'We'll win big': Josh Heupel tells On3's Chris Low he's not a candidate for Penn State job

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel is not a candidate for the opening at Penn State, he told On3’s Chris Low on Monday. Heupel had previously been rumored to be on the list of candidates for the Nittany Lions, who fired James Franklin on November 30.

Low reported that Heupel “understands the restlessness among fans” after a 45-24 loss to Vanderbilt to end a frustrating 8-4 regular season, but added that “nobody’s expectations are higher than his or anybody else’s within the program.”

“I wouldn’t want low expectations,” Heupel told Low. “That’s part of why I want to be here. We’ll win big.”

Josh Heupel is 45-19 in four seasons at Tennessee

Heupel is 45-19 overall with a 24-16 record in SEC play over the last five seasons at Tennessee, winning 11 games in 2022, 10 games last season, nine in 2023 and seven in 2021. 

The Vols lost in the first round of the College Football Playoff at Ohio State last December. They beat Clemson in the Orange Bowl to finish 11-2 in 2022, lost to Purdue in the Music City Bowl in 2021 to finish 7-6 and beat Iowa in the Citrus Bowl to go 9-4 in 2023.

Tennessee limped to the finish line this season with an 8-4 record, going 4-4 in SEC play with a 45-24 loss to Vanderbilt — Vandy outscored the Vols 31-3 to close the game — as the exclamation point. 

Tennessee failed to beat an FBS opponent with better than a .500 record. The Vols beat two five-win teams in Mississippi State and Kentucky, three four-win teams in Florida, UAB and New Mexico State, a three-win Syracuse team and a two-win Arkansas team.

The Vols had a chance to beat Georgia on a field goal at the end of regulation, but the kick missed and the Bulldogs won in overtime, after rallying from down eight points in the closing minutes. 

Tennessee threw a game-changing interception returned 100 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half at Alabama, when the Vols were looking to go into the break down 16-14 and instead trailed 23-7.

Three turnovers doomed the Vols in a 33-27 home loss to Oklahoma, which ended any playoff hopes. The loss to Vandy on Saturday — the Commodores had 582 yards of total offense, including 314 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns — gave Tennessee three home losses this season, after Heupel had lost only four home games over his first four seasons with the Vols. 

It all came on the heels of a College Football Playoff berth last season, when Tennessee went 10-2 with losses to Georgia and Arkansas on the way to a No. 9 seed in the first 12-team playoff field. 

Josh Heupel followed Danny White to Tennessee in 2021

Heupel was hired at Tennessee in January 2021, replacing Jeremy Pruitt while following new Vols athletic director Danny White from Central Florida. Heupel in three seasons at UCF went 28-8 with a 19-5 record in the American Athletic Conference. 

His first UCF team went 12-1 in 2018, followed by 10-3 in 2019. He left for Tennessee after going 6-4 (5-3 AAC) in 2020.