I’m not gonna lie that this has affected me more than expected. Spent too much time yesterday watching as many clips as I could. Would’ve been incredible to hang out with and evidently he just hung out and talked to everyday people very often.
I know we nearly had him in 2017 post the Schiano debacle, but I remember him also being on the short list of candidates when we fired Fulmer in 2008, ultimately replacing him with Kiffin. Hiring him in 2008 would have really been something. Who knows what Tennessee would have looked like those next 10 years had we gone with him or Patterson instead of Kiffin.
Many UT fans felt his “gimmick offense” wouldn’t work in the SEC and we would play no D. Sounds a little familiar… Except our “gimmick” offense just set a lot of records and made a Belitnekoff winner out of a dude who had 7 catches 2 years ago. If we can find a defense to hold teams in the 20s we may never lose another game.
Count me as someone who at the time wanted Patterson over Leach if it came down to those two. His unconventional offense definitely made me wonder if it could translate here successfully. Hindsight is everything, but looking back Leach probably would have elevated us in that era especially when you consider Florida was on the verge of dropping off as being a perennial powerhouse in the post Tebow era. The SEC East was ripe for the taking post those Florida 2008/2009 teams.
The difference between Heupel and Leach is that Heupel isn't beholden to anything about his "system." Heupel is always refining what he does on offense where Leach was married to the Air Raid.
