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Paul Finebaum on Tennessee under Josh Heupel: 'It feels like the program is going in the wrong direction'

Byington mugby: Alex Byington05/07/26_AlexByington

Paul Finebaum is off the national airwaves this week while the SEC Network broadcasts the annual SEC Softball Tournament in Lexington, KY. But that didn’t stop the ESPN firebrand host from making headlines during an appearance on Wednesday’s Crain & Cone show.

Among the most notable topics discussed, Finebaum lambasted the AFCA for endorsing the much-maligned 24-team College Football Playoff expansion proposal despite a coalescing from NCAA powerbrokers outside the SEC. But it was during a discussion about college football’s “most overrated” coaches that Finebaum really unloaded the clip by calling third-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer “a bad fit” in Tuscaloosa, and mentioning first-year LSU coach Lane Kiffin as a potential overrated candidate if the Tigers don’t make the 2026 Playoffs.

Of course, never one to disappoint, Finebaum delivered his hottest take for last when the Tennessee alum called out sixth-year Vols head coach Josh Heupel for taking the program “in the wrong direction” following a disappointing close to the 2025 season. Tennessee, which backed into the 2024 College Football Playoff, missed last year’s CFP after dropping two of its final three home games to Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, the last a 45-24 drubbing inside Neyland Stadium. The Vols then ended the year with a 30-28 loss to Illinois in the Music City Bowl.

“I bring Josh Heupel up, I like him, he has made the Playoffs one time, but he’s been there what four or five years, and it feels like the program is going in the wrong direction,” Finebaum said on Wednesday’s Crain & Cone. “That should not happen, and it’s a very bad sign for a name-brand program. And 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 (of the SEC). But the end of last season was a complete disaster.

“Losing at home to Oklahoma and they also lost at home to Vanderbilt, badly, and then lost the bowl game. You can’t let that happen,” Finebaum concluded. “And then they got some bad luck in court losing (quarterback Joey) Aguilar. But they don’t have a quarterback. And you guys all tell me how you can win in the SEC without a quarterback.”

Joey Aguilar, who accounted for 3,565 passing yards and 24 touchdowns as Tennessee’s starter in 2025, infamously lost his legal battle against the NCAA for an eighth season of collegiate eligibility in February. Aguilar signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars following last month’s 2026 NFL Draft.