Why Kelsey Pope Stood Out To Josh Heupel

Tennessee Volunteers wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope has been a fast-riser in the coaching industry, and head coach Josh Heupel took us back to the beginning.

Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope is one of the top performers across college football. The former offensive analyst got promoted to wide receivers coach after the 2021 season - head coach Josh Heupel needed to fill the role, but instead of looking outside or to a previous connection, one of the top offensive minds in football decided to promote a 29-year-old with no previous assistant roles to his resume.

While the decision was interesting at the time, it certainly paid dividends. Pope has only been the wide receivers coach for one season, but his accomplishments rival those who have been in the profession for a decade. At only 31 years old, Pope is widely regarded as the top receivers coach in the SEC, especially when you factor all of this into one season.

• Produced Tennessee's first Biletnikoff Award winner (Jalin Hyatt)
• Produced 2 top-100 NFL Draft picks (Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman)
• Been the lead recruiter for three top-100 commits (Mike Matthews, Nathan Leacock, Cameron Seldon)
• Landed Tennessee's No. 1-rated WR in program history (Mike Matthews)

He's done all that... and got the promotion less than 17 months ago. Pope is the biggest and best promotion of the Heupel era thus far, and the head man took the opportunity to explain what he saw when he first met Pope. On the first day of media availability in fall camp, Heupel walked listeners back to when the two first met, remarking how he immediately was impressed with Pope's demeanor and personality. "Striking in his ability to communicate at a really high level, his understanding fundamentals and technique at the wide receiver position," Heupel explained. "Overall scheme, his understanding and then had a year of incorporating truly into it to what we're doing. From the moment that he's been here, he's had great relationships. He cares about his players."

Tennessee WRs coach Kelsey Pope during practice in Knoxville, Tennessee, on April 5, 2022. (Photo by Calvin Mattheis of the News Sentinel)

As Tennessee charges into year three of the Heupel regime, many have floated the question: what is Tennessee's biggest strength heading into 2023? You can make a well-reasoned argument for the wide receiver group is that top strength, a drastic turn from a few seasons ago. Heupel credits Pope for those differences, underscoring that everyone in the building has confidence in him, from coaches to players and everyone in between. "Year 1, him being instrumental in the growth of some of the guys that played at a high level. Like I said, (Cedric) Tillman, the development of Jalin Hyatt. Our guys have great trust in him and couldn't be more excited to have him here." 

Pope gets a new group of guys to work with this season - Bru McCoy, Squirrel White, Ramel Keyton, and Dont'e Thornton are the headliners, with other young pieces mixed in. The first three have all been productive in Tennessee's system, but they are also walking into 2023 with different expectations. Pope is working over the next few weeks to ensure they are ready for that new spotlight, and given his track record, it wouldn't be wise to bet against him.

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