Correction: It's Heupel calling plays at OU
Published: 12/13/2010 1:38 PM
Last Modified: 12/13/2010 2:15 PM
Looks like I jumped the gun on my previous blog.
Receivers coach and assistant offensive coordinator Jay Norvell is not going to call plays for Oklahoma for the Fiesta Bowl.
Instead, he will share co-offensive coordinator title with quarterbacks coach Josh Huepel, and it’s Heupel who will call plays.
My conjecture came from a couple of sources close to the OU program whom I trust, but who are apparently not in Bob Stoops’ innermost inner circle.
Here’s a quote from Bob Stoops in a press release issued by OU just a few minutes ago.
“As has always been the case, our entire offensive staff will work together in game planning, but there needs to be one coach who calls the plays and Josh will have that responsibility,” Stoops said. “Josh has a good feel for the game and rhythm that we’ve been able to establish.
“This is a great way to maintain our current style and continuity. Our current style fits our personnel and allows us to remain balanced, something that is important to me.”
Heupel, 32, one of the most beloved players in recent OU history, was the quarterback who helped Bob Stoops resurrect the program in 1999 and 2000.
A left-hander from Aberdeen, S.D, by way of Snow (Utah) College, Heupel rewrote the OU record book for passers, then outdid himself by leading the Sooners to the national championship in 2000, when OU went 13-0 and he finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
When injuries ended Heupel’s playing career in 2001, he did what he was born to do: he went into coaching.
The son of high school football coach Ken Heupel, Josh Heupel spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons as an OU graduate assistant. His first full-time paid job was as tight ends coach at Arizona, where he worked under Mike Stoops.
Then in 2005, prior to the Sooners’ trip to San Diego to play in the Holiday Bowl, Heupel was hired by Bob Stoops as OU’s quarterbacks coach.
In 2006, he tutored Paul Thompson, who switched back from wide receiver and led the Sooners to the Big 12 championship. In 2007, he tutored Sam Bradford, who set a handful of national freshman records and led the nation in passer efficiency while leading OU to a repeat Big 12 title. And in 2008, Heupel helped Bradford win another passer efficiency crown, another Big 12 title and the Heisman Trophy.
Last year, when Bradford went down with a shoulder injury, Heupel molded Landry Jones into a record-setting quarterback. This year, Jones won the Sammy Baugh Award as the nation’s top passer, and helped get the Sooners another Big 12 championship.
In October the OU staff received pay raises, and Heupel’s was the biggest. Heupel's base salary and personal services income was increased $50,000 to a total of $250,000. In 2007, Heupel was paid $136,000 before incentives.
Since his playing days, Heupel has been active in the Norman community. Each holiday season, his 14 Foundation, now administered by his parents, raises money to buy food for needy families throughout Oklahoma.
— John E. Hoover
Written by
John E. Hoover
Sports Columnist
