Nebraska football: What UCF’s hiring of Josh Heupel means for the Huskers
UCF’s hiring of Josh Heupel changes things a bit for the Nebraska football team.
Josh Heupel was officially named Scott Frost’s replacement at UCF on Tuesday. The announcement is not only a rather large development for the Knights but also for the Nebraska football team.
There are some questions that have now been answered, as well as a few new ones that have popped up. What we do know is that the Heupel hiring came almost out of nowhere.
Husker fans have likely heard the name from his days quarterbacking the Oklahoma Sooners. He was the man under center who brought the team back from the brink, alongside then-new head coach Bob Stoops.
Qualifications for being UCF's head coach: Must have quarterbacked a Big 12 team to an undefeated record during Bill Clinton's second term. https://t.co/VDQ7OlT7kz
— Kyle Bonagura (@BonaguraESPN) December 5, 2017
After his playing days ended, Heupel almost immediately went into coaching and has been bouncing around the college ranks for several seasons. Most recently the coach was serving as offensive coordinator for Missouri.
While the Tigers’ turnaround this season was not as pronounced as that of UCF, you have to wonder if there weren’t enough similarities that they stuck out to UCF AD Danny White.
Heupel helped turn around a quarterback who struggled in 2016 in Drew Lock. This season, Lock threw for 43 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions as the Tigers went from 4-8 last year to 7-5 this season.
Josh Heupel got the nod after White’s top pick Kevin Sumlin, turned down the job. There had been rumors that interim HC, Troy Walters was also a candidate. It’s picking someone other than Walters that might cause some ripple effects for the Nebraska football program.