Paul Finebaum thinks Josh Heupel and the Tennessee football program are slipping.
During an appearance on the "Crain and Cone" college sports show on May 7, Finebaum said "it feels like the (Tennessee) program is going in the wrong direction."
It was unsolicited Tennessee take from Finebaum, the longtime talk-show host, SEC analyst for ESPN and UT alumnus.
Host Jake Crain asked Finebaum to predict how Alabama's season will go. Finebaum said Alabama will make the College Football Playoff if it beats Tennessee at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 17. And that comment steered him toward his criticism of the Vols.
"I bring Josh Heupel up. I like him. He’s has made the playoffs one time. But he’s been there four or five years, and it feels like the program is going in the wrong direction," Finebaum said. "That should not happen, and it’s a very bad sign for a name brand program. Maybe I’m old school enough to still believe that Tennessee is one of those schools that should always be at or near the top."
Heupel has been at Tennessee five seasons. In 2021, he inherited a struggling program that was going on probation due to a recruiting scandal under coach Jeremy Pruitt. Heupel made the Vols immediately competitive, narrowly missed the four-team playoff in 2022 and made the 12-team CFP in 2024.
But UT slumped to an 8-5 record in 2025, capped by November home losses to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt and a 30-28 loss to Illinois in the Music City Bowl. Then the Vols failed to land a premier quarterback in the transfer portal, and quarterback Joey Aguilar lost in court in his attempt to regain another season of eligibility.
Finebaum sees too many bad outcomes piling up for the Vols.
"The end of last season was a complete disaster — losing at home to Oklahoma and they also lost at home to Vanderbilt badly and lost a bowl game," Finebaum said. "You can’t let that happen, and then they got some bad luck in court in losing Aguilar.
"They don’t have a quarterback. You guys tell me how you win in the SEC without a quarterback."
Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and five-star freshman Faizon Brandon are competing for the starting quarterback spot. They were highly-touted recruits, but they're big question marks because they lack experience.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Paul Finebaum criticizes Josh Heupel, Tennessee football, quarterbacks
