Realistic expectations for UT program

[BeattieFeathers]

The SEC has never been as tough as it is now. It's going to become tougher because of the tv contract which will raise all boats. Thus, more teams will be capable whereas in the past, it was only the so called Big Six.
With that said, I believe the top teams in our league are going to look more like Uga than Bama, from a record standpoint. Auburn had a magical season by winning the SEC but still lost two games. UGA under Richt has been terribly unlucky. Had there not been two unbeaten teams in 2002, Richt would have likely played for a national title, just as Saban was able to do two Times! He could have played for it all in 2007 as well. But Richt has had a few lean years as well, primarily due to youth at qb or injuries.
I believe the Uga program is what most of the top programs are going to become because of the dog eat dog nature of this league. I think Saban has won his last national title. I think Bama will look more like Uga in the coming years.
I say all that to say that this season, I have zero expectations for Butch Jones. I do want to see young players develop and want to see a fighting spirit, realizing that there still might be a day on the schedule where we get overwhelmed.
Eventually, I expect 8 to 10 win sessions with an occasional great year where we win 11 or perhaps slip to 6 or 7 with a youthful qb or injuries. I do not expect that we will ever be The Big Orange of the 90's and those of you who grew up during that time period should not expect it either. I expect that we will look more like Tennessee of the 2000's....the program that went to atlanta three times and once was only one win away from playing for a national title. Because of the nature of the SEC, we will likely slip back to the pack when youth prevails, especially at qb.
I expect to beat vandy and kentucky every year, Carolina most of the time, and expect to win 50 percent of the time against Bama,Uga, and Florida. I expect to be in atlanta three or four times every 10 to 12 years.
Go Vols!:hi:

 

[ibvolman]

Reasonable? We gonna whip all dey azzes and win the NC baby!

 

[Catbone]

The SEC has never been as tough as it is now. It's going to become tougher because of the tv contract which will raise all boats. Thus, more teams will be capable whereas in the past, it was only the so called Big Six.
With that said, I believe the top teams in our league are going to look more like Uga than Bama, from a record standpoint. Auburn had a magical season by winning the SEC but still lost two games. UGA under Richt has been terribly unlucky. Had there not been two unbeaten teams in 2002, Richt would have likely played for a national title, just as Saban was able to do two Times! He could have played for it all in 2007 as well. But Richt has had a few lean years as well, primarily due to youth at qb or injuries.
I believe the Uga program is what most of the top programs are going to become because of the dog eat dog nature of this league. I think Saban has won his last national title. I think Bama will look more like Uga in the coming years.
I say all that to say that this season, I have zero expectations for Butch Jones. I do want to see young players develop and want to see a fighting spirit, realizing that there still might be a day on the schedule where we get overwhelmed.
Eventually, I expect 8 to 10 win sessions with an occasional great year where we win 11 or perhaps slip to 6 or 7 with a youthful qb or injuries. I do not expect that we will ever be The Big Orange of the 90's and those of you who grew up during that time period should not expect it either. I expect that we will look more like Tennessee of the 2000's....the program that went to atlanta three times and once was only one win away from playing for a national title. Because of the nature of the SEC, we will likely slip back to the pack when youth prevails, especially at qb.
I expect to beat vandy and kentucky every year, Carolina most of the time, and expect to win 50 percent of the time against Bama,Uga, and Florida. I expect to be in atlanta three or four times every 10 to 12 years.
Go Vols!:hi:

But we are Tennessee!!!1oneeleven our history of being a great team 15 years ago means we should win championships every year!!!!

 

[theutvolunteers]

:snoring:

 

[VolFan4Life87]

I think most teams in the SEC are replacing their quarterbacks this season so it could be interesting; lots of unknowns.

 

[UGADawg4Life]

The SEC has never been as tough as it is now. It's going to become tougher because of the tv contract which will raise all boats. Thus, more teams will be capable whereas in the past, it was only the so called Big Six.
With that said, I believe the top teams in our league are going to look more like Uga than Bama, from a record standpoint. Auburn had a magical season by winning the SEC but still lost two games. UGA under Richt has been terribly unlucky. Had there not been two unbeaten teams in 2002, Richt would have likely played for a national title, just as Saban was able to do two Times! He could have played for it all in 2007 as well. But Richt has had a few lean years as well, primarily due to youth at qb or injuries.
I believe the Uga program is what most of the top programs are going to become because of the dog eat dog nature of this league. I think Saban has won his last national title. I think Bama will look more like Uga in the coming years.
I say all that to say that this season, I have zero expectations for Butch Jones. I do want to see young players develop and want to see a fighting spirit, realizing that there still might be a day on the schedule where we get overwhelmed.
Eventually, I expect 8 to 10 win sessions with an occasional great year where we win 11 or perhaps slip to 6 or 7 with a youthful qb or injuries. I do not expect that we will ever be The Big Orange of the 90's and those of you who grew up during that time period should not expect it either. I expect that we will look more like Tennessee of the 2000's....the program that went to atlanta three times and once was only one win away from playing for a national title. Because of the nature of the SEC, we will likely slip back to the pack when youth prevails, especially at qb.
I expect to beat vandy and kentucky every year, Carolina most of the time, and expect to win 50 percent of the time against Bama,Uga, and Florida. I expect to be in atlanta three or four times every 10 to 12 years.
Go Vols!:hi:

Very well written. The league has more parity than it ever had in it's existence. Anyone who doesn't acknowledge that the power has dramatically shifted to the SEC for the past decade is not being realistic. The best schools from the second tier conferences would be also-rans in the SEC. The days of dominating and going undefeated are over, for at least the foreseeable future.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

I pretty much disagree with all this.

We are just not that kind of program. Some programs are built around being mediocre. Some programs are built around being good to great programs. Some are built around being the elite.

Tennessee is an elite program. It's easy to say "we will just never be the Tennessee of the 90's again" much like I'm sure teams in the 90's at one point said "we'll just never be the same as General Neyland's Vols." There are only a handful of programs in the country that are on that same "elite" level, and a few years, even a decade of poor seasons does not change that.

Basically, I look at Tennessee like I look at Texas. They are known for football, as are we. We are known for our trophy case. We are among the 800 win club with only a handful of other teams. The football world isn't wondering if Tennessee will ever be good, they're wondering when Tennessee will be back. The same can be said for Texas. The same can be said for Penn State. Our fans do not demand championships because they are delusional, our fans demand championships because that expectation was set long ago and that is our standard.

Basically, Tennessee is a sleeping giant. Bama was a sleeping giant not too long ago and look what happened when they woke up, they've wreaked havoc on all of college football. We've got the facilities, we've got the resources, we've got the history and the expectations. We're getting the players. There is absolutely ZERO reason to believe Tennessee will never wake up.

 

[VolFan4Life87]

I pretty much disagree with all this.

We are just not that kind of program. Some programs are built around being mediocre. Some programs are built around being good to great programs. Some are built around being the elite.

Tennessee is an elite program. It's easy to say "we will just never be the Tennessee of the 90's again" much like I'm sure teams in the 90's at one point said "we'll just never be the same as General Neyland's Vols." There are only a handful of programs in the country that are on that same "elite" level, and a few years, even a decade of poor seasons does not change that.

Basically, I look at Tennessee like I look at Texas. They are known for football, as are we. We are known for our trophy case. We are among the 800 win club with only a handful of other teams. The football world isn't wondering if Tennessee will ever be good, they're wondering when Tennessee will be back. The same can be said for Texas. The same can be said for Penn State. Our fans do not demand championships because they are delusional, our fans demand championships because that expectation was set long ago and that is our standard.

Basically, Tennessee is a sleeping giant. Bama was a sleeping giant not too long ago and look what happened when they woke up, they've wreaked havoc on all of college football. We've got the facilities, we've got the resources, we've got the history and the expectations. We're getting the players. There is absolutely ZERO reason to believe Tennessee will never wake up.

I hate to be "that guy" but IMHO Texas is THE sleeping giant. If a Saban type was HC there, they could 3 or 4peat the NC.

 

[fade route]

The SEC has never been as tough as it is now. It's going to become tougher because of the tv contract which will raise all boats. Thus, more teams will be capable whereas in the past, it was only the so called Big Six.
With that said, I believe the top teams in our league are going to look more like Uga than Bama, from a record standpoint. Auburn had a magical season by winning the SEC but still lost two games. UGA under Richt has been terribly unlucky. Had there not been two unbeaten teams in 2002, Richt would have likely played for a national title, just as Saban was able to do two Times! He could have played for it all in 2007 as well. But Richt has had a few lean years as well, primarily due to youth at qb or injuries.
I believe the Uga program is what most of the top programs are going to become because of the dog eat dog nature of this league. I think Saban has won his last national title. I think Bama will look more like Uga in the coming years.
I say all that to say that this season, I have zero expectations for Butch Jones. I do want to see young players develop and want to see a fighting spirit, realizing that there still might be a day on the schedule where we get overwhelmed.
Eventually, I expect 8 to 10 win sessions with an occasional great year where we win 11 or perhaps slip to 6 or 7 with a youthful qb or injuries. I do not expect that we will ever be The Big Orange of the 90's and those of you who grew up during that time period should not expect it either. I expect that we will look more like Tennessee of the 2000's....the program that went to atlanta three times and once was only one win away from playing for a national title. Because of the nature of the SEC, we will likely slip back to the pack when youth prevails, especially at qb.
I expect to beat vandy and kentucky every year, Carolina most of the time, and expect to win 50 percent of the time against Bama,Uga, and Florida. I expect to be in atlanta three or four times every 10 to 12 years.
Go Vols!:hi:

Your very sentence is wrong imo. The notion that the SEC is heads and shoulders above every other conference is a myth. We still are probably the best, but the gap is not that great. For evidence, consider that Mizzou and Texas A&M came in and had immediate success, after most of us claimed for years that schools in other conferences wouldn't have good records playing a full sec schedule. And I believe we're about .500 in bowl games as a conference over the last several years. So, it definitely has been tougher in the past playing in the SEC.

 

[Biopsyman]

Just F..ing win. We are like alcoholics who needs to make a run the liquor store.. We are ready

 

[Volunteer forever]

I pretty much disagree with all this.

We are just not that kind of program. Some programs are built around being mediocre. Some programs are built around being good to great programs. Some are built around being the elite.

Tennessee is an elite program. It's easy to say "we will just never be the Tennessee of the 90's again" much like I'm sure teams in the 90's at one point said "we'll just never be the same as General Neyland's Vols." There are only a handful of programs in the country that are on that same "elite" level, and a few years, even a decade of poor seasons does not change that.

Basically, I look at Tennessee like I look at Texas. They are known for football, as are we. We are known for our trophy case. We are among the 800 win club with only a handful of other teams. The football world isn't wondering if Tennessee will ever be good, they're wondering when Tennessee will be back. The same can be said for Texas. The same can be said for Penn State. Our fans do not demand championships because they are delusional, our fans demand championships because that expectation was set long ago and that is our standard.

Basically, Tennessee is a sleeping giant. Bama was a sleeping giant not too long ago and look what happened when they woke up, they've wreaked havoc on all of college football. We've got the facilities, we've got the resources, we've got the history and the expectations. We're getting the players. There is absolutely ZERO reason to believe Tennessee will never wake up.

Also throw in the fact that we've had brutal schedules for the past 3 or 4 years while the program was at rock bottom. There is no reason why TN wont be back in the hunt soon with the way CBJ is recruiting.

 

[volfanhill]

Ups and downs everyone has them. With that being said, no one outside of our own fan base and historians, cares about our past success. I think Butch will get it done but we will never be good just because we are UT and have a history.

 

[gunner]

The SEC has never been as tough as it is now. It's going to become tougher because of the tv contract which will raise all boats. Thus, more teams will be capable whereas in the past, it was only the so called Big Six.
With that said, I believe the top teams in our league are going to look more like Uga than Bama, from a record standpoint. Auburn had a magical season by winning the SEC but still lost two games. UGA under Richt has been terribly unlucky. Had there not been two unbeaten teams in 2002, Richt would have likely played for a national title, just as Saban was able to do two Times! He could have played for it all in 2007 as well. But Richt has had a few lean years as well, primarily due to youth at qb or injuries.
I believe the Uga program is what most of the top programs are going to become because of the dog eat dog nature of this league. I think Saban has won his last national title. I think Bama will look more like Uga in the coming years.
I say all that to say that this season, I have zero expectations for Butch Jones. I do want to see young players develop and want to see a fighting spirit, realizing that there still might be a day on the schedule where we get overwhelmed.
Eventually, I expect 8 to 10 win sessions with an occasional great year where we win 11 or perhaps slip to 6 or 7 with a youthful qb or injuries. I do not expect that we will ever be The Big Orange of the 90's and those of you who grew up during that time period should not expect it either. I expect that we will look more like Tennessee of the 2000's....the program that went to atlanta three times and once was only one win away from playing for a national title. Because of the nature of the SEC, we will likely slip back to the pack when youth prevails, especially at qb.
I expect to beat vandy and kentucky every year, Carolina most of the time, and expect to win 50 percent of the time against Bama,Uga, and Florida. I expect to be in atlanta three or four times every 10 to 12 years.
Go Vols!:hi:

The SEC was down last year from where it has been recently; specifically, the East. UF, and UGA, we're beat up by mid season. USC was the best in the East last season except for the upset last minute loss to UT. UT has been a shell of its former self for the last five years. Vandy was improved but that's not saying much because the East was weak. Therefore, Mizzou was able to sneak into the Championship game where they were completely overmatched. Auburn upset Bama because of some very poor decisions by Saban, and a fluke play at the end. Otherwise, Bama would have won it all last season.

As for this season UT will be improved, but so will UF, UGA, and Kentucky.

 

[Dickel#12Vol]

Also throw in the fact that we've had brutal schedules for the past 3 or 4 years while the program was at rock bottom. There is no reason why TN wont be back in the hunt soon with the way CBJ is recruiting.

Can and will the 'brutal schedules' change in the future? And was the scheduling done by previous AD to generate revenue? It hurts to continue to have the top 5 hardest schedule in all of college football..

 

[majorvol]

opcorn:

 

[99gator]

I pretty much disagree with all this.

We are just not that kind of program. Some programs are built around being mediocre. Some programs are built around being good to great programs. Some are built around being the elite.

Tennessee is an elite program. It's easy to say "we will just never be the Tennessee of the 90's again" much like I'm sure teams in the 90's at one point said "we'll just never be the same as General Neyland's Vols." There are only a handful of programs in the country that are on that same "elite" level, and a few years, even a decade of poor seasons does not change that.

Basically, I look at Tennessee like I look at Texas. They are known for football, as are we. We are known for our trophy case. We are among the 800 win club with only a handful of other teams. The football world isn't wondering if Tennessee will ever be good, they're wondering when Tennessee will be back. The same can be said for Texas. The same can be said for Penn State. Our fans do not demand championships because they are delusional, our fans demand championships because that expectation was set long ago and that is our standard.

Basically, Tennessee is a sleeping giant. Bama was a sleeping giant not too long ago and look what happened when they woke up, they've wreaked havoc on all of college football. We've got the facilities, we've got the resources, we've got the history and the expectations. We're getting the players. There is absolutely ZERO reason to believe Tennessee will never wake up.

when was the last time tennessee was THE dominant team in the sec?

 

[terrypedigo]

:rtfm:We are due for a 10 year run, win the East 3 or 4 times and where 8 wins is a down year maybe 1 NC, TOOKS US 43 IN BETWEEN NCs last time, so its not like we were tearing it up every year going on my 43rd year as fan over the years I learned we are a 7 or 8 win team most of the time that's when we played 11games instead of 12, I think we are due for a pretty good run, as bad as I hate Bama as long as you know who is there little nicky its going to be hard think about it we have to come out the East and play them and then if we are lucky enough to win then have 2 more games before we can win it all, its going to be hard but with the right coach I don't see why we cant win 1 or 2 every 10 years, or just be in the mix that would be nice, I think the BUTCHER can chop little nicks azz down to size to match his ugly face, GO VOLS BUCK BAMA TILL THE DAY I DIE AND FOREVER AFTER I HATE THEM SOBs.:rtfm:

 

[VOLfrombama]

We had a ton of success in the 20's, 30's, 50's, 60's, 80's, 90's, and 00's.......why would we expect any less?

We're due. Whether you believe its cyclical, traditional, recruiting, tv deals, or free crab legs, we're due.

 

[DERELICK_MY_VOLS]

I pretty much disagree with all this.

We are just not that kind of program. Some programs are built around being mediocre. Some programs are built around being good to great programs. Some are built around being the elite.

Tennessee is an elite program. It's easy to say "we will just never be the Tennessee of the 90's again" much like I'm sure teams in the 90's at one point said "we'll just never be the same as General Neyland's Vols." There are only a handful of programs in the country that are on that same "elite" level, and a few years, even a decade of poor seasons does not change that.

Basically, I look at Tennessee like I look at Texas. They are known for football, as are we. We are known for our trophy case. We are among the 800 win club with only a handful of other teams. The football world isn't wondering if Tennessee will ever be good, they're wondering when Tennessee will be back. The same can be said for Texas. The same can be said for Penn State. Our fans do not demand championships because they are delusional, our fans demand championships because that expectation was set long ago and that is our standard.

Basically, Tennessee is a sleeping giant. Bama was a sleeping giant not too long ago and look what happened when they woke up, they've wreaked havoc on all of college football. We've got the facilities, we've got the resources, we've got the history and the expectations. We're getting the players. There is absolutely ZERO reason to believe Tennessee will never wake up.

Dude you just one up'd the OP in his own thread with that one...

 

[ReelfootVol]

Yeah, we are the sleeping giant for sure. However, we had better wake up and start winning some games or we will become the dead giant.

 

[99gator]

We had a ton of success in the 20's, 30's, 50's, 60's, 80's, 90's, and 00's.......why would we expect any less?

We're due. Whether you believe its cyclical, traditional, recruiting, tv deals, or free crab legs, we're due.

see, this is where people are contradicting themselves.

there wasn't a ton of success in the 80's. there was 85 and 89 and a whole lot of blah.

same goes for the 2000's. there was 2001 and 2004 and a whole lot of blah.

the level of winning in the 80's is the kind of success the original poster is suggesting. a couple of titles and a bunch of 8-4 type seasons.

 

[DERELICK_MY_VOLS]

eace2:

see, this is where people are contradicting themselves.

there wasn't a ton of success in the 80's. there was 85 and 89 and a whole lot of blah.

same goes for the 2000's. there was 2001 and 2004 and a whole lot of blah.

the level of winning in the 80's is the kind of success the original poster is suggesting. a couple of titles and a bunch of 8-4 type seasons.

 

[Rocky-Top 10EC]

Somebody has to win the NC

 

[VOLfrombama]

see, this is where people are contradicting themselves.

there wasn't a ton of success in the 80's. there was 85 and 89 and a whole lot of blah.

same goes for the 2000's. there was 2001 and 2004 and a whole lot of blah.

the level of winning in the 80's is the kind of success the original poster is suggesting. a couple of titles and a bunch of 8-4 type seasons.

Don't forget........

1983 9-3

1987 10-2-1

the vols only had one 8-4 record the entire decade. They did however have some stinkers under majors, which is why Phil got the job so easily.
We all know what happened in the 90's.
Then, 10 wins in 03 and 07 to add to that list for the 00 decade. Thats the kind of success i am used to since those are the decades i grew up in. We should be in the title hunt more times than not. 1 or 2 losses a year isnt going to keep anyone out of it in the current format. I see no reason why we cant do that, with the right pieces in place.

 

[KnoxRealtorVOL]

when was the last time tennessee was THE dominant team in the sec?

Explain how that's relevant to anything I said.

In fact, explain to me how that in any way is not completely contradicted by my post.