Josh Heupel takes over play-calling in Orange Bowl for Tennessee’s No. 1-ranked offense
Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel added play-calling to his responsibilities Friday in the Orange Bowl after former Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh recently left to become the head coach at the University of South Florida.
How much of an adjustment has it been for Heupel to go back to play- calling?
“It’s not,” Heupel said. “For us as a staff, we go through that process every single week. We go through it on game day. The fact that [quarterbacks coach] Joey [Halzle] and I have been together for 15-plus years, [offensive line coach] Glen [Elarbee] and I have been together I think for seven years, the communication on game day is seamless, and I’m excited for this one.”
Tennessee entered the game with the nation’s No. 1 total offense (538.3 yards a game) and scoring offense (47.3 points a game).
On Tennessee’s second drive of the game, Heupel was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after Vols quarterback Joe Milton III rushed for 2 yards to the Clemson 4-yard line. The Vols scored two plays later on a 16-yard pass from Milton to Bru McCoy for a 7-0 lead.
Starter out
A little more than an hour before kickoff, Clemson announced that senior starting cornerback Sheridan Jones (hip) would miss the game. Jones, 6-0 and 185 pounds, is from Norfolk Virginia. He was limited at practice Tuesday and did not practice Wednesday.
Swinney said this week he’d be a game-time decision for the Orange Bowl. He started 10 games this season and had 31 tackles and a pass breakup. Junior Toriano Pride started in Jones’ place.
Banner backfires
About four hours before kickoff, a banner flew over Hard Rock Stadium that read: “ENJOY YOUR BOWL GAME — GAMECOCKS.” The Gamecocks, as in South Carolina, is the team that defeated both No. 6 Tennessee and No. 7 Clemson this season to end their hopes of securing berths in the College Football Playoff.
A short time later, the No. 19 Gamecocks lost 45-38 to No. 21 Notre Dame in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Bad timing.
Swinney, Spoelstra friendship
Two days before his Tigers faced Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney made his way down to FTX Arena on Wednesday to watch the Miami Heat play the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Lucky day for y’all. I lost my voice,” Swinney said Thursday. “Don’t know where it went. ... Maybe I lost my voice cheering for the Heat. I don’t know, but it’s been a great trip.”
Swinney’s support for the Heat derives from his relationship with Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, with whom he connected through a mutual friend four or five years ago. Spoelstra at that time made a trip to Clemson with one of his assistant coaches. Swinney and Spoelstra hit it off and kept the friendship going.
And while the two coach different sports at different competitive levels, they’ve bounced ideas off each other about what it means to be a successful coach.
“Listen, it doesn’t really matter what the sport is,” Swinney said. “If you’re in leadership and dealing with people, there’s so much you can learn especially when you’re in a competitive environment. Even though he’s in the pros, especially with basketball, those guys are young guys, so we’re dealing with young guys in competitive dynamics, leadership, culture, all those type of things. That’s how we first got to know each other, and then we stayed in touch throughout the years.”
▪ Former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning was in attendance Friday, sitting on the team bench during pregame.
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