Bruce Feldman Ranks CFB's Top Coaches, Heupel Surprisingly Low

Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel came in lower than expected on a recent top head coaches list on The Athletic.

Brady Penn | Mar 13, 2023

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Tennessee Volunteers

With the recent success of Tennessee football, both on the field and off of it in recruiting, it is fair to wonder where head coach Josh Heupel ranks among his peers. Not many could have turned this ship around as fast as Heupel has.

Recently, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic released an article ranking those he believes to be the 25 best coaches in the nation. On that list, coming in at number 22, was Heupel.

On Heupel, Feldman wrote, "He took what was a punch line of a program in the wake of a dumpster fire of a decade and somehow got the Vols to an 11-2 mark in Year 2. That's quite a feat."

Feldman also referenced Heupel's 28-8 mark at the University of Central Florida after taking over for the departed Scott Frost. Heupel has seen success at almost every stop he has made in his football journey, whether playing or coaching.

Heupel is one of seven SEC head coaches in Feldman's rankings. However, to the dismay of Vols nation, he certainly comes in below each of the other six. Those six are Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, Brian Kelly, Jimbo Fisher, Mark Stoops, and Hugh Freeze.

You can make the case that each of those six has more established legacies, and of course, there are no doubters, such as Saban and Smart. However, Heupel is building his own legacy, and if last season is any sign of things to come, it will be a legacy to be proud of.

Jimbo Fisher is one of 5 active coaches with an FBS national title. He had four Top 10 finishes at FSU, but in the past six years, he's only had two seasons a winning record in league play and 2022 was a disaster at A&M. Is he still a top 10 coach? https://t.co/2vW0cei7SQ
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) March 10, 2023

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Published Mar 13, 2023

BRADY PENN

Brady Penn is a writer who has spent multiple years covering sports for multiple publications. Starting with "The Clarion", Brevard College's school publication, where he won an award for Sportswriting from the North Carolina Collegiate Media Association. Brady continues his work with The Clarion, as well as writing for SI's Volunteer Country and writing Braves pieces for SportsTalkATL.com. Brady is a rising Senior at Brevard, where he plays Football and does Play-by-Play broadcasting for BC Baseball, Men's/Women's Basketball and Softball.