What Josh Heupel Can Do For Mike Matthews

Mike Matthews is one of the top players in the 2024 class. He has a host of suitors pursuing him; how can Tennessee separate itself?

USC, Tennessee, Georgia, Clemson, and Alabama have separated themselves for 2024 athlete Mike Matthews. That's a prestigious list that includes seven of the previous eight national champions, and each program is trending upward in the new era of NIL.

Each program brings a traditional pitch to the table. Georgia is defending consecutive national championships, Clemson routinely dominates the ACC while developing elite wideouts, Alabama was college football's standard for a decade, and USC is a premier program in a premier area with a premier head coach.

Tennessee doesn't have a national championship this century. They haven't produced a first-round receiver since Cordarrelle Patterson in 2013, and they aren't in a talent-rich state like California. The coaching staff has done a great job building a relationship with Matthews, the team is rising, and the college sells itself. Still, none of those are the home-run pitch that convinces Matthews to sign with the Volunteers over all those historical programs.

Their No. 1 pitch is head coach Josh Heupel, one of college football's most innovative offensive minds. He's dealt with public scrutiny during the predraft process as scouts begin to zero in on quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt. Critics say the style is too simplistic and doesn't require too much from players; while those may be true in a small sense, we can't lose sight of how these players even got to where they are.

Giving Heupel a weapon like Matthews would do wonders for Tennesse's offense. Heupel, the play caller, is quite malleable; he can attack you downhill, make defenses run sideline-to-sideline, or run the quick game. It's a pick-your-poison system that always puts the defense in the wrong.

Matthews fits like a glove. He stands 6-2 and 180 pounds, not overpowering but enough to compete with SEC defensive backs immediately. Matthews's world-class athleticism enables him to win from various sports - he has spent his high school days moonlighting as a star safety and P5 basketball player when he isn't racing best the best Georgia corners.

That athleticism is already half the battle - Jalin Hyatt won the Biletnikoff Award in 2022 by beating defensive backs with speed and explosion; he's not a very nuanced route runner. Setting the floor for Matthews at a few shots into the boundary per game seems like a lofty bar, but someone has already done it.

Where Matthews could separate himself when he reaches college is that route-running area. He has loose hips and gets low out of his breaks; that could be a major asset in the quick game.

Heupel's pitch is simple: I can get you 800 receiving yards immediately. In truth, he really just has to turn on the Orange Bowl tape; Bru McCoy, Ramel Keyton, and Squirrel White didn't have to work hard for yardage, and Matthews brings more to the table than all three out of high school.

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