Wed, Jan 27, 2021
By TERESA M. WALKER (AP Sports Writer)
Josh Heupel is leaving UCF to become the next Tennessee coach, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Tennessee hired Danny White away from UCF as its athletic director last Thursday, and his first job was finding a new football coach to replace Jeremy Pruitt, who was fired Jan. 18.
Several other outlets have reported Tennessee is hiring Heuepel.
The person said Heupel informed his staff Wednesday that he was heading to Tennessee. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.
Heupel was 28-8 in three seasons at UCF, where White hired him to replace Scott Frost after the Knights went 13-0 in 2017. White signed Heupel to a one-year extension in December 2018 that kept him under contract through the 2023 season.
He will become Tennessee's fifth head coach, not counting interim or acting coaches, since the end of the 2008 season.
___
AP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this report.
___
More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Latest NCAAF News