Former LSU Tigers fullback Jacob Hester offered his take this week on the debate around the Tennessee Vols' offense under Josh Heupel.
Tennessee runs a unique up-tempo offense that utilizes wide splits that spread out the defense, creating plenty of space and advantageous matchups for the Vols' playmakers.
Some analysts, like NFL Draft analyst Josh Norris, have suggested that the Vols run a "mickey mouse offense".
Hester joined Saturday Down South's Connor O'Gara recently and he shared some thoughts on Tennessee's offense under Heupel.
The former LSU fullback, who spent five seasons in the NFL, doesn't agree with the idea that Heupel runs a "mickey mouse offense".
"That tells me that somebody didn't watch a lot of film if he calls that a mickey mouse offense," said Hester. "Let me tell you something, everything is available in a Josh Heupel offense. They will run gap scheme as much as anybody. They will run power, they'll run counter -- every run is up (available) in that Tennessee offense. It might be out of 11 personnel, but they will run anything and everything.
"It's not just an inside zone team. It's not an outside zone team -- which, if you live in that world, that's fine. You can do that...LSU was that last year. They had a quarterback that could pull it at any moment and go 80 yards. And so they were going to run inside zone, that's who they were. You barely saw any gap scheme from LSU....That's not Tennessee. Tennessee will run everything. Counter is going to be run in a Tennessee football game. So there's nothing Mickey Mouse about what Josh Heupel does in the run game."
Hester added that he would've loved playing in Heupel's offense.
Ultimately, players have to make plays. The scheme doesn't break tackles, find the open spot on the field, or find the right gap to hit. The scheme obviously helps to put players in a position to succeed, but at the end of the day, the biggest, fastest, strongest, and smartest players are the ones winning on the field on Saturdays in the fall.
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