Josh Heupel reflects on Mike Leach’s impact on his career, college football

Josh Heupel, by all accounts, has had a spectacular season in Knoxville, leading the Volunteers to a 10-2 season and second place in the SEC East.

Heupel is quick to give credit to those who gave him a start, including head coach Mike Leach. Speaking to the media this week, Heupel talked about the impact Leach had on not only his career, but the college football landscape as a whole.

“Yeah, Mike was instrumental in my opportunity to play at a high level, to coach at a high level. He’s the guy that gave me my start. He meant so much to so many people around the country inside of college football and outside of it. I think he’s really unique in that way that you truly got a chance to see how his mind worked and operated. He had so many passions outside of the game, as well. We lost somebody that made college football extremely interesting and changed the landscape of it. At that time, college football was played in a box around a lot of the country, and his vision of playing out in space is how college football is played today.”

Leach was previously the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Oklahoma, and in 1999 a young QB hopeful Heupel transferred there from Utah. In 2000, Heupel led the Sooners to a national championship, the year after Leach left Oklahoma for the head coaching position at Texas Tech. Leach passed away on Dec. 12 from heart condition complications.

Josh Heupel on Mike Leach’s influence on him pic.twitter.com/HEwElzlaHZ

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) December 29, 2022

Ginny Boulton