Josh Heupel has fast-tracked Tennessee football. How he did it, and can he keep it up?

The only thing faster than Tennessee’s supercharged offense is the Tennessee turnaround.

Two seasons ago, Vols football was a dumpster fire. A 3-7 season and NCAA violations deep-sixed coach Jeremy Pruitt. Athletics director Phil Fulmer stepped down. Even Smokey, Tennessee’s bluetick coonhound mascot, hung his head.

Then UT hired UCF’s Danny White to head its athletics program. And on January 27, 2021, White hired UCF coach Josh Heupel to lead the football program.

Presto: Heading into Saturday’s game against Kentucky, Tennessee is 7-0 overall, 3-0 in the SEC. It boasts the nation’s No. 1 offense. It snapped 15-year losing streak to Alabama. It is No. 3 in the latest Associated Press rankings.

Did anyone expect Heupel to turn the Vols this fast?

“I’m beyond surprised,” said David Paschall, who covers Tennessee and the SEC for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “Given the mess of a situation he inherited, I thought 6-6 was last year’s regular-season ceiling, and he went 7-5. I thought 8-4 or 9-3 would be that logical next step this season, so he keeps proving me wrong.”

“It’s borderline miraculous,” said longtime Knoxville News Sentinel sports columnist John Adams. “Look at all the coaches who failed. The program declined under Phillip Fulmer. Lane Kiffin left after one year. Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt were fired.

“Pruitt qualifies as one of the worst coaches in SEC history. He not only had a losing record at a program once accustomed to winning. He left the program in the NCAA crosshairs. Eleven starters transferred.”

“No reasonable person saw Tennessee being a national title contender this quickly,” said Adam Sparks, who covers Tennessee football for the News Sentinel.

The 44-year-old Heupel has done it with a drastically different scheme on offense. As Oklahoma’s quarterback in 2000, Heupel led the Sooners to the national title executing the Air Raid offense. As a head coach, Heupel’s attack features deeper throws and a quicker tempo.

After going 28-8 in three seasons at UCF, Heupel’s Tennessee 2021 debut produced seven wins and the school’s single-season scoring record.

“Sure, Heupel has injected the program with a fun tone, his even-keeled nature and good practice habits,” Sparks said. “But none of those intangibles matter if Tennessee isn’t extraordinarily good on offense.”

How extraordinary? The Vols average an eye-popping 50.1 points and 571.7 total yards per game. They have scored on 38 of 39 trips inside the red zone. They scored 52 points on Alabama.

“They’re on fire offensively,” said UK Coach Mark Stoops, who coached with Heupel for a season (2005) at Arizona under Mark’s brother Mike. “It’s always been a quality program with great players, there’s no question, but Josh has done a remarkable job.”

“You hear new coaches talk all the time about changing the culture, and Tennessee had a culture that drastically needed changing,” Paschall said. “Josh Heupel is 20 months into the job, and I’ve yet to hear him be critical of a player. He came in and instantly started offering encouragement, which helped build a quicker-than-expected foundation.”

Next question: Can Heupel keep it going? He won with Scott Frost’s players at UCF before slipping to 6-4 in 2020. He’s winning now with Pruitt’s players and portal transfers.

“Heupel has veterans across the board on this year’s team, whether they began their careers at Tennessee or not,” Paschall said. “With nine seconds left against Alabama, a Virginia Tech transfer quarterback (Hendon Hooker) threw to a Southern California transfer receiver (Bru McCoy) to set up the winning 40-yard field goal by a USC transfer kicker (Chase McGrath). This is a very mature team that has acted the part.”

As for the future, the Vols are 10th in 2023 recruiting according to Rivals, 11th according to the 247Sports composite.

“I think Heupel is the best offensive coach in the SEC since Steve Spurrier,” Adams said. “Heupel’s demeanor is as important as the offense. He doesn’t get flustered over a three-and-out or a setback of any kind. His players have picked up on that. They’re unfazed by adversity. They just keep playing hard and with plenty of confidence.”

And winning much faster than most expected.

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