Bruce Feldman has floated a scenario that would link Tennessee’s future directly to Baylor’s next coaching search: if Josh Heupel’s Vols finish with an 8-5 type of season in 2026, would Baylor make a run at him? It is a clean football question, and one that underlines how quickly coaching conversations can shift when a job comes open.
For now, Heupel remains in a strong position at Tennessee. He dragged the Vols into the Playoff in 2024, and the broader view around the program is that he is working with good resources and an athletic director in Danny White who is aligned with him. That matters, because it means any move away from Knoxville would not be framed by one bad week or one uneven month, but by a much larger picture.
Feldman’s view on Baylor
Feldman said: “Another possible scenario we’ve heard is if Baylor comes open, would the Bears make a move to bring Tennessee’s Josh Heupel back to the Southwest?”
He then added: “Heupel did a really good job dragging the Vols out of a big ditch and into the Playoff in 2024, but if the former Oklahoma quarterback has another 8-5 type of year, does he look for a reset in a Power 4 conference that isn’t as loaded as the SEC?”
That is the heart of the story. The condition is not simply whether Baylor might like Heupel. It is whether Baylor would have an opening at all, and whether Tennessee would have enough of a dip in 2026 to make a change feel realistic. An 8-5 season would not erase what Heupel has done, but it would sharpen the debate about trajectory.
Tennessee’s bigger picture
The other important layer is that Tennessee is not thinking only about the short term. The program is building toward 2027 with Faizon Brandon and Jim Knowles, with the idea that Brandon will have a year of experience and Knowles will have had a full year to install his system. That is the kind of development plan that usually makes a school steadier, not more vulnerable.
Last June, Faizon Brandon turned 18, which only adds to the sense that Tennessee’s timeline is set around growth and continuity rather than panic. If that plan starts to produce the expected progress, Heupel’s position should remain secure.
So the answer to the question is straightforward enough: yes, Baylor could make a move if the job opens, but only if the right chain of events unfolds. Tennessee would likely have to reach that 8-5 type of level in 2026 before this becomes more than a speculative coaching note.
For now, Heupel looks comfortably placed in Knoxville. But as Feldman’s comments show, the next round of coaching talk may depend as much on what happens in Waco as on what happens with the Vols.
