Is it now OK to.......

[Volfan2012]

If the passing game improves to where it should be we might win them all.

 

[LWSVOL]

expect a minimum of 10 or 11 wins and win the SEC and not be considered an unrealistic jerk?

Now that Butch has had his third full recruiting cycle, now that we kept all the good players from leaving early for the NFL, now that we have a senior QB, now that we have an awesome running game lead by a possible heisman contender, now that we are no longer a young team?

Considering that we only leave the state of Tennessee 3 times and two of those games will be against first year head coaches?

Can 2016 be the year that all the excuse mongers finally die off? Can it finally be OK for us to expect not to get embarrassed on national tv? Can we finally agree that these things are not OK?

It's finally time for Vols fandom to rise to the level it once was at, as kings of the SEC with expectations of nothing less than total domination.

should play in Atlanta. definitely should be there. Should have been there this year. no excuse for not playing there this year.

BUT, can we beat Florida? That is always the question. Should have beaten them the last two years but did not. So that is the game. If we can't beat Florida we won't get to Atlanta.

in my opinion.

 

[MWAVolfan]

Last year was the first in a long while that the Vols were not embarrassed in a single game.

Chocking away a lead and giving up a touchdown on 4th down on the very last play of the game when litterally all you had to do was keep them out of the end zone was the height of embarrassment. Tennessee losing that game was all the national media could talk about.

 

[barknoxbrawler]

If ANY of our opponents get past the 50 yard line Butch should be fired! Immediately! Escort him off the field and to the bus terminal!

This was excellent for such an early post count on your part. Welcome to the nation ......your sarcasm is welcome, noted, and you will fit right in.

 

[MWAVolfan]

should play in Atlanta. definitely should be there. Should have been there this year. no excuse for not playing there this year.

BUT, can we beat Florida? That is always the question. Should have beaten them the last two years but did not. So that is the game. If we can't beat Florida we won't get to Atlanta.

in my opinion.

We can win 10 games and go to Atlanta without beating Florida. Although this will most likely be our last best chance to beat them.

 

[MWAVolfan]

Sure, why not? But the key is, what will you do if those expectations aren't met?

What I will do is all I can do as a fan which is voice my opinion.

 

[LWSVOL]

We can win 10 games and go to Atlanta without beating Florida. Although this will most likely be our last best chance to beat them.

if we don't beat Florida we won't win 10 IMO. that is why it is so important. sets up the rest of the schedule. Did you notice how we played Arkansas after losing to Florida this season? Florida is the key game to getting to Atlanta. JMO

 

[MWAVolfan]

I agree with DeerPark..

Maybe "expect" 9. But, hope for 14.

Not sure how many bama, Ohio state, or Clemson fans expect to win only 9 games. I'm pretty sure that would be considered a massive failure.

If bama lost 3 games how many articles wound be written about how maybe it's time that saban moved on and maybe he has run out of steam. You can guarantee that much is true.

 

[photovol]

Even with this recruiting class, I still predict we lose to Florida & Alabama in the regular season but beat Alabama in the S.E.C. Championship game.
That will make us a 10 - 2 regular season record and an S.E.C. Championship win would make us 11 - 2.
Before everyone gets upset about my prediction that we lose to Florida, think of how many times we have had the superior coach or the superior roster but still lost to them.
Other than the Tebow years, we have always felt that we could beat them.
I remember when we had DaRick & Hunter, all week long we thought we were going to beat them but Hunter was injured early on and we lost.
I remember when we had a superior team, other than the q.b. situation and Peterman got injured and we lost.
I remember when we played at home and we had the better team but they ran the ball for 300 yards and beat us.
I could go on and on but I chalk Florida as an automatic loss each year. Jinx!!!!

The Vols had had the talent advantage against Florida very few times when they have lost to the Gators

 

[MWAVolfan]

if we don't beat Florida we won't win 10 IMO. that is why it is so important. sets up the rest of the schedule. Did you notice how we played Arkansas after losing to Florida this season? Florida is the key game to getting to Atlanta. JMO

I agree mentally that's probably true. But mathematically it's totally possible.

 

[Vercingetorix]

expect a minimum of 10 or 11 wins and win the SEC and not be considered an unrealistic jerk?

Now that Butch has had his third full recruiting cycle, now that we kept all the good players from leaving early for the NFL, now that we have a senior QB, now that we have an awesome running game lead by a possible heisman contender, now that we are no longer a young team?

Considering that we only leave the state of Tennessee 3 times and two of those games will be against first year head coaches?

Can 2016 be the year that all the excuse mongers finally die off? Can it finally be OK for us to expect not to get embarrassed on national tv? Can we finally agree that these things are not OK?

It's finally time for Vols fandom to rise to the level it once was at, as kings of the SEC with expectations of nothing less than total domination.

Come on. The last time Tennessee football was at that level, Harry Truman was president.

In general I'd say that it's time for Tennessee fans' expectations to go back to "normal" -- which I'd roughly peg as 9-10 win regular seasons, competing for the division title every year and winning it every few years. We should expect to be one of the top programs in our division again.

But that's big picture. Specifically with regard to 2016....well, given the state of everybody else in our division, we should absolutely expect to play in Atlanta in December. Anything short of that would be a huge disappointment.

 

[EZE]

In 24 years since the SEC Championship game started, Tennessee has made 5 appearances (tied with LSU, Auburn, and Georgia for third in the conference). The record is 2-3 in those games.

So, the Vols appear roughly once every five years and win once every twelve.

I don't think that "expecting" (i.e., "demanding") an appearance or a victory in that game is the realistic approach. Deer Park said it well above. There are too many variables.

Now, what is okay is to expect to have a strong chance of getting there and winning it. And, I think there will be a very strong chance of both. But, I am not going to lose faith in Butch if we miss the game as long as we remain competitive.

I personally think we beat Florida handily in 2016. The tough games I see are Alabama, Georgia and aTm, with two of those on the road. We have a great chance to win all three, but also could lose all three. I also think we could beat Alabama twice to win the conference.

When did a 9-win regular season become so terrible? Especially given the SEC schedule? I expect we will finish better than that, but if it is 8-9 wins, it is a whole lot better than the multiple 7-loss seasons we had in a row.

 

[Volforlife79]

you may or may not like my opinon but i think a big reason that we loss to Florida was our defensive coordinator i think that's also one reason he ultimately lost his job because of the 4th down conversions teams was making on us, i kno there was missed tackles on the play but u don't spy the qb on 4th and 20,that's why i believe butch brought shoop in and in my honest opinion i dont think we will lose to Florida this year i believe shoop will have the defense firing on all cylinders and this will be the year the streak ends!

 

[livefaith]

Actually, history has shown us head coaching changes SHOULD be a last resort.

Some fans seem to want a coaching change every time they change their BVDs. Learning anything from history is beyond their mentality.

I remember people calling for Fulmers head in 96 & 97' when we laid eggs to UF. There's a sucker born every minute.

So, as long as their are new people they'll still be knee jerking at the first trial. Its just the human condition and it won't be changing very soon.

 

[Wildasamink16]

This

That

 

[volroadwarrior]

expect a minimum of 10 or 11 wins and win the SEC and not be considered an unrealistic jerk?

Now that Butch has had his third full recruiting cycle, now that we kept all the good players from leaving early for the NFL, now that we have a senior QB, now that we have an awesome running game lead by a possible heisman contender, now that we are no longer a young team?

Considering that we only leave the state of Tennessee 3 times and two of those games will be against first year head coaches?

Can 2016 be the year that all the excuse mongers finally die off? Can it finally be OK for us to expect not to get embarrassed on national tv? Can we finally agree that these things are not OK?

It's finally time for Vols fandom to rise to the level it once was at, as kings of the SEC with expectations of nothing less than total domination.

This'll get you going: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zBsQbd-QEA

 

[chargervol]

Come on. The last time Tennessee football was at that level, Harry Truman was president.

In general I'd say that it's time for Tennessee fans' expectations to go back to "normal" -- which I'd roughly peg as 9-10 win regular seasons, competing for the division title every year and winning it every few years. We should expect to be one of the top programs in our division again.

In 24 years since the SEC Championship game started, Tennessee has made 5 appearances (tied with LSU, Auburn, and Georgia for third in the conference). The record is 2-3 in those games.

So, the Vols appear roughly once every five years and win once every twelve.

Shh.
Please don't tell them. I actually enjoy the stories of how we just curb stomped the SEC and then destroyed the Super Bowl winners just for extra fun in the off season. And that we "Better get back to dominating" like we did back then.

Are their stories/memories/expectations based in reality? NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Are they fun to read and pretend it's true?
ABSOLUTELY! :good!:

 

[thebjd]

Unless we have some typical tennessee luck with injuries yes

We will be depending on no true freshmen to start next year. We have talent and we have depth. Injuries happen and we now have a roster that can handle it. We did pretty darn well without Maggitt so I believe the team is now at "next man up" status with little drop off.

 

[thebjd]

In 24 years since the SEC Championship game started, Tennessee has made 5 appearances (tied with LSU, Auburn, and Georgia for third in the conference). The record is 2-3 in those games.

So, the Vols appear roughly once every five years and win once every twelve.

I don't think that "expecting" (i.e., "demanding") an appearance or a victory in that game is the realistic approach. Deer Park said it well above. There are too many variables.

Now, what is okay is to expect to have a strong chance of getting there and winning it. And, I think there will be a very strong chance of both. But, I am not going to lose faith in Butch if we miss the game as long as we remain competitive.

I personally think we beat Florida handily in 2016. The tough games I see are Alabama, Georgia and aTm, with two of those on the road. We have a great chance to win all three, but also could lose all three. I also think we could beat Alabama twice to win the conference.

When did a 9-win regular season become so terrible? Especially given the SEC schedule? I expect we will finish better than that, but if it is 8-9 wins, it is a whole lot better than the multiple 7-loss seasons we had in a row.

We are going on a nine year drought so that helps the every five year appearance angle. Prior to Fulmer being fired we had appeared in 5 of the prior eleven SECCG so nearly every other year. Eight win seasons are not OK with 12 game schedules and the advantages we have as a program over our opponents. Wash that Dooley era funk off and get on board.

 

[Nationdom]

Even with this recruiting class, I still predict we lose to Florida & Alabama in the regular season but beat Alabama in the S.E.C. Championship game.
That will make us a 10 - 2 regular season record and an S.E.C. Championship win would make us 11 - 2.
Before everyone gets upset about my prediction that we lose to Florida, think of how many times we have had the superior coach or the superior roster but still lost to them.
Other than the Tebow years, we have always felt that we could beat them.
I remember when we had DaRick & Hunter, all week long we thought we were going to beat them but Hunter was injured early on and we lost.
I remember when we had a superior team, other than the q.b. situation and Peterman got injured and we lost.
I remember when we played at home and we had the better team but they ran the ball for 300 yards and beat us.
I could go on and on but I chalk Florida as an automatic loss each year. Jinx!!!!

haha. we will not lose to florida

 

[Volunteer Pride]

expect a minimum of 10 or 11 wins and win the SEC and not be considered an unrealistic jerk?

Now that Butch has had his third full recruiting cycle, now that we kept all the good players from leaving early for the NFL, now that we have a senior QB, now that we have an awesome running game lead by a possible heisman contender, now that we are no longer a young team?

Considering that we only leave the state of Tennessee 3 times and two of those games will be against first year head coaches?

Can 2016 be the year that all the excuse mongers finally die off? Can it finally be OK for us to expect not to get embarrassed on national tv? Can we finally agree that these things are not OK?

It's finally time for Vols fandom to rise to the level it once was at, as kings of the SEC with expectations of nothing less than total domination.

According to Tennessee fans it's okay

According to other SEC fans we're delusional and stupid and will never return to relevance

 

[volsportsfan]

To all in this thread.... If our passing game doesn't improve you can forget about ever winning an SEC championship under CBJ.

Take that to the bank every day of the week.

 

[EZE]

We are going on a nine year drought so that helps the every five year appearance angle. Prior to Fulmer being fired we had appeared in 5 of the prior eleven SECCG so nearly every other year. Eight win seasons are not OK with 12 game schedules and the advantages we have as a program over our opponents. Wash that Dooley era funk off and get on board.

HISTORY disagrees with you. The All-Time Record is 819-374-53. A .679 win percentage, which equates to 8.1 wins over a 12 game schedule.

So, an average season is 8-4.

This leaves room for above average seasons of 10-12 wins. But, when you look at a conference where history in the SEC Championship Game shows that Florida and Georgia in the East, and Alabama, Auburn and LSU in the West, are absolutely peer programs (with Ole Miss a newcomer to these ranks), you cannot expect to dominate the conference unless you get on a historically unusual run like Alabama over the past several years (which, by the way, coincides with our nosedive). And, if you start firing coaches for not measuring up to the Saban standard, you are going to have a revolving door because that expectation is unrealistic.

The expectation should be to field a program that has a solid chance of getting to Atlanta every season. You will make it some and miss it some.

You cannot hold Butch responsible for the 9-year drought.

 

[rocytop2624]

expect a minimum of 10 or 11 wins and win the SEC and not be considered an unrealistic jerk?

Now that Butch has had his third full recruiting cycle, now that we kept all the good players from leaving early for the NFL, now that we have a senior QB, now that we have an awesome running game lead by a possible heisman contender, now that we are no longer a young team?

Considering that we only leave the state of Tennessee 3 times and two of those games will be against first year head coaches?

Can 2016 be the year that all the excuse mongers finally die off? Can it finally be OK for us to expect not to get embarrassed on national tv? Can we finally agree that these things are not OK?

It's finally time for Vols fandom to rise to the level it once was at, as kings of the SEC with expectations of nothing less than total domination.

Yes my son! yes!

 

[Other_Guy]

If Vols don't make Atlanta and put up a fight there, Butch isn't the guy. It will take massive underperforming to lose out the East crown, sorry Florida.

BUT until the Vols show they are better than Bama, LSU and Ole Miss, I will nott expect to win (in a fashion that will feel like they SHOULD win)..