Josh Heupel is headed back to Oklahoma, where he played, coached, and has family that’ll be on hand Saturday.
For the Tennessee football coach, those on hand will include his late mother, Cindy, who died in May at 69.
“She will still be at the game,” Heupel said on ESPN’s “College GameDay.” “She will be watching. Just with a different seat.”
No. 7 Tennessee (3-0) faces No. 13 Oklahoma (3-0) in their SEC opener on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
Cindy Heupel died on May 14 at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, which is less than an hour from Norman and OU. She worked in education, including in Heupel’s hometown of Aberdeen, South Dakota. She relocated to Oklahoma in 2007 and continued her career in education.
“Cindy loved watching Josh achieve his dreams as a college quarterback and football coach,” her obituary read. “Cindy was quick to celebrate, above all, the character of her children, rejoicing in Josh’s leadership and care of others …”
Josh played quarterback for Oklahoma from 1999-2000, leading the Sooners to the 2000 national title. He finished as the Heisman runner-up in 2000 with 3,392 passing yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior. He served as a graduate assistant for Oklahoma in 2004. He returned to Norman as the quarterbacks coach from 2006-10 and co-offensive coordinator from 2011-14.
He was hired at UT in 2021 following a three-year stint as the head coach at UCF.
Adam Sparks of the News Sentinel and Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman contributed to this story.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel: Late mom will be watching…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/josh-heupel-mother-cindy-watching-150631114.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-09-21 15:06:31
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
