Neyland Law Vol
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Long article at CBS.com analyzing TN and whether we will be "back" after 2016.
Here are a few quotes:
Basically CBS says put up or shut up to the Vols.
Full article here.
Tennessee tries to make this the year it backs up its talk and wins the SEC East - CBSSports.com
Here are a few quotes:
The SEC eventually needs Tennessee to be elite again. In the short term, Tennessee enters 2016 as the trendy media pick to win the SEC East. Even Saban has labeled the Vols the pick to win the SEC East because Joshua Dobbs returns as their experienced quarterback.
But the Vols haven't beaten Florida since 2004, even though the Gators aren't always the better team. There's some kind of mental block holding back Tennessee against Florida. Their Sept. 24 meeting in Knoxville is huge for the Vols,
The SEC East is such a coin flip that Tennessee is somehow considered by many people to be the clear favorite even though Jones has a 10-14 SEC record. The 10 SEC teams Jones beat had a combined conference mark of 22-58. Only two of the wins -- Georgia in 2015 and South Carolina in 2013 -- came against teams that finished with a winning SEC record.
But this stretch is particularly frustrating for Vols fans. Tennessee's 13 SEC titles are the second most all-time, but the Vols' 17-year drought without one is their longest ever. Alabama, a bitter rival of Tennessee's, has never gone through an SEC title drought like this. Even worse for the Vols, they join Kentucky and Vanderbilt as the only SEC East teams without a championship trip to Atlanta since 2007.
That brings us to 2016, where a junior college transfer is the boldest talker at Tennessee. Kongbo's remarks deserve some context. He was in part responding to Florida cornerback Jalen Tabor's guarantee that the Gators would extend their winning streak over Tennessee to 12 games.
"I just kind of laughed at it because I know we're going to beat Florida," Kongbo told Rockytopinsider.com in April. "I know we're going to beat Alabama. We're going to beat all those teams. So I'll say right now, we're going to beat every team we play next year."
Maybe Tennessee needs some of that swagger. But talk is just noise and won't mean anything against Florida and Georgia. We've seen this script before in Knoxville.
On the day Lane Kiffin was hired in 2009, he promised to be "singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida next year." The Gators won and Kiffin left Tennessee after one season.
Before the 2012 season, Dooley said this at SEC Media Days: "It's been a tough four years at Tennessee and I know the SEC has enjoyed taking advantage of our tough times. But you're not going to have Tennessee to kick around anymore." The Vols promptly went 1-7 in the SEC, got blown out by Vanderbilt, and Dooley got fired.
In a 2016 season filled with high expectations, the Vols will have to back up their talk. Tell us, if you must. But for once, show us before we can believe in you.
Basically CBS says put up or shut up to the Vols.
Full article here.
Tennessee tries to make this the year it backs up its talk and wins the SEC East - CBSSports.com