I might be preaching to the choir when I say this, but whatever. It needs to be said.

Josh Heupel has earned blind faith.

The entire reason I’m not bailing on the idea of Joe Milton figuring things out in his third job as a starting quarterback is because who his head coach is. Heupel’s talent as an offensive mind — I realize he’s technically not a primary play-caller but he oversees the offense — is second to none in the sport.

Six years, 6 consecutive top-15 offenses. That’s at Mizzou, where he was an offensive coordinator with full autonomy on that side of the ball, UCF and Tennessee. If we want to just focus on Heupel’s 5 years as a head coach, he’s got 5 top-8 offenses, including the No. 1 overall scoring offense this past year.

In the past 5 years, here’s the list of head coaches who have had a top-10 scoring offense every season:

  • Josh Heupel, UCF and Tennessee
  • Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma and USC
  • Nick Saban, Alabama

Just for a little perspective, that tied the longest such streak that Steve Spurrier had at Florida from 1993-97.

Saban obviously doesn’t have his hands all over the offense like Riley and Heupel. And Ryan Day is basically on this list if you want to say that his head coaching started in 2018 (he was Ohio State’s interim coach for the first 3 games while Urban Meyer served his suspension.)

In other words, Heupel is in a class of offensive minds that includes Riley and Day. That’s it. Riley, who succeeded Heupel as the Sooners’ OC after he was fired, obviously has the edge because in his 6 years as a head coach, he led 3 different Heisman quarterbacks. Heupel is still trying to get his first signal-caller to New York. Had Hendon Hooker not gotten hurt against South Carolina last year, that would’ve probably happened.

Nonetheless, Heupel is at a place that few outside the Volunteer State probably realize. He’s a set-it-and-forget-it offensive mind. He’s had 4 very different starting quarterbacks during his last 6 seasons. Drew Lock, McKenzie Milton, Dillon Gabriel and Hooker have different strengths and weaknesses, yet all of them blossomed under Heupel. It’s why there’s really not a prototypical Heupel quarterback.

With those 4 guys starting the majority of Heupel’s games as either an offensive coordinator or head coach during those 6 seasons, these were the WORST marks his groups finished with:

  • Points per game: 37.5 points, No. 14 in FBS (2017 Mizzou)
  • Yards/play: 6.47 yards, No. 17 in FBS (2021 Tennessee)
  • Yards/pass: 8.5 yards, No. 14 in FBS (2018 UCF)
  • Passing yards/game: 257.1 yards, No. 39 in FBS (2021 Tennessee)
  • Yards/game: 474.4 yards, No. 9 in FBS (2021 Tennessee)

Again, that’s just the worst marks that Heupel’s offenses posted in the last 6 years.

But wait, there’s more!

It’s not just the quarterbacks who have been incredibly prolific. The ground games under Heupel need some shine, too. These are the WORST marks his groups finished with during these last 6 years:

  • Rushing yards/game: 193.5 yards, No. 36 in FBS (2017 Mizzou)
  • Rushing yards/carry: 4.75 yards, No. 41 in FBS (2020 UCF)
  • 20-yard runs: 20, No. 52 in FBS (2017 Mizzou)

That’s a remarkable floor for a 6-year stretch, and at 3 different programs. That’s not something that Riley can claim in that stretch, though the fact that he went to USC and immediately guided another Heisman Trophy winner is as good a flex as any.

Riley has another thing Heupel doesn’t have yet — a pipeline of NFL quarterbacks. Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts have all had varying levels of success. That’s different than Lock (second NFL team), Milton (actually a Tennessee analyst now) and Gabriel (at Oklahoma with 2 years of eligibility left). Perhaps Hendon Hooker will begin the real NFL pipeline. Lord knows Heupel’s system was dissected 6 ways to Sunday during the pre-Draft process.

But we’re splitting hairs here. That’s the only thing holding Heupel back from being considered the best offensive mind in college football.

As it relates to the college game, here’s something to consider. If Joe Milton was somewhere besides Tennessee, how many programs would he actually have preseason buzz at? Maybe USC, Ohio State and Georgia? Is that the entire list?

It’s why whenever I see someone praise Milton, who does have unbelievable physical ability, I view it as a nod to Heupel. In many ways, seeing Milton succeed would be a full-circle transformation job by Heupel. He wanted Milton to be part of his first recruiting class at UCF, but missed out. Heupel wanted him to be his first starting quarterback at Tennessee, but he got hurt and lost his job to Hooker amidst a disappointing start. And now, perhaps, Heupel’s ultimate project is finally going to look finished in 2023.

Alternatively, Milton will struggle and give way to the start of the highly anticipated Nico Iamaleava era. The hope is that eventually, the highest rated Tennessee quarterback recruit since Peyton Manning can do all the things Hooker did … during a year in which he was Tennessee’s best quarterback since Manning.

Either way, there’s an expectation that Tennessee’s starting quarterback is set up for immense success. Never mind the fact that primary play-caller Alex Golesh left to take the head job at South Florida, and don’t pay any attention to the fact that the Vols lost Biletnikoff Award winner Jalin Hyatt and fellow Day 2 draft pick Cedric Tillman.

That’s all Heupel.

He has quickly become one of the most reliable coaches in the sport. The last 6 years — and counting — are proof of that.