Tennessee 7th best SEC job according to Athlon

#1
Jnunn

Jnunn

Cautiously Pessimistic
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#1
A look at the expert rankings of SEC coaching jobs

Seems insane that a program with 4-6 National Titles and 13 SEC titles can be considered the 7th best job in its conference. Especially with the facilities and fan support that Tennessee has.

I think it goes to show how these lists are always super-biased for whichever team is hot at the time.

And yes, I know this is pointless, but its the off-season. Got to talk about something.
 
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#2
#2
Give it a few years, and when they do this article again, Tennessee will be in the top 3. Like you said, it's all about who's hot, whether the writers admit it or not. :eek:k:
 
#4
#4
Athlon is STUPID!! :blink:


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#5
#5
May have something to do with the fact that, nationally, we are still considered to be in a rebuilding phase. Historical high expectations + rebuild != top job at moment.
 
#6
#6
I'd put UT at 5 and move A&M and the Barn down.
 
#9
#9
CountVolcula said:
Vandy use to be tops back in the early

1900s

Would you consider them a top job now?
Click to expand...

UT did hire the General to beat Vandy

they could be,but there admin and fans aren't behind the football program these days

it is a shame,for them,when UT colors there home field Orange and White :)
 
#10
#10
No way Auburn is a better job than UT, for the simple fact that you have to deal with the Iron
Bowl 24/7/365. Its ridiculous. And LSU was a crap job before Saban arrived, and it will be a
crap job again when Miles is fired.
 
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#11
#11
The author states that he's using the "current state of the program" for the rankings, not historical successes. He's looking at ease of recruiting, facilities, fan support, etc. He suggests toward the end that UT is the more difficult job since we have to rely heavily on out-of-state recruits (it's easy to forget this when Butch is reeling those recruits in regularly).

His reasoning for placing Alabama at #1 is shoddy, however ("because Nick Saban has made it into the best job"). That essentially means it's the best job only so long as Saban is the coach, which defeats the purpose of the list.
 
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#13
#13
Yankee_Vol said:
I'd put UT at 5 and move A&M and the Barn down.
Click to expand...

While I'd agree with dropping Auburn some but in my opinion A&M should be much higher due to the recruiting possibilities are endless there. In fact I'd even go as far to say with the talent available Kevin Sumlin has underachieved big time.
 
#14
#14
Well, when you are in your early thirties, tradition and winning doesn't go back very far. I would put TN in the to 5. The 4 schools that I would rank ahead of us don't seem to have AD/Chancellor issues like we do.
 
#15
#15
Bms4880 said:
The author states that he's using the "current state of the program" for the rankings, not historical successes. He's looking at ease of recruiting, facilities, fan support, etc. He suggests toward the end that UT is the more difficult job since we have to rely heavily on out-of-state recruits (it's easy to forget this when Butch is reeling those recruits in regularly).

His reasoning for placing Alabama at #1 is shoddy, however ("because Nick Saban has made it into the best job"). That essentially means it's the best job only so long as Saban is the coach, which defeats the purpose of the list.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've always wondered at this logic. The state of Florida is 450 miles from end to end. Butch can get to big parts of Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama faster than Florida's coach can get to Miami. Knoxville is closer to Atlanta, Charlotte, Richmond, Cincinnati, and Birmingham than College Station is to Lubbock. Geographically, Knoxville is a great hub to work out of.

And as for in-state loyalties, that's largely a red herring. There are some (maybe 10%? 15%?) of high-quality HS recruits who are bound and determined to play for their childhood favorite team ... but a wide majority pay attention to all those other factors that are important: like quality of coaching staff, offensive/defensive scheme match to the player's talents, degree of opportunity, chance for championships, and on and on. Playing for your hometown favorite is only one factor among many. It affects some decisions, sure, but not as many as all that.

Keep in mind: that 5-star recruit down in Daytona might be a Gator fan ... or a Seminole ... or a Hurricane ... or a USF ... or a UCF ... or who knows what, maybe an Ole Miss fan because his dad played for them. Even being in a talent-rich state guarantees you nothing. Recruiting is a dog-fight for everyone involved.

Bottom line is, I don't understand the purported recruiting advantage/disadvantage angle of articles like these. It just doesn't ring true to me.
 
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#16
#16
Volsfaninva917 said:
While I'd agree with dropping Auburn some but in my opinion A&M should be much higher due to the recruiting possibilities are endless there. In fact I'd even go as far to say with the talent available Kevin Sumlin has underachieved big time.
Click to expand...

I agree . Sumlin should be doing better than what he is. Maybe The Chief can turn it around for him. Having said that, he kinda reminds me of Zook. Great recruiter but not so much on the coaching front.
 
#22
#22
Without some pretty specifically defined criteria, the whole notion is kind of silly.

There are a few advantages that some schools my have in terms of recruiting base, financial support/reserves and such, but for the most part a coaching job is as good as coach makes it.

If CBJ (or any other SEC coach for that matter) bangs out a championship or two and strings together a few 10+ win seasons, he creates his own national prominence, exposure, financial strength, etc.

There's really no SEC school that couldn't do that with prolonged success on the field. Arguably, there's one or two schools that are not likely at all to be able to generate that success, but otherwise they're all great jobs. It's almost like attempting to argue which NFL HFC job is best. The answer to that is "the one not owned by Jerry Jones."
 
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#23
#23
VFL-82-JP said:
Bottom line is, I don't understand the purported recruiting advantage/disadvantage angle of articles like these. It just doesn't ring true to me.
Click to expand...


I'm inclined to agree with this. More travel options and social media, mobile phones shorten the distance to a recruit in terms of staying connected.
 
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#24
#24
HoptownVol said:
No way Auburn is a better job than UT, for the simple fact that you have to deal with the Iron
Bowl 24/7/365. Its ridiculous. And LSU was a crap job before Saban arrived, and it will be a
crap job again when Miles is fired.
Click to expand...

No they won't. Miles and Saban have built LSU into a national powerhouse, even to this day. Yes, they've had a few down years, but for them that's like losing 4 games a year. They have won recent championships and have produced the most NFL talent in the last 10 years, along with Alabama. Also, sit in a recruiting hot bed in Louisiana and can get almost anyone from Texas and Mississippi. They also have one of the biggest and loudest stadiums. Because of the standards that Saban and Miles have set there, LSU is still sitting pretty if Miles leaves.

I do agree with your first point though. I think UT is better than Auburn, simply because we have a much bigger fanbase, better facilities, and we're not competing with another major SEC school in our own state (Vandy sucks crap).
 
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#25
#25
"The Athlon list and my list combines all of those, but it’s quite subjective.

One coaching industry veteran told me when the carousel was spinning this past offseason on the “big seven” jobs in the SEC- Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M, that most coaches view them as “the same” - places where you can win and recruit big and earn a great living."

That was the main point I took from the article. There is no real difference in the top 7 right now other than who has enjoyed the most recent success. That's changing as we speak.
 
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