Former Sooners QB Jason White offers strong comments on Josh Heupel's time at Oklahoma and Heupel's exit from Norman

Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jason White joined The Family Business podcast this week to discuss his football journey and his time in Norman.

At one point during the interview, White was asked how it felt to be the first Oklahoma quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy.

White was quick to give credit to former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Josh Heupel, now the the head coach of the Tennessee Vols, for winning the Heisman in 2005.

"I don't ever take credit for that, I always give the credit to Heup," said White. "You know, Josh Heupel, when I got here, it was his first year here as well -- he was a transfer, so it was his first year. But I always noticed that he would go do these extra workouts after our workouts. And I asked him one day, 'hey, what are you doing with all of this?' And he's like 'oh, it's all footwork drills and stuff like that'. And I said 'do you mind if I join you?' And he's like 'well, I'll make you a deal, if you join me, the first time you miss, that's it, don't come back'. And I was like 'ok, well you're not a coach, but ok'. So I ended up joining him and I started doing it and it just kind of snowballed from there. Because after that, Paul Thompson started joining me. And then after that, Sam Bradford was joining Paul Thompson. So it just kind of snowballed that everyone -- I don't know if they still do it or not.

"But that was just, Josh kind of started it for everybody. Just started that work ethic in the quarterback room. And then spending the time in the film room, Josh spent so much time in the film room studying. And he actually helped me like 'hey, this is what you need to look for when you're studying'. Just to be a part of that group of quarterbacks that came through, it's truly an honor."

(Show host and former Oklahoma fullback Joe Castiglione Jr noted that Sooners quarterbacks still do those extra footwork drills to this day.)

White was then asked how he felt about how Heupel's time at Oklahoma ended (Heupel wasn't retained by then head coach Bob Stoops as the Sooners' offensive coordinator after the 2014 season).

"He didn't quite make it here (at OU) for different reasons," said White. "And it worked out for him to be a head coach at a great school and have great success there. Josh, I always felt like you got the best from Josh no matter what he was doing. Whether he was a quarterback -- he was actually in 03, he was like a GA (graduate assistant) and so it was really cool to have a guy like that to come to the sideline after a series and him tell you 'hey, this, this, and this' and I took advantage of that because he was so smart. He literally was a coach on the field. And so to be able to have that was amazing.

"And to see the success that success that he's had, I never doubted that he would have success. But you know, the way that he had to leave OU, it was an unfortunate situation. But at the same time, it's opened a lot of doors for him. And he got a great experience from being here. Without this experience, who knows if he would've ever got that opportunity."

Heupel, who guided OU to a national championship in 2000, will return to Norman on September 21 when Tennessee takes on Oklahoma in what will be the Sooners' first official SEC game.

"It's going to be cool to see him (Heupel) come home, hopefully the fans welcome him with open arms," said Isaac Stoops (the son of Bob Stoops). "I don't see why they wouldn't."

It seems like every single player who took the field with Heupel at Oklahoma has an incredible amount of respect for him as a man and as a player. That's why it shouldn't come as a surprise that he's finding incredible success at Tennessee on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Related: The main reason for Josh Heupel's quick success at Tennessee is because of a detail that the media consistently ignores