With the conclusion of Tennessee football’s 2025 regular season, there have been rumors floating around about the possibility that Vols head coach Josh Heupel could leave Rocky Top for the opening at Penn State. However, according to a well-sourced college football reporter, he doesn’t seem to be a real candidate in Happy Valley.
Chris Low of On3 and the co-host of the RTI Low-Down gave his thoughts on the rumors during the most recent episode of the podcast. He said that he hasn’t heard Heupel’s name tied to Penn State from anybody that he trusts.
“I’ve not heard Josh’s name at Penn State among anybody that I believe or trust,” Low said. “I think it’s a popular name to throw out there. Penn State is probably in a position now where they got to have somebody that’s had some success, who is established. You look at some of the places that have been looking for coaches that just hired them, Florida has sort of been the antithesis of instability over the last decade. Auburn just hired Alex Golesh, he will be their fourth head coach in seven years. Certainly, you don’t want to get in that rut where you’re just not hiring the right guy.
“I think it’s one of those things where Tennessee is a good enough job and he has done enough and done a lot of the heavy lifting, I think we would agree he has done a lot of heavy lifting, does he right now want to go, and maybe there’s something to be said for restarting your clock, but does he want to go and start that heavy lifting again at a place where you win nine games, you win 10 games, it’s not going to be enough? I think he’s probably too invested in the challenge of getting Tennessee where he wants to get it to go take on another one. I do think that there are going to be names like his that are out there for a job like Penn State. I was really surprised we didn’t hear his name in some of the other ones. But no, I do not believe that to be the case at this point that he’s a real candidate at Penn State.”
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Heupel just concluded his fifth regular season at Tennessee with a brutal loss to in-state rival Vanderbilt. The Commodores used a 31-3 run to end the game to win 45-24 in Neyland Stadium. This resulted in an 8-4 (4-4 SEC) mark for the Vols in a turbulent 2025 season that followed an unprecedented offseason of change.
In his Tennessee tenure, Heupel now holds a 45-19 (24-16 SEC) record. He has steered the Vols to a pair of 10-win regular seasons, including in 2024, which saw UT earn a spot in the College Football Playoffs as the 9-seed. Tennessee would go on to lose at Ohio State, the eventual national champion, in the first round.
Heupel has also had incredible success against most of the Vols’ biggest rivals. While he is yet to beat Kirby Smart’s Georgia program, he is 2-3 against Alabama, 3-2 against Florida, 5-0 against Kentucky and 4-1 against Vanderbilt.
Heupel is currently under contract through January of 2030. He makes $9 million a year, not including bonuses and incentives.
One Response
I think next years schedule may motivate him leaving, because its the toughest I recall as a Tennessee fan. He could go out 8-4 instead of 7-5 or 6-6