From unheralded junior college recruit to quarterbacking Oklahoma to the program's last national championship in 2000, carrying along a Heisman Trophy runner-up finish despite a litany of injuries, Josh Heupel now for a quarter century has been synonymous with collegiate quarterback play.
If Heupel's the quarterback whisperer, he's a bit of the raspy one with his words tumbling out at a fractional pace of his team's frenetic offenses.
A quarter of the way through his fourth year atop the University of Tennessee, Heupel seemingly has Vols football all the way back because of a complete-team overhaul.
Tennessee is elite on defense and electric on offense. Mark Twain may have questioned the truthfulness in stats, but the Vols' record-setting blitzkrieg of their first three opponents suggested otherwise.
Now, sixth-ranked Tennessee (3-0) begins SEC play at Heupel's alma mater, No. 15 Oklahoma, which hosts its former favorite-turned-scorned-son Saturday night at 7:30 (ABC).
What ifs are as much a part of football coaches' journeys as are second-guesses on third- and fourth-down calls on either sides of the line of scrimmage.
Heupel points to his unorthodox path, from his stunning firing by Bob Stoops as the Sooners's offensive coordinator a decade ago to where he sits today in the moonshine, Great Smoky Mountains hills of East Tennessee, to a perch he now relishes.
"Yeah, absolutely. Proud of a lot of what we did or I was a part of while I was there," Heupel said during Wednesday's SEC coaches' call. "I wouldn’t change anything.
"I'm fortunate and blessed to be here. We absolutely love it on Rocky Top. Also, Oklahoma impacted me that way, too. From a player, relationships you got with teammates, fellow coaches as a coach and my coaches as a player, too. It was a great journey. I wouldn’t be here without everything that happened at Oklahoma."
Heupel, however, is thankful his playing days did not include a new element of this year's college football season: in-helmet communications.
Understudy to the late, great Mike Leach -- an offensive innovator and true Renaissance man -- as well as Mark Mangino, Heupel laughs at what directions those talks could have gone.
"I’m certainly glad that we didn’t have helmet communications back then, really for both of them," Heupel said. "With Mike, you had no idea what he’d be talking about if he was in your ear.
"And Mangino, when it wasn't going well or you did something he didn't like, probably was glad that you didn't have direct communication with me. Looking over and seeing him on the sidelines was enough for everybody probably. And I say that out of love and respect for Coach."
Heupel is preparing to lead his own burgeoning star signal-caller, redshirt-freshman Nico Iamaleava, into his toughest environment away from home. He's embracing the in-helmet options but knows the Sooners's faithful still could present problems.
"Know it’s going to be loud," said Heupel, who's won 58 games as a head coach gone 23-6 in his last 29 games on Rocky Top. "Hopefully, we want to make sure the green dot communication is working as well as headsets for the coaches and make sure we’re able to operate as usual.
"When you're in a really good road environment, it's got a chance to be difficult for the quarterback to hear, too.