Tennessee football fans want Josh Heupel to take blame, fire coaches, bench QB Joe Milton

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Tennessee football fans blame Josh Heupel for the Vols being outplayed, outcoached and ill-prepared in a 36-7 loss to Missouri on Saturday.

Now they want him to do something about it.

UT fans called for Heupel to fire assistant coaches, bench quarterback Joe Milton and look in the mirror to figure out why his teams lose road games in such a lopsided fashion.

About 200 questions were fired off by frustrated UT fans via our free Vols text group after the worst loss of the Heupel era. And they want answers.

Tennessee (7-3, 3-3 SEC) plays Georgia (10-0, 7-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS) at Neyland Stadium. But first, let’s dive into this week’s Vols mailbag.

How did UT choke in back-to-back years with a lot on the line?

I don't have that answer. And judging from Heupel’s postgame comments, neither does he.

Last season, UT lost 63-38 to South Carolina in a game that bumped it out of the College Football Playoff picture.

This loss to Missouri took UT out of contention for a New Year’s Six bowl. And at game time, the Vols still had a chance at the SEC East title until Georgia beat Ole Miss later Saturday.

Both debacles were in November. And it appeared the team was helpless to turn the game around in both instances.

Is Josh Heupel’s road record as bad as I think it is?

Probably not. At UT, Heupel is 6-7 on the road, 17-3 at home and 2-1 at neutral sites.

The contrast between home and away makes his road record seem even worse. And the lopsided nature of a few of those losses – South Carolina (2022), Florida (2023) and Missouri (2023) – leaves more of an impression.

If the level of the performance counts, it’s been notably bad. But putting the scoring margins aside, the record isn’t as bad as it seems.

Five of six road losses under Heupel were to ranked teams. He also beat ranked opponents Kentucky (2021), Pittsburgh (2022) and LSU (2022) on the road.

Why does this team fall apart in road games except Kentucky?

I think it’s reasonable to assume there’s a leadership void that was never completely filled from last season’s team. Adversity in road games and injuries have exposed those deficiencies.

Cooper Mays is the leader on the offensive line, and he didn’t play in the Florida game due to injury. Bru McCoy was the leader among wide receivers, but he suffered a season-ending injury against South Carolina.

Keenan Pili, a former BYU captain, was added to be a leader in the linebacking corps. But he’s been out with an injury since the season opener.

Leadership is only one factor. And there are still respected voices on this team. But it’s fair to say there aren’t enough.

Does UT have a discipline problem? I see red flags.

I don’t think this team reacts well to adversity. Is that a problem of leadership or discipline or accountability? They’re all under the same umbrella.

I don’t see egregious examples of bad behavior. But penalties have plagued this team all season, as it ranks No. 128 among 133 FBS teams in penalty yards.

That’s nothing new. Heupel’s teams have ranked No. 103 or worse in each of his six seasons as a head coach at UT and UCF.

Some pre-snap penalties are baked into the cake when your offense runs as fast as UT’s does. But additional penalties have come at the worst times this season.

Will Willie Martinez be retained as secondary coach?

Well, Willie Martinez is the only coach on Heupel’s staff whose contract is not extended beyond this season. So there’s a chance he won’t be retained.

But that’s not assured. Martinez has been on Heupel’s staff the past six seasons at UCF and UT.

Heupel values staff stability, and he has never fired an assistant coach. At UT, offensive coordinator Alex Golesh left to be coach of South Florida, and Kodi Burns left to coach wide receivers for the New Orleans Saints.

At UCF, Heupel lost offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to Ole Miss and tight ends coach Jon Cooper to Arkansas.

But not extending Martinez's contract may be a way for Heupel to get rid of him without firing him. If a coach is let go, he'd be a prime candidate.

Will Heupel consider changing his defensive coordinator?

I don’t think so.

Heupel credits defensive coordinator Tim Banks with improving the Vols’ rushing defense and pass rush. Neither showed up against Missouri. But Heupel will judge Banks based on the season rather than one terrible game.

UT is still ranked No. 3 in scoring defense and No. 4 in total defense in the SEC.

But tweaks in scheme or personnel definitely must happen in the pass defense. Banks coaches safeties, and Martinez coaches cornerbacks. However, it appeared the linebackers had as many pass coverage problems as defensive backs against Missouri.

SPARKS Another ugly road loss by Tennessee makes us see 2023 season in new light

Have opponents figured out Josh Heupel’s offense by November?

The offense wasn’t good. It scored seven points, the fewest of Heupel’s tenure.

But I think UT’s poor defensive performance exacerbated the offensive woes in lopsided losses in the past two Novembers.

In the 2022 loss to South Carolina, the Vols scored 38 points and gained 507 yards. Both marks weren’t far below their averages as the No. 1 offense in the nation in 2022.

In this loss to Missouri, UT averaged 6.1 yards per offensive play. That’s slightly below its 6.6-yard average in the first nine games. The offensive output seemed worse because UT rarely had the ball.

Did the team even practice this week? It looked totally unprepared.

I asked Heupel after the game if he had any indication during the week that UT would play poorly. He said he did not, and he thought the team practiced well in anticipation of a tough road game.

Heupel is credible on that topic because he’s criticized his team’s lack of focus before, particularly in the 2021 season.

Is it time to bench Joe Milton?

Based on his play alone, absolutely not.

Milton passed for 267 yards, one TD and one interception despite injuries to receivers and limited offensive possessions. Missouri's Brady Cook passed for 275 yards, one TD and one interception, and his performance was celebrated.

Milton didn't play well in this game. But there were about 10 reasons that UT lost to Missouri before placing blame on Milton.

Why not play backups and freshmen at the end of the game?

Granted, the game was still in reach until Missouri scored a TD on an interception return for a 29-7 lead with 6:21 remaining. But after that, the starters should’ve been out of the game.

Heupel has always kept his starters in much longer than other coaches. In this instance, it’s obvious that he did so to make the score look better. Otherwise, why would UT attempt a field goal with 34 seconds remaining?

But Heupel is partially responsible for tempers flaring at the end of the game. Starting right guard Javontez Spraggins was flagged for a personal foul on UT’s final offensive play. And defensive lineman Elijah Simmons pushed Cook on his kneel down, which almost started a fight.

Neither player should’ve been in the game that late. Tempers don’t flare as easily for reserve players because they haven’t endured the loss directly.

Why not play Nico Iamaleava when the game got out of hand?

Heupel planned to not redshirt Nico Iamaleava, the five-star freshman quarterback. But circumstances changed, and it doesn’t make sense to toss away the redshirt for a few plays.

Wins over Austin Peay and UTSA were closer than expected, so Iamaleava didn’t play in those games. He can play in a maximum four games and still retain his redshirt, and he’s only played in three games.

If Iamaleava is as good as advertised, he’ll be in the NFL before needing a fifth year of college. So a redshirt probably won’t matter.

But that’s not guaranteed. And being this close to redshirting him, UT shouldn’t toss away that possibility for Iamaleava to throw a few passes to finish a blowout loss to Missouri.

Is it Nico time now that the biggest goals are off the table?

Again, Heupel must decide whether he wants to seek a redshirt for Iamaleava. If Iamaleava plays only one more game, he can retain a year of eligibility and start next season as a redshirt freshman.

For example, Iamaleava could play against Vanderbilt but not Georgia or in the bowl game, or he could sit the next two games and play the bowl game. Either scenario would apply a redshirt.

If Heupel takes the redshirt off the table, he might consider giving Iamaleava snaps in each of the next three games. It seems like an all-or-nothing decision. But I think it’s likely Milton will start the remainder of the season.

Is UT going to the Music City Bowl or Liberty Bowl?

Probably neither. Bowl slots depend on record more than point differential. I know fans feel like the bottom dropped out, but UT only lost one game on Saturday.

I think losing to Missouri ultimately will drop UT from the Citrus Bowl or ReliaQuest Bowl to the Gator Bowl. But there are a lot of moving parts to still determine that.

For now, let’s say Georgia goes to the CFP and Alabama goes to a New Year’s Six bowl.

Ole Miss and Missouri likely will finish at 10-2. One could go to a New Year’s Six bowl, and the other will get the Citrus Bowl. If LSU goes 9-3, it could land in the ReliaQuest Bowl, formerly Outback Bowl.

In that scenario, an 8-4 UT team could get the Gator Bowl (Dec. 29, Jacksonville, Florida). So even if the Vols lose to Georgia, they must beat Vanderbilt for a chance at a Florida bowl.

But the SEC needs to get one team in the CFP and two teams in the other New Year’s Six bowls for that to play out.

Is Tennessee that bad or Missouri that good?

That was UT’s worst performance. That was Missouri’s best performance. But the result separated them into different classes.

The top tier of the SEC included Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss. And now definitely put Missouri into that group because of the way it clobbered UT and competed with Georgia.

UT is in the second tier. Where it stands in that group will depend on how it finishes the regular season against Georgia and Vanderbilt.

Were the linebackers invisible? I didn’t see them make any plays.

They were noticeably ineffective and slow. And they were hurt by the absence of speedy freshman Arion Carter, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury.

Aaron Beasley had three tackles, including one for a loss. But he didn’t make an impact. Elijah Herring appeared to be two steps behind in pass coverage for much of the game.

UT tried freshman Jeremiah Telander and sophomore Kalib Perry, but nothing worked.

Missouri converted 11 of 17 third downs. And running back Cody Schrader became the first player in SEC history with 200 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in the same game.

Poor linebacker play contributed to both.

Can Heupel really win a championship? Or has he hit his ceiling?

Nobody knows that. Not Heupel. Not athletics director Danny White.

Only time will tell, but the path is about to change. The SEC will get tougher with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma in 2024. But expanding the College Football Playoff to 12 teams should open the door wider for teams like UT.

In college basketball, there’s a notion that anything can happen if you can get into the tournament and get hot.

If UT goes 10-2 in future seasons, that’ll probably be good enough to get into the tournament. Then we’ll see.

Why did Heupel punt the ball when UT was in Missouri territory?

UT punted in Missouri territory three times. The first two decisions were sensible because they were near midfield, it wasn’t short yardage, and the score was close.

UT punted on fourth-and-4 from the Missouri 48 in a scoreless game. It punted on fourth-and-6 at the 48 with Missouri leading 10-7.

The last one was fourth-and-12 from the Missouri 38 because of a holding penalty. That was too far to go, even for Heupel.

How did the SEC’s No. 1 rush offense get less than 50 yards from running backs?

Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson rushed for 47 yards on 13 carries. That’s not great. But it’s an average of 3.6 yards per carry, which isn’t terrible.

The main factors were time of possession and penalties. Heupel said Missouri surprised UT with its defensive personnel on the opening drive. By the time UT got the ball to make adjustments for its second possession, it was the second quarter.

And penalties put the Vols into bad down-and-distance situations where they had to pass the ball more than they wanted.

Will next year’s recruits fix these problems?

No, because freshmen rarely impact teams immediately.

UT’s 2024 class is ranked No. 12 by 247Sports Composite. And it’ll be fun to see if five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews or five-star edge rusher Jordan Ross can play right away.

But transfers impact teams quicker than freshmen. UT must have success in the transfer portal and develop its players from the previous two recruiting classes.

Why does Dee Williams, one of nation’s best kick returners, fair catch kickoffs?

Dee Williams isn’t one of the best kick returners in college football. He’s one of the best punt returners. There’s a difference in how both returns set up.

In two seasons, Williams' longest kick return was 34 yards. He averages about 20 yards per return, and UT is near the bottom of the SEC in kick return average (18.3). Williams probably should fair catch more kicks not fewer.

How can the Vols regain confidence for the Georgia game?

Pride could be a factor. UT has won 14 straight at Neyland Stadium, and players obviously feel more confident there.

If pride fails, then survival may be enough to bring out UT’s best.

If the Vols aren’t ready to play, they could get embarrassed by Georgia, arguably the best team in college football. And then the season ends in a tailspin.

But UT is good enough to put up a fight against Georgia. Will it? That remains to be seen.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football fans want Josh Heupel to take blame, bench Joe Milton