Tennessee Football: Josh Heupel’s first task is finding a quarterback

The right quarterback can change the fortunes of a program. Josh Heupel needs to find his as the new head coach of Tennessee football. 

The Clemson Tigers proved you could win National Titles with recruiting classes in the teens. Trevor Lawrence’s class was the second top ten class under Dabo Swinney. DeShaun Watson’s class, the first to play for and win a title under Swinney, was rated 16th in 2014. In both cases, what the Tigers did was go after the quarterbacks they wanted, in addition to other key positions, and develop in other areas.

The point is Clemson transformed their program by recruiting and developing the quarterback position. Programs can accelerate their building process with elite quarterback play. Under both Butch Jones and Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee football has proven elite talent at other positions can’t move the needle as the quarterback does.

This makes Josh Heupel potentially a good hire for Tennessee football. Heupel has a history of working with and developing quarterbacks that go back to Oklahoma in 2006.

A former All-American quarterback himself, Heupel understands the pressure of playing the position at the highest college football level. Tennessee is not devoid of talent, even with the rash of transfers. The process can move smoother with consistent play at quarterback.