Tag: Josh Heupel

Sep 10, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel gestures on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Tennessee’s Josh Heupel gets raise, contract extension

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel received a $1 million raise to boost his annual salary to $5 million, multiple media outlets reported on Friday.

Per reports, Heupel’s new deal will extend one year through Jan. 31, 2028.

Heupel’s pay is fully guaranteed through the 2024 season, per the Knoxville News Sentinel. The newspaper reported Heupel would receive more than $15 million if he is fired without cause prior to that.

Heupel’s assistant coaches also received raises and a one-year contract extension, per reports.

Heupel took over a team that finished 3-7 in 2020 and led Tennessee to a 7-6 record in 2021. The Volunteers followed that up by winning their first two games this season.

Tennessee, which is ranked 15th in the AP Poll, hosts Akron (1-1) on Saturday night.

–Field Level Media

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III (7) during morning football practice on campus on Friday, August 20, 2021. Kns Ut Football Practice Bp

Transfer Joe Milton to start opener at QB for Tennessee

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Michigan transfer Joe Milton will open the season as the starting quarterback for Tennessee.

New Volunteers coach Josh Heupel made the announcement Monday but said he wasn’t prepared to name a backup.

Tennessee opens the season Thursday against Bowling Green in Knoxville.

Milton had been vying with former Virginia Tech starter Hendon Hooker and Harrison Bailey, a top quarterback prospect in the 2020 class, for the starting job.

While Hooker and Bailey were with the Volunteers in the spring, Milton didn’t transfer to Tennessee until the summer session.

“He’s really done a good job, really a great job of fitting in, adjusting, learning, growing,” Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh said Wednesday. “He spent a bunch of time in May, June, July learning the system. He’s a football-smart young man. He’s played in games that matter. For him, it’s just been a terminology, a progression, a read.”

The 6-foot-5 Milton started the season opener for Michigan last year in a 49-24 win against Minnesota but was benched in their fourth game, against Wisconsin, as the Wolverines’ COVID-shortened season spiraled out of control. He also battled through a thumb injury.

Last season, Milton completed 56.7 percent of his passes for 1,077 yards, with four touchdowns and four interceptions. A redshirt junior, he has three seasons of eligibility left, gaining a year because of COVID-19 exemptions.

–Field Level Media

Sep 7, 2019; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers offensive coordinator Jim Chaney before the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Reports: Assistants Jim Chaney, Chris Weinke out at Tennessee

Posted on | by Field Level Media

New Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel is starting to assemble his staff and won’t bring back a pair of prominent assistant coaches, multiple outlets reported.

Not returning to the Volunteers are offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke.

Former coach Jeremy Pruitt, who was dismissed earlier this month after an investigation into potential recruiting violations, hired Chaney in January 2019 to lead the offense. Chaney has been a coach in college and the NFL for 36 years. He was Georgia’s offensive coordinator before moving to Knoxville.

Weinke, the 2000 Heisman Trophy winner, was hired by Pruitt in 2018 to coach running backs, then became the quarterbacks coach the following year.

He also played seven seasons in the NFL.

ESPN said Chaney still has $1.7 million remaining on his contract, with Weinke owed $450,000.

Heupel has not yet announced whether he will retain Kevin Steele, a defensive assistant who was hired just a week before Pruitt’s firing, or wide receivers coach Tee Martin. Martin was the quarterback on the last Volunteers national championship team in 1998.

Tennessee hired Heupel, formerly the coach at UCF, earlier this week.

–Field Level Media