One random event can completely change the trajectory of a career in the sports world.
And that may have been the case with Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel’s career thanks to an ill-advised decision by former Oklahoma Sooners head coach Bob Stoops in 2014.
By now, most Vols fans are aware that Stoops fired Heupel after the 2014 season, despite the fact that Heupel, as a player, helped Stoops win the only national championship of his head coaching career.
Stoops fired Heupel after Oklahoma went 8-5 in 2014. The Sooners’ offense struggled a bit during Heupel’s final two seasons due to some injuries. Oklahoma’s defense was a bigger issue, but Stoops was never going to fire his brother, Mike, who served as the program’s defensive coordinator at the time.
“In those last two years at Oklahoma, we changed for two reasons. No. 1, because of the philosophy of the head coach and what he wanted to do. And No. 2, because of injuries,” said Heupel in 2018 about his final seasons at OU. “We played five quarterbacks in those last two years because of injuries. When you do that, you’re going to change your philosophy to fit what the quarterbacks can do at that point in their development.”
If not for one decision by Stoops in the 2014 version of “Bedlam”, Heupel may have kept his job for another season, which would’ve meant coaching Baker Mayfield in 2015.
In the final game of the 2014 regular season, the Sooners led Oklahoma State 35-28 with a minute remaining in the game. Stoops elected to punt to Tyreek Hill (currently a superstar wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins), who was one of the most electric returners in the country. And he returned the punt 92 yards for a touchdown to force overtime. Oklahoma State would go on to win the game 38-35 in overtime
The worst part of the decision is that Oklahoma actually punted twice. The first punt was fair caught at the 15 yard line, but Oklahoma State was called for running into the kicker. Stoops, for reasons that will never make sense, decided to take the penalty and punt again. And that’s when Hill tied the game.
“No, I shouldn’t have punted to him a second time,” said Stoops this week.
If Oklahoma doesn’t punt again to Hill, there’s a great chance the Sooners hold on to win the game (Oklahoma State didn’t have any timeouts remaining).
And then who knows what happens in the bowl game from there. Maybe the vibes around Norman change and they beat Clemson in the Citrus Bowl instead of losing 40-6. Or maybe the Sooners play in a different bowl and get a win.
If Oklahoma wins those final two games of the season to finish 10-3 instead of 8-5, it seems unlikely that Heupel gets fired. And again, who knows what happens from there. Maybe Heupel and Baker Mayfield help the Sooners win a national championship in 2015. And maybe Heupel becomes the head coach at Oklahoma after Stoops retires (instead of Lincoln Riley). It’s a wild what if game that, ultimately, doesn’t really matter now. Heupel’s finding success at Tennessee, Tyreek Hill is burning defensive backs on a weekly basis in the NFL, and Stoops is enjoying retirement.
I’d say Tennessee fans are quite happy, in retrospect, that Stoops decided to punt to Hill on that night nearly 10 years ago.
