We continue the national coaching debates with Josh Heupel at Tennessee vs. Shane Beamer at South Carolina.
The case for Heupel:
He’s proven that he’s as good an offensive mind as anyone in college football over the past few seasons with the way that he’s transformed the Volunteers. Since coming to Knoxville from UCF, he’s turned Hendon Hooker into one of the top quarterbacks in the SEC, beat Alabama for the first time in nearly two decades, and turned the Vols into one of the top teams on the trail. His Wide Splits offense can be accused of being gimmicky but it’s one of the most effective attacks in college football.
The case against Heupel:
While Joe Milton looked good in the Vols’ Orange Bowl victory over Clemson, it will be a very different task for Heupel to get him to continue to have the accuracy he’ll need to succeed as the full-time starter in 2023. Additionally, his defenses have yet to establish themselves in any meaningful way at either UCF or Tennessee yet.
The case for Beamer:
The Gamecocks were among the teams with the most momentum in the country heading into the spring, coming off of two huge wins to finish their 2022 season in upsets over Tennessee and Clemson. That momentum continued to the trail, where, somewhat shockingly, Beamer was able to land five-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor and finish with a top-20 class nationally. The Gamecocks are off to a hot start in the 2024 class as well, currently ranked in the top 10.
More Sports News
The case against Beamer:
Up until those final two games of 2022, things were not exactly going great in Columbia, most notably the struggles of former five-star quarterback Spencer Rattler. And while it’s not something necessarily within his control, there has never been a consistent run of success at any coach at South Carolina
The verdict:
Although the offense might be a little gimmicky, it doesn’t matter as long as it works, and it certainly does for Heupel. So even though Beamer may have the edge on the trail right now, Heupel isn’t far behind in that category and holds a slight lead in most of the others.
