The Locker Note That Sums Up Josh Heupel's Playing Career

Aberdeen to Ogden to Ephraim

Heupel was born on March 22, 1978, in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Fletcher told the OU Daily that when young Josh misbehaved, his father made him shovel snow up and down the neighborhood. Heupel, Fletcher said, thinks that is where his work ethic came from.

His college career started at Weber State in Ogden, Utah, where he redshirted in 1996 and played in four games in 1997. A torn ACL in spring practice in 1998 pushed him down the depth chart. So he left for Snow College, a junior college in Ephraim, Utah, and in 1998 threw for 2,308 yards and 28 touchdowns while sharing the job with another quarterback.

Next came Oklahoma, for Bob Stoops' first season as head coach in 1999. The OU Daily story has a lovely scene from his recruiting visit. Instead of going off with his future teammates, Heupel stayed behind to watch film with the new offensive coordinator, Mike Leach.

Two seasons in Norman

In 1999 Heupel led the Big 12 in pass attempts, completions and passing yards per game, according to the Shreveport-Bossier Journal. On December 31, 1999, he threw for 390 yards against Ole Miss in the Independence Bowl, then a record for the game. Oklahoma lost 27-25. He was named the offensive player of the game anyway.

The year after was the one people remember. Oklahoma went unbeaten, and the Heisman vote on December 9, 2000 came down to two quarterbacks. Chris Weinke of Florida State won with 1,628 points. Heupel had 1,552. Drew Brees finished third, LaDainian Tomlinson fourth, and Michael Vick sixth, per the Deseret News tally.

Twenty-five days later, on January 3, 2001, Oklahoma met Weinke's Florida State in the Orange Bowl for the national title. The Sooners were 12-point underdogs, UPI reported, and won 13-2 to finish 12-0 as the only unbeaten team in the country. I like his answer afterward about the Heisman, because it is so completely unbothered.

The shoulder that moved him to the sideline

The Miami Dolphins drafted him in the sixth round in 2001, 177th overall. Shoulder tendinitis in his left arm undid the pro career before it started, and he did not make the team, the OU Daily recounts. By 2003 he was back at Oklahoma as a graduate assistant. The coaching path ran from there to Arizona, back to Norman, then Utah State, Missouri, UCF and, since 2021, Tennessee.

Fletcher's own summary, which gave the OU Daily its headline, was that God made Josh Heupel to coach college football. We cannot check the theology. We can check the rest, and it holds up: a player who studied tape on his recruiting visit became a coach who still, at 48, puts a football exactly where he means to. The note on the locker said generals don't get hurt. The better lesson from his career is that they get back up.