coach’s previous job and ties to the school as collected by hand from Wikipedia: Hiring facts: M. Schuckers, cfb_coach_analytics.
Other roles
- Team captain, Oklahoma 1999–2000 (his playing career)
From each season’s Wikipedia article.
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Oklahoma | Graduate assistant | |
| 2005 | Arizona | Tight ends coach | |
| 2006–10 | Oklahoma | Quarterbacks coach | |
| 2011–14 | Oklahoma | Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2015 | Utah State | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2016–17 | Missouri | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| 2018–20 | UCF | Head coach | |
| 2021–present | Tennessee | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Bob StoopsOklahoma
- Mike StoopsArizona
- Matt WellsUtah State
- Barry OdomMissouri
Assistants who became head coaches
- Jeff LebbyMississippi State
- Randy ShannonMiami, Florida
- Alex GoleshSouth Florida, Auburn
- Jerry MackKennesaw State, North Carolina Central
- Jim ChaneyTennessee
- John BonamegoCentral Michigan
- Seth LittrellNorth Texas
- Jim KnowlesCornell
Worked under (4)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Stoops | Oklahoma | 2004–14 | 2004: graduate assistant; 2006–10: quarterbacks coach; 2011–14: co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Mike Stoops | Arizona | 2005 | Tight ends coach | |
| Matt Wells | Utah State | 2015 | Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Barry Odom | Missouri | 2016–17 | Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Lebby | UCF, 2018: quarterbacks coach; 2019: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | Mississippi State | |
| Randy Shannon | UCF, 2018–20: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Miami, Florida | |
| Alex Golesh | UCF, 2020: co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach; Tennessee, 2021–22: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | South Florida, Auburn | |
| Jerry Mack | Tennessee, 2021–23: running backs coach | Kennesaw State, North Carolina Central | |
| Jim Chaney | Tennessee, 2025–26: offensive analyst | Tennessee | |
| John Bonamego | Tennessee, 2025–26: special teams assistant | Central Michigan | |
| Seth Littrell | Tennessee, 2025–26: senior offensive assistant | North Texas | |
| Jim Knowles | Tennessee, 2026: defensive coordinator | Cornell |
Other assistants under him (14)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Tucker | UCF, 2018: running backs coach; 2019: passing game coordinator and running backs coach; 2020: co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach | |
| Willie Martinez | UCF, 2018–20: assistant head coach and secondary coach; Tennessee, 2021–26: cornerbacks | |
| Joey Halzle | UCF, 2019: offensive assistant and asst.QB; 2020: quarterbacks coach; Tennessee, 2021–22: quarterbacks coach; 2023–26: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | |
| Lanear Sampson | UCF, 2020: quality control coach | |
| Chris Weinke | Tennessee, 2021: running backs coach | |
| Kodi Burns | Tennessee, 2021: wide receivers coach | |
| Mike Ekeler | Tennessee, 2021–24: outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator | |
| Tim Banks | Tennessee, 2021–25: defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Maxwell Thurmond | Tennessee, 2022–24: senior offensive assistant | |
| Taver Johnson | Tennessee, 2024: defensive analyst | |
| William Inge | Tennessee, 2024–26: linebackers coach | |
| Marion Hobby | Tennessee, 2025: defensive analyst | |
| Anthony Poindexter | Tennessee, 2026: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach | |
| Derek Jones | Tennessee, 2026: cornerbacks coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | State payroll | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Missouri | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $211,000 | $700,000 USA Today | ||
| 2016 | Missouri | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $211,000 | $700,000 USA Today | ||
| 2015 | Utah State | offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $19,368 | $232,720 USA Today | $116,810 | |
| 2014 | Oklahoma | co-offensive coordinatorbonuses up to $86,500 | $612,400 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Transparent Utah: wages and incentive awards paid in the fiscal year from July to June, shown against the season inside it; benefits left out.
Contract pay and the state payroll differ by design: one is the season’s contract, the other what the state paid in a calendar or fiscal year, so a December hire’s short first year, bonuses and camp money paid as special payments, and pay that ran on after he left all show in the payroll.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Heupel’s teams went for it on 27% of fourth downs and on 45% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 46% of plays and took 21.0 seconds a play, 2018–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 13 g | UCF | 20 of 79 25% | 37% | 42% | 19.7 | +0.20 | |
| 2019 13 g | UCF | 33 of 108 31% | 52% | 47% | 19.7 | +0.11 | |
| 2020 10 g | UCF | 22 of 75 29% | 46% | 51% | 18.9 | +0.14 | |
| 2021 13 g | Tennessee | 31 of 90 34% | 53% | 44% | 19.7 | +0.14 | |
| 2022 13 g | Tennessee | 34 of 89 38% | 58% | 48% | 20.4 | +0.25 | |
| 2023 13 g | Tennessee | 18 of 96 19% | 33% | 48% | 20.8 | +0.07 | |
| 2024 13 g | Tennessee | 19 of 98 19% | 29% | 42% | 23.5 | +0.09 | |
| 2025 13 g | Tennessee | 17 of 74 23% | 50% | 50% | 22.3 | +0.19 | |
| 2026 7 g | Tennessee | 11 of 50 22% | 45% | 42% | 26.1 | +0.10 | |
| All 108 g | 205 of 759 27% | 45% | 46% | 21.0 | +0.15 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.