If college football coaches could plan their losses, they wouldn't allow them before an off week. Losses linger when you have the next Saturday off.

So, Tennessee's no-playoff-for-you loss to Oklahoma is still eliciting responses from my literary contributors.

Also, my column advising schools to invest more in their rosters - and less on their coaches - got an unusually favorable response.

But let's lead off with Bill's attack on colleague Blake Toppmeyer.

Bill writes: About the time I think the sports department of the Sentinel can’t possibly sink any lower, you print Toppmeyer’s sewage about Josh going to Penn State.

Unbelievable. Yellow journalism at its yellowest. If you see Toppmeyer, ask him to bite my butt. And if you see Josh, tell him he has a dedicated supporter in Roanoke Virginia.

My response: Toppmeyer doesn't care what you think, but Josh will appreciate your support.

For future reference: Toppmeyer can stoop even lower.

Darrell writes: How long will it take for the AD's to come to the same conclusion as you?  Let's hope sooner than later. Paying Coaches millions for failure is crazy.

My response: Texas Tech apparently has figured it out already.

Glenn writes: You are out in front of this needed paradigm shift of money to players versus coaches. The ridiculous millions of buyout dollars wasted on fired coaches would buy a lot of All-American players if redirected to NIL. 

While revenue sharing has caps, NIL does not.  Rather than fire a good coach, AD’s and boosters could better use their financial resources to bring in the player talent needed to win.

My response: Thanks, but I don't aspire to a leadership role. I prefer to let others lead, then critique their leadership.

Shemp writes: “Hopeful” is just pure and simple a sloppy coach.

The team makes too many penalties. Its tackling is poor. His game management is often not the best.  Kirby Smart has outmanaged him in every game.

If he's ever going to take this team up to the level of Alabama and Georgia, he's going to have to fix a lot of things in his system and his perspective.  His sloppy on-field appearance just magnifies these issues. We are looking at a 7-5 regular season.

My response: But Josh Heupel still has a shot at a 10-win season and 47 victories after five years on the job. How did that happen?

Not since Phillip Fulmer in 2000 through 2004 has a Tennessee coach won that many games in a five-year stretch.

As for Heupel's sideline look, he's all about football, not fashion, on game day.

Former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley looked great on the sideline, but not so good on the scoreboard.

Doak writes: One thing that really bothered me in the Oklahoma loss was the crazy play when Joey Aguilar fumbled, and the ball bounced right into the hands of R. Mason Thomas for Oklahoma.

Great play by Mason. My problem is this: how in the hell can we not get this guy down on the ground or pushed out of bounds before he rumbles and stumbles 70-plus yards for a TD?

 I honestly believe I could have gotten him on the ground - and I’m 62 - trip, facemask, something.  I’ve been watching a lot of self-defense videos; how about lock the stiff arm Muay Thai style and then a hard elbow to the throat? At least a personal foul would have prevented the TD.

My response: He would have trampled you. But thanks for the self-defense tip.

Doak writes back: You’re right. But in my mind, I can even see myself forcing him to fumble it and recovering it myself. Lol.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football fan reacts to Josh Heupel to Penn State suggestion.