There are just two coaches in the SEC who have spent more time at their respective schools than Tennessee football’s Josh Heupel. Kirby Smart started in 2016, and Eli Drinkwitz started in 2020. The class of 2021 that features Heupel, Steve Sarkisian, Clark Lea and Shane Beamer is all now tied for third.
This move up comes with Lane Kiffin moving to LSU, Kentucky firing Mark Stoops and Arkansas firing Sam Pittman. Stoops was previously the longest-tenured coach in the conference, dating back to 2013.
Smart is certainly not going anywhere, with Georgia considered one of the top programs in the country. Drinkwitz also just signed a contract extension to stay at Missouri. This means Heupel will likely stay slotted in third for the foreseeable future.
Heupel’s name began to pop up in Penn State rumors this week, though. However, he shut those down on Monday night by telling On3’s Chris Low that he is not a candidate for the job and is focused on what’s in front of him at Tennessee.
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.
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Here is a year-by-year look at when each active SEC coach had their first season at their current school:
2016
- Georgia – Kirby Smart
2017
- N/a
2018
- N/a
2019
- N/a
2020
- Missouri – Eli Drinkwitz
2021
- Tennessee – Josh Heupel
- Texas – Steve Sarkisian
- Vanderbilt – Clark Lea
- South Carolina – Shane Beamer
2022
- Oklahoma – Brent Venables
2023
- N/a
2024
- Alabama – Kalen DeBoer
- Texas A&M – Mike Elko
- Mississippi State – Jeff Lebby
2025
- N/a
2026
- LSU – Lane Kiffin
- Ole Miss – Pete Golding
- Auburn – Alex Golesh
- Florida – Jon Sumrall
- Arkansas – Ryan Silverfield
- Kentucky – Will Stein
