NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Josh Heupel got (very unofficially) inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
Heupel spoke with reporters during a break in the second day of the SEC’s spring meetings. In between Heupel’s answers on some pretty heavy, off-the-field topics about the direction of college football, an Oklahoma-based reporter congratulated Heupel on his Hall of Fame induction.
Just one problem with that.
Heupel’s not in the Hall of Fame.
He’s been on the ballot, along with 77 other former players last year, but Heupel did not earn selection to the 2024 class.
“I’m not in the Hall of Fame, but I appreciate that,” Heupel, Tennessee’s coach, said with a grin in response to the reporter who congratulated him. “For everybody here, if we can get that done, that would be great.”
Heupel normally is pretty dry and businesslike in his interactions with the media, but his humorous response to the reporter’s slip of tongue drew laughs from the assembled sportswriters.
TOPPMEYER: Without Nick Saban, who’s the SEC’s new top dog? Lane Kiffin spills the beans
Heupel’s résumé makes him a worthy Hall of Fame candidate, at least. He finished as the 2000 Heisman Trophy runner-up and led Oklahoma to the national championship that season.
Heupel took a circuitous route to Sooner stardom. He enjoyed a standout career as Aberdeen Central’s quarterback in South Dakota, but FBS offers didn’t materialize out of high school.
“I was a left-handed quarterback from the middle of nowhere, in some respects,” Heupel told me in 2021. “At that time, WAC schools, I was a second or third choice at BYU or Wyoming.
“I was set on an official visit to the University of Houston in early January, and they ended up getting a commitment from somebody else. So, that’s just how the recruiting kind of fell for…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/hall-fame-why-josh-heupel-194518904.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-05-29 19:45:18
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
