Recruiting Forum Football Talk XXX

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#6,776
#6,776
My concern is that part of the reason CBJ wants out is because he knows next year will be a tough year, and his confidence has taken a hit. UK, SCAR and Vandy are no longer gimmes, and every SEC game will be "a great, great challenge." The fanbase will not react well to a backslide and another year of lowered expectations. Unfortunately, the backslide could start this year if the Vols drop to the MCB and are unmotivated to play in a lesser bowl.
 
#6,777
#6,777
Dust10 said:
I disagree with your disagreement. Byrd was an Army all American at corner, not WR. We are wasting a potential NFL corner on like 2 catches a game.
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Not to mention that Martinez was quoted saying to Coach Z somewhere along the lines of "I just gave you an NFL first round pick...", after he made the switch.

I realize Byrd is lightening in a bottle but we're significantly shorter on talent at DB than we at WR.
 
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#6,779
#6,779
I agree that personnel decisions re: Hurd are on the staff (but probably more of a Butch than Debord issue). But Butch was between a rock and a hard place with Hurd. In hindsight, there probably should have been a mutual parting of ways last offseason, but this place would have absolutely melted down if that had happened. And Butch presumably didn't realize how beneficial that might have been (after all, it's not like Hurd was doing nothing--we all expected him to break the school rushing record as a junior). But on top of that, it would have been bad for program perception for Hurd to leave last year. It's just hard when Hurd has been one of the building blocks of your program for two years.
 
#6,780
#6,780
orangeblood79 said:
Not to mention that Martinez was quoted saying to Coach Z somewhere along the lines of "I just gave you an NFL first round pick...", after he made the switch.

I realize Byrd is lightening in a bottle but we're significantly shorter on talent at DB than we at WR.
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I don't think so when looking at the preseason depth chart. JMO
 
#6,781
#6,781
Serious topic: list positive things that occurred this season (we can do negatives next). I'll start with a few:

- Won (convincingly) the Battle at Bristol over a VT team that ended up being surprisingly good.
- Got the Florida monkey off our back.
- Beat UGA for the 2nd year in a row
- Established Kelly as a good RB of the future
- Established Malone and Jennings as true threats at WR
- Reached a bowl for the 3rd year in a row
 
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#6,783
#6,783
GoBigOrangeVols said:
Serious topic: list positive things that occurred this season (we can do negatives next). I'll start with a few:

- Won (convincingly) the Battle at Bristol over a VT team that ended up being surprisingly good.
- Got the Florida monkey off our back.
- Beat UGA for the 2nd year in a row
- Established Kelly as a good RB of the future
- Established Malone and Jennings as true threats at WR
- Reached a bowl for the 3rd year in a row
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Saw Dobbs develop more as a downfield thrower.
 
#6,786
#6,786
UT had three great running backs with different skill sets. All three could have contributed. The coaches could have mixed it up and we could have gotten production from all three. Refusing to use Hurd in formations where he could best contribute, underusing Kamara-- who should have had many more carries-- and relegating JKelly to garbage time is a triple felony. The way this was managed was bound to lead to player dissatisfaction, and we're lucky it wasn't worse.
 
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#6,788
#6,788
GoBigOrangeVols said:
Serious topic: list positive things that occurred this season (we can do negatives next). I'll start with a few:

- Won (convincingly) the Battle at Bristol over a VT team that ended up being surprisingly good.
- Got the Florida monkey off our back.
- Beat UGA for the 2nd year in a row
- Established Kelly as a good RB of the future
- Established Malone and Jennings as true threats at WR
- Reached a bowl for the 3rd year in a row
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Yep! I enjoyed the positives greatly. Now for some negatives:

- Butch is the first UT coach since MB Banks (1921 - 1925) to lose twice to Vanderbilt
- Butch is the first UT coach since 1926 to take an eight win team into the Vanderbilt game and lose
- Butch's defense gave up 600+ yards of offense to Vandy, which is the most Vandy has gained in the 110 year history of the rivalry

I can explain away and generally justify most of the other negatives this season (lost a tough game on the road in what has historically been a close series with USCe; were undermanned due to injury against Bama; were undermanned but played our hearts out against Texas A&M despite all the fumbles; found a way to win every other game).

But I cannot and will not excuse what happened at Vanderbilt last Saturday. I don't care if we fielded a team of water boys. We should beat Vandy every time we take the field against them. Period.
 
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#6,789
#6,789
TS made a really good post in the FF:

VFL34 said:
Butch needs a complete over haul with all his coaches, and he needs to let go of his control over who ever is hired. This loss to Vanderbilt and South Carolina completely exposed him of not being able to coach under the pressure. I believe that the players will have butch jones back. He has done a phenomenal job on bringing this program back. The program is where it needs to be. sometimes though the person that rebuilt something isn't always the person to take it to the next level.
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#6,794
#6,794
GoBigOrangeVols said:
Serious topic: list positive things that occurred this season (we can do negatives next). I'll start with a few:

- Won (convincingly) the Battle at Bristol over a VT team that ended up being surprisingly good.
- Got the Florida monkey off our back.
- Beat UGA for the 2nd year in a row
- Established Kelly as a good RB of the future
- Established Malone and Jennings as true threats at WR
- Reached a bowl for the 3rd year in a row
Click to expand...

Also set season attendance records at Neyland (best in the country). Dobbs broke Jimmy Streater's record for most rushing TDs and Barnett tied Reggie White's sack record. Both records were set by Tennessee greats and had stood for more than three decades, so major coups!
 
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#6,797
#6,797
SIAP, but if things go as expected in the SECCG, there will be no SEC teams other than Bama, with fewer than 4 losses. Unfortunately, I think it is more a reflection of the mediocrity of the conference as a whole instead of parity that caused this phenomenon.
 
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#6,798
#6,798
orangeblood79 said:
Not to mention that Martinez was quoted saying to Coach Z somewhere along the lines of "I just gave you an NFL first round pick...", after he made the switch.

I realize Byrd is lightening in a bottle but we're significantly shorter on talent at DB than we at WR.
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If Byrd is as good at CB as advertised, he needed to be moved there already. He got maybe 20 targets at WR while our secondary got torched all year.
 
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#6,799
#6,799
drvenner said:
SIAP, but if things go as expected in the SECCG, there will be no SEC teams other than Bama, with fewer than 4 losses. Unfortunately, I think it is more a reflection of the mediocrity of the conference as a whole instead of parity that caused this phenomenon.
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Ya, I agree. I'd say the pac 12 might be the best conference top to bottom now. B10 best at the top, but the SEC is pretty bad this year. Curious to see if the bowl games prove that our, or if the SEC trounced everyone and we can say it's just a parity issue.
 
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#6,800
#6,800
jave36 said:
Ya, I agree. I'd say the pac 12 might be the best conference top to bottom now. B10 best at the top, but the SEC is pretty bad this year. Curious to see if the bowl games prove that our, or if the SEC trounced everyone and we can say it's just a parity issue.
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The bowl thing is always a catch 22. If we win, we say we are superior. If we lose, we say it is because we don't care.
 
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