Phil Steele on TN's chances in 2016

#1
Neyland Law Vol

Neyland Law Vol

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
9,032
Likes
6,628
#1
Steele is seen as a guru by most CFB fans. While he likes our returning experience, he cautions that our schedule is tough the way it plays out with 4 tough games back to back to back. He implies in his comments that because of this tough schedule, we may not make it to Atlanta. I tend to agree that the schedule hurts our chances the way it is laid out. Many on VN are discounting how much harder the schedule becomes when you take the four toughest teams and play them straight in a row in the middle of the season before the bye week.

JC: All the stars appear to have lined up for Tennessee this season. The Volunteers return a ton of starters. The rest of the SEC East appears to be in rebuilding mode. If Butch Jones and Co. can’t get it done this year, they may never get it done. How confident are you in the Vols?

PS: The Vols are my pick to win the East, but a four-game stretch will determine whether they get to the SEC title game.

On Sept. 24, they host Florida, which has a Top 10 defense and beaten them 11 straight years. The next week they have to travel to Georgia, and RB Nick Chubb should be up to speed by Week 5. They then go on the road a second straight week to College Station to take on a talented and dangerous Aggies squad. If they have anything left in the tank, they host Alabama the very next week.

They can probably afford one loss in that four-game stretch, but not two. Seven of my nine sets of power ratings still picked the Vols to win the East, and I give them about a 70-percent chance of doing so.
Click to expand...

Southern Fried Q&A: Phil Steele talks SEC with Saturday Down South
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 people
#3
#3
chatt-townVOL said:
My life would be so much happier if I knew there was a bye week in the middle of that stretch.
Click to expand...

I agree. If we moved the Tx AM game to mid November, and made that a bye week before bama, I think we have a much better shot at 11-1.

But I think its going to be tough to do better than 2-2 in that stretch
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#4
#4
But it is worth noting that if we can beat UF and UGA, 2-2 in that stretch is not the end of the world because we still get to ATL if our losses are to only west teams.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#8
#8
Neyland Law Vol said:
Steele is seen as a guru by most CFB fans. While he likes our returning experience, he cautions that our schedule is tough the way it plays out with 4 tough games back to back to back. He implies in his comments that because of this tough schedule, we may not make it to Atlanta. I tend to agree that the schedule hurts our chances the way it is laid out. Many on VN are discounting how much harder the schedule becomes when you take the four toughest teams and play them straight in a row in the middle of the season before the bye week.



Southern Fried Q&A: Phil Steele talks SEC with Saturday Down South
Click to expand...

Disagree.

I think it actually benefits us to play all those tough games early in the season.

We are more experienced than all those teams. Experience is most beneficial to start the season. Getting all those teams early gives us an advantage since we have the better continuity.

By the end of the year the advantage in experience becomes less potent.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 6 people
#9
#9
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Disagree.

I think it actually benefits us to play all those tough games early in the season.

We are more experienced than all those teams. Experience is most beneficial to start the season. Getting all those teams early gives us an advantage since we have the better continuity.

By the end of the year the advantage in experience becomes less potent.
Click to expand...

I'll give you credit. Your observations are bad pretty much in every post in every forum.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 people
#11
#11
JohnD13 said:
Plus they play each other
Click to expand...

True. I am worried that UGA may be better than expected next season. They have questions, but still have loads of talent on that roster. They could surprise so we need to get that W in Athens to secure the east. It'll be tough coming right after the FL game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#13
#13
Neyland Law Vol said:
I agree. If we moved the Tx AM game to mid November, and made that a bye week before bama, I think we have a much better shot at 11-1.

But I think its going to be tough to do better than 2-2 in that stretch
Click to expand...

Yeah A&M would be in full meltdown mode by then. Would be an easy game at that point in the season.
 
#14
#14
Oh no.... more excuses. Should have been in ATL last season. Should be there this season with our roster....if our main guys stay healthy. Embrace it and go kick tail
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#15
#15
If we beat UF and UGA, odds are, we win the East. If we lose to one of them, the tiebreaker could keep us out of ATL. We get the Gators in Neyland, so UGA on the road is the bigger threat, IMO.

By the time Bama rolls in, we'll need a break, but so will they. They'll be coming off a very physical road game at Arky, and we'll be their 7th game without a bye. It's a home game for us, so that's the closest we can get to an even playing field.

It's challenging, no doubt, but SEC schedules are brutal for everybody. Our depth and will to win will be tested. I think Team 120 is up to it, and I expect them to be playing in the SECCG. Won't be easy, but it's definitely doable.
 
#16
#16
Georgia has to play OleMiss the week before us.....

TAM has Auburn and Arkansas the two weeks before us.....

Bama plays at Arky the week before us....

Nobody has it particularly easy. These three guys have difficult games leading up to playing us. And then they gotta deal with us. I think we come out of the 4 game stretch 3-1
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
#17
#17
70% to win the East? I think that's pretty much spot on, maybe a little high. The ncaa made sure we will have a hard time getting there because of the bye week placement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#18
#18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Neyland Law Vol View Post
Steele is seen as a guru by most CFB fans. While he likes our returning experience, he cautions that our schedule is tough the way it plays out with 4 tough games back to back to back. He implies in his comments that because of this tough schedule, we may not make it to Atlanta. I tend to agree that the schedule hurts our chances the way it is laid out. Many on VN are discounting how much harder the schedule becomes when you take the four toughest teams and play them straight in a row in the middle of the season before the bye week.


Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Disagree.

I think it actually benefits us to play all those tough games early in the season.

We are more experienced than all those teams. Experience is most beneficial to start the season. Getting all those teams early gives us an advantage since we have the better continuity.

By the end of the year the advantage in experience becomes less potent.
Click to expand...

Bama had essentially the same 4-game stretch in 015, and beat us (but lost 1 to the Rebels / early season on the road to NC). We are stacked with game-experience, and it's time now for it to show in early/mid -season W's (where our toughest games are this season). I tend to agree that this sched looks very good for the road to ATL + NC (I'd rather have A&M than LSU or ARK).
 
#19
#19
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
Disagree.

I think it actually benefits us to play all those tough games early in the season.

We are more experienced than all those teams. Experience is most beneficial to start the season. Getting all those teams early gives us an advantage since we have the better continuity.

By the end of the year the advantage in experience becomes less potent.
Click to expand...

Skip Bayless? Is that you? That response has gas bag written all over it
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#20
#20
#6, #21, and #23 (#7 in 2015) did not give up millions of NFL dollars and stay in Knoxville to win any second-place trophies. Can you imagine how driven they will be to make it all happen this year?

Their leadership, alongside Senior Josh Dobbs as the fourth team captain, will keep this team laser-focused on the prize. I've got a feeling this is gonna be the most steely-eyed Tennessee squad in decades to take the field.

Phil Steele knows a helluva lot about the game. His Achilles' Heel is reading the writing on the inside of players' hearts.

That's our X-factor in 2016. We win the East, no question.

They didn't come back for second place.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 people
#21
#21
Can someone tell me who makes the schedules? How much control does UT have and especially over the conference schedule?

Seems quite inequitable that UT always ends up with the other two most successful programs in the East before mid-season and almost always within two weeks of each other.
 
#23
#23
sjt18 said:
Can someone tell me who makes the schedules? How much control does UT have and especially over the conference schedule?

Seems quite inequitable that UT always ends up with the other two most successful programs in the East before mid-season and almost always within two weeks of each other.
Click to expand...

The SEC staff puts it together, with a lot of input from the 14 member programs. Final approval and adjudication of any head coach level disagreements rests with the Commissioner.

We fans always talk about pushing the Florida game back to November, which naturally is always going to be opposed by the Gators, because they play FSU in November each year.

I don't know why we don't push harder to instead move the Georgia game back to the end of the schedule. UGa always has Auburn the 2nd week in November, but finish out easy with a non-conference cupcake and Ga Tech. There's room for them to accommodate the move we'd like and it benefit them as well.

p.s. One thing I've long suspected to be true (with no evidence whatsoever, just a guess) is that the sacred cow for Tennessee in scheduling is to keep the Bama game on or as near as possible to the Third Saturday in October (and the whole 6+1+1 format that allows it to work). I think it may be that we expend a considerable amount of our scheduling clout keeping that fixed, so don't have much oomph left over for changes like this. Just a guess.
 
#24
#24
sjt18 said:
Can someone tell me who makes the schedules? How much control does UT have and especially over the conference schedule?

Seems quite inequitable that UT always ends up with the other two most successful programs in the East before mid-season and almost always within two weeks of each other.
Click to expand...

Not much for a variety of reasons.

The thing people forget is it's always been this way. I looked up the 1985 Tennessee schedule for fun.

Five of the first six games were UCLA, Auburn, Florida, Alabama and a 9-2-1 Georgia Tech squad.

The last 5 games were against Rutgers, Memphis State, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Vandy.

The famous/infamous 1988 Tennessee team went 0-6 before finishing 5-0. The first 6 games were against teams that went to bowl games. The last 5 weren't.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
#25
#25
Neyland Law Vol said:
I agree. If we moved the Tx AM game to mid November, and made that a bye week before bama, I think we have a much better shot at 11-1.

But I think its going to be tough to do better than 2-2 in that stretch
Click to expand...


You liked that bye week last year, you can tell the truth? Peyton had that, where's the band ladder look in his eyes.

Oh well, back to 2016.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top