Josh Heupel coaching career: How do the statistics look for the Tennessee HC last season? Exploring football records, and more

Josh Heupel is the reigning Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year due to his stellar work reviving the Tennessee Volunteers football program.

Heupel's work with Tennessee has the Vols ranked as the No. 2 favorites in the SEC East, just behind the back-to-back national champions, Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs.

Josh Heupel didn't back down from being considered among the favorites, and he threw down a challenge to the Bulldogs.

“Real simple for us. At the end of the day, you want to play in championship games," said Heupel. "For us in ’23, that goes through the East. A lot of work to put in to get ourselves into a position to accomplish that, but really love what our guys have done up to this point in the offseason.”

Josh Heupel's Tennessee tenure

Josh Heupel was named the 2022 SEC Coach of the Year after resuscitating the Tennessee Volunteers. His accomplishments included beating Clemson in the Orange Bowl and winning against Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Volunteers won 11 games and were the No. 1-ranked offense nationally under Heupel's tutelage.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions handed out punishments for recruitment violations during Jeremy Pruitt's time at UT. Tennessee was found guilty of paying up to $60,000 in fees to recruits and their families.

The Volunteers were put on a five-year probation, handed an $8 million fine and had their scholarships limited. Crucially, they avoided a bowl ban while Pruitt got a six-year show-cause penalty.

It helped Tennessee's case that it self-reported and had already self-imposed penalties including up to 18 scholarships. The NCAA added 10 more scholarship limits bringing the total to 28.

Heupel reacted with relief to the news that the penalties weren't harsher.

"You don't know until today what it's actually going to be," Heupel said. "It's hugely important that our players were protected and the future players were protected as well. I'm really excited about the outcome."

The violations occurred way before Heupel was the coach and the current roster was around. He reacted with gratitude to the NCAA for not handing out stiffer punishments to the current playing staff:

"The logical thought is, 'How are you going to punish innocent people and innocent kids?'"

Heupel reached an agreement on a contract extension with Tennessee until 2029, worth $9 million a year.

Josh Heupel has been compared to Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart due to his tough practice sessions which render the game easy. His reawakening of Tennessee has further solidified the SEC as the toughest football conference in the country.