Oklahoma football: Was Josh Heupel a ‘fall guy’ for Bob Stoops?
By Joe Buettner
Reports are surfacing that Utah State has hired former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Josh Heupel.
Following OU’s disappointing 8-5 season, Heupel and receivers coach Jay Norvell were terminated.
Jay Norvell didn’t have a tough time picking up another high profile job. Norvell accepted a job with the Texas Longhorns, while Josh Heupel, on the other hand, will take over the offense at Utah State University.
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Heupel played college ball in Utah at Weber State and Snow College before transferring to the University of Oklahoma.
Josh Heupel’s offenses have been very hit-and-miss over the last few years and his play-calling always seemed questionable.
However, Utah State’s Scout website doesn’t think Heupel was the issue. Isaac Draxler took the opportunity to voice his opinions on the current state of Oklahoma football in an article:
"“I think that Heupel is one of the fall guys for a down year at Oklahoma. Sooner Coach Bob Stoops is feeling the heat after a down season, so what does he do? Get rid of your coordinators and make it their fault that the program is falling apart. Sooner fans will see soon enough that the issue isn’t entirely the Oklahoma assistant coaches fault. Heupel’s abilities as a coordinator and a coach weren’t in question just one season ago when Oklahoma QB Trevor Knight absolutely shredded Alabama in the 2014 Sugar Bowl to the tune of dropping 45 points on the Crimson Tide.” via UStateAggies.com"
Draxler began the article by calling Heupel a “home run hire,” which I have no problem with at all. Josh Heupel had a lot of success as a quarterbacks specialist.
However, OU football needed change. There was no rhyme or reason to the play-calling, and a schematic change was greatly needed.
If Bob Stoops wanted to fire a “fall guy,” I don’t think he’d go after a man who has family ties to the university’s president.
Josh Heupel was a great asset to the Sooners in 2000, but as a coach, Oklahoma needed to go in a different direction.
We wish the best of luck to Heupel in Utah. I expect him to excel in his position with the Aggies, but in the Big 12, Heupel wasn’t getting it done and hopefully Stoops made the right choice with Lincoln Riley.