Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has seen Tennessee coach Josh Heupel give everything for the teams he cares about.
The duo were key figures in Oklahoma’s national title run in 2000 — when Venables was in his second year as the co-defensive coordinator for the Sooners and Heupel was the star, Heisman Trophy-finalist quarterback. In the midst of that undefeated season, Heupel injured the elbow on his throwing arm.
Really injured it. Venables said during the SEC coaches teleconference Wednesday there were times during the last five or six games of the season where Heupel’s elbow would swell up to the size of a watermelon.
“The way he managed that, his toughness, really incredible.” Venables said.
Despite that, Heupel never missed a game. He led Oklahoma’s offense every step of the way, capped by a win against Florida State in the Orange Bowl that gave the Sooners their first national championship since 1985. The 13-0 campaign cemented coach Bob Stoops, Venables and Heupel as program legends.
It’s been almost 25 years since that fateful season, but as Heupel embarks on his fourth season at Tennessee, the effects of that season — and the injury — still linger.
“Well, (the elbow) still doesn’t look right if you look at it closely,” Heupel said. “There were a couple of other nicks and bruises too that caused me some problems at the end of the year. That team, in general, the ability in guys to be resilient, play through whatever they were going through, was a huge part of why we were able to go win a championship.”
There are plenty of storylines to dissect ahead of No. 6 Tennessee’s trip to No. 15 Oklahoma on Saturday. It is the first-ever SEC conference game for the Sooners, the conference opener for both teams and Heupel’s first…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/tennessees-showdown-with-oklahoma-marks-a-full-circle-moment-for-coaches-josh-heupel-and-brent-venables/
Author : Will Backus
Publish date : 2024-09-19 19:01:25
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