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.
