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Power 4 team with a large fan base and high hopes loses a big game and you can count on it: Message Board Geniuses (@BoardGeniuses on X) will round up an assortment of unhinged “Fire the coach!” posts.

Some Tennessee fans provided fodder during and after the Vols’ disappointing, Playoff-denying 33-27 home loss to Oklahoma on Saturday. But there’s a little more going on here than a few perspective-challenged souls. Anyone who thinks Josh Heupel is or should be on the hot seat definitely lacks it. Also, there are fair criticisms of Heupel at this point, and questions of whether he can take the Vols to the highest level.

Much of the rest of the SEC is in one of two buckets of duress: Coach has been fired or has at least lost the fans (Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Kentucky), or the fans are worried about other teams poaching him (Missouri, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, some Texas A&M fans though they probably shouldn’t fret). Tennessee has been a place of contentment since Heupel — 43-18 with a 2024 College Football Playoff appearance — extinguished a long-raging dumpster fire upon arrival in 2021.

And now? Here are the unscientific results after checking the two primary Tennessee boards (at Volquest.com and GoVols247.com) on Sunday, after some postgame emotion could fade: 21 different threads devoted to Heupel and/or members of his staff, a tiny percentage of fans who want him fired, a tiny percentage of fans who support him with no misgivings and a lot of good discussion.

There was even a poll on the 247Sports board, with the vast majority of respondents identifying Heupel as “above average” or “average” in the SEC, while “below average” and “needs to go” got the least votes. “He’s great and will win a championship” didn’t get much traction either, and that represents the big change from not all that long ago with these fans.

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CrownRoyalCaramel: “I personally think he’s an above average SEC coach, but he is a players’ coach and is too loyal to subpar assistants. I think if he wants to win championships, he needs to lay a lot more wood to the players and replace some assistants. I say what I say about the ‘lay the wood to the players’ because we seem to see the same lack of fundamentals all over the field and all the time. There does not seem to be the accountability with the players there should be. And let’s face it, Kirby Smart, Nick Saban, etc., would have already replaced assistants. And I’ve seen them bench players for stupid stuff many times. Heupel needs to be more hard-nosed if he wants to win a championship. I personally hope he does, as I love the guy as our coach.”

TSipes: “Until he proves otherwise, Heupel is Mark Richt 2.0. He’s gonna get you 8-10 wins but hasn’t proved that he can or will get over that hump.”

B37375: “I think he is above average when measured against coaches like Shane Beamer and Mark Stoops. To be fair I am trying to rate based on his five years as our coach. But there are better coaches in the SEC. Even Vandy’s coach is better. Which pains me greatly to say. Like everyone else is saying, we need to be more sound in our fundamentals. Not sure if that means new assistants or Heupel holding players, assistants and himself more accountable. Right now I see us as not being terrible in the future but at the same time not being one of the top three teams in the SEC.”

JojoVols: “Heupel is a good coach. Someone mentioned that his best years were with Alex Golesh (as OC). To that point, I think this speaks to a need for better assistants. I think Coach Heupel is a good leader, but he needs help. Unfortunately, he has a Fulmeresque loyalty to bad assistants.”

Hudro: “I think Alex Golesh was like David Cutcliffe to Phillip Fulmer. Without him, we were never good as we were with him.”

Calebsand: “Man, some of y’all REALLY overrate Alex Golesh.”

There’s a thread for that too, by ArniePalmieAlert, titled: “Go get Golesh.”

First response: The box score of Golesh’s last outing, a South Florida loss to Memphis.

RacerVol: “I’m amazed at the number of people on this board who think Alex Golesh is the next great coach. Based on what exactly? I think he’s proven to be a good coach so far, but there is nothing to indicate he’s the next Nick Saban.”

ArniePalmerAlert: “Nobody knows whether he’d work or not. That goes for literally any hire. But Heupel ain’t it.”

3-toed-sloth: “I just logged on to see who would make the dumbest thread. (This one) wins. Golesh has been meh. Has lost to Memphis EVERY YEAR. We have two better coaches already located inside the state of Tennessee, and that doesn’t even include Heupel.”

That’s a reference to Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea and Memphis’ Ryan Silverfield. Certainly, the historic Vanderbilt season going on three hours west of Knoxville can’t help the frustration of Vols fans — things are lining up for a rivalry finale at Tennessee in which the Vols are playing to spoil the Commodores’ Playoff hopes. It’s never supposed to be that way. It’s always supposed to be the other way around.

The defense, crucial injuries at cornerback aside, has been a disappointment this season. Just as the offense was the past two seasons, bringing coordinators and position coaches under fan fire.

But it’s also worth remembering the sudden quarterback crisis Tennessee faced at the end of spring ball, and the way fans backed Heupel as Nico Iamaleava hit the road, and the way expectations for 2025 dropped when UT struck out on a few possible replacements and went with Joey Aguilar — who threw the most interceptions in FBS last season.

Aguilar’s excellence right away raised those expectations, but on Saturday he had two picks and a fumble returned for touchdown that negated a dominant first half for Tennessee and set up Oklahoma to pull the upset. That’s not coaching.

Bad clock management is, and that’s too often a Heupel issue. Perhaps he does need to shake things up with his staff, do more in the portal, be better at holding people accountable. He’s earned the right to figure that out. Even Vols fans who disagree should understand he’ll get it.

That doesn’t mean they have to stop arguing about him. That doesn’t mean they have to start yet, either.

Kylematheney: “I started writing a whole thing. I stopped and got Panda Express and I’m going to watch NASCAR, then play ‘Silent Hill 2’ instead.”