Longtime Oklahoma reporter confirms suspicion about Tennessee Vols HC Josh Heupel

Tennessee Vols fans have long suspected that UT head coach Josh Heupel is the college football version of Michael Jordan.

Essentially, Heupel takes things personally. And he uses it as a chip on his shoulder to fuel his fire.

We've seen glimpses of that approach during Heupel's time at Tennessee, whether it was running the score up a bit against Missouri in 2022, or the "real football" comments after beating Kentucky in 2022. Or even the time he jabbed back at ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit after some false rumors were spread by the College GameDay host.

Earlier this week, longtime Oklahoma football reporter John Hoover joined Off the Hook Sports to discuss Heupel and this weekend's matchup between the Vols and the Sooners.

Hoover was asked point-blank if he thinks Heupel has that "Michael Jordan/takes things personally" trait.

"Yes, very much so, very much so," said Hoover with a grin. "I think he internalizes that stuff. He doesn't wear it on his sleeve. He doesn't externalize it and go around tooting his own horn or saying that nobody believed in us, everybody counted us out. He might bring that up once in a while, but I don't think he flies that flag so to speak."

I don't think Heupel makes bulletin board material the center of his universe. But it certainly seems like that kind of stuff motivates him and gives him a little extra juice.

And that's a good thing for Tennessee. The best athletes/coaches in history -- from Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan to Nick Saban and Patrick Mahomes -- almost always share that same trait. Vols fans should be happy that Heupel has a little pettiness in him.

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