Shock out: Tennessee Head Coach, Josh Heupel was fired early hours today after wrong deal with……

It might be time to quit doing college football head coach rankings.

Because every list I see is more ridiculous than the last one.

The latest head coach rankings from On3, which were revealed on Monday, have Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel ranked significantly lower than he probably should be.

On3 has Heupel, who is 20-6 over the last two seasons at Tennessee, ranked at No. 17.

From On3: A year after leading the Vols to their best season in nearly 25 years, Heupel managed to win nine games in 2023 despite erratic quarterback play. That shouldn’t be an issue in the future, though, as the Nico Iamaleava era starts this fall and 2025 5-star commit George MacIntyre is waiting in the wings.

Heupel’s go-go offense has caught the attention of some of the best quarterbacks and wide receiver prospects in the country, but if the Vols are going to take the next step as a program, they have to start recruiting better than a fringe Top 10 program.

Still, Heupel inherited a mess three years ago and has proven to be a strong hire for Tennessee. He’s hired quality assistants, and the Vols have become a preeminent player development program.

I get that these rankings are subjective, but Heupel is behind some coaches that he has no business being behind.

For example, On3 has Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold at No. 12.

Leipold has done a terrific job at Kansas. He did a great job at Buffalo before that. And he was elite at Wisconsin Whitewater (a Division III program).

But what has he actually accomplished at the FBS level?

Leipold went 37-33 at Buffalo. And he’s 17-21 through three seasons at Kansas.

And sure, it’s tough to win at Kansas (going 9-4 last season was impressive), but is On3 already forgetting about what national analysts were saying about the Tennessee job when Heupel took over in early 2021?

There were national analysts who suggested that it would be years before the Vols would reach a bowl game again. It was a job that barely anyone wanted. And Heupel took the program to a bowl game in his first season.

If you’re going to give Leipold credit for doing well in a tough situation, then Heupel deserves the same credit (beyond “he inherited a mess”).

Ranking Liberty’s Jamey Chadwell above Heupel is also mind-blowingly terrible. Chadwell has zero Power-Five wins as a head coach (or Power-Four, whatever it is these days). Did we not learn anything from Billy Napier dominating at Louisiana only to struggle once he landed the Florida job?

Napier, by the way, was a popular name on these lists when he was at Florida. And now that he’s on the hot seat at Florida, his name is nowhere to be found on any of these lists.

Another coach that’s ahead of Heupel in On3’s rankings that shouldn’t be is Kansas State’s Chris Klieman, who is 39-24 at Kansas State since landing the job in 2019. Klieman’s done well, but he doesn’t have wins against Nick Saban, Brian Kelly, and Dabo Swinney (as Heupel does).

Speaking of LSU’s Brian Kelly, he’s 20-7 over the last two years in the SEC and he’s 0-1 against Heupel.

Kelly obviously has a more impressive résumé than Heupel. But when it comes to the last two years, who has been more impressive? The head coach who took over a dumpster fire of a situation and has gone 20-6 the last two years or the head coach who took over a program that won a national championship two years before his arrival?

It’s gotta be Heupel. Objectively, it has to be.

Ultimately, this is just another example of Tennessee failing to get any respect from the national media.