Per Hubbs, "lack of depth biggest concern for this team"

#28
#28
VolFan4Life87 said:
So why is this an issue in year 5?
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We've had lots of washouts, transfers, injuries, down right craziness (AJ Johnson scandal, plus the title 5 legal ordeal) and perhaps some poor planning and evaluation on the recruiting front. Take the LB situation for example. Bolded are the current scholarship LBs.

2013 - 1 - JRM
2014 - 5 (+1) - Dillon Bates (injuries, medical scholarship awarded), Elliot Berry, Chris Weatherd (2 years to play 2?), Gavin Bryant (transferred, never accomplished much on the field), Jakob Johnson (a project from the start), then Cortez McDowell was originally cruited as a safety.
2015 - 3 - Quarte Sapp, Darrin Kirkland, and Austin Smith (transitioned to DL)
2016 - 2 - Blakely and Bituli
2017 - 3 - Reid (EE), Page and Ignont

We have 4 upperclassmen LBs on roster (Kirkland, Berry, McDowell and Jumper), which isnt bad - but it's not a great retention rate considering how many guys we recruited for the position (8 (+1 in McDowell) - only 3 remain from that group of would-be upperclassmen (from the 14/15 classes) - 2 transfers, 1 medical redshirt, 1 transitioned to the DL, 1 JUCO with a limited time frame, and 1 project that didnt work out at his recruited position (Johnson).

We are really, really lucky to have a (former) walk on who can play - that is all I will say about the LB situation - because without Jumper our LB corps depth would be laughable. We'd have more people calling for Thig's head if they could see what our corps looked like without him.
 
#29
#29
No excuses. Butch has been here 5 years, any attrition, lack of depth, or any other bs excuse is on Butch. The guy thinks he's done something here lol. This is Tennessee. You haven't done anything that any other average coach could do here. Win 10 games this year or good bye.
 
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#30
#30
Just because it's year 5 or year 10 or year 15 doesn't mean a coach will never have seasons where depth isn't quite up to snuff. Crap happens every offseason. Guys unexpectedly declare for the draft, other guys quit/get kicked off the team, and some recruits that looked like sure things just never pan out.

This staff could have certainly done a better job at filling holes on the roster, but it's tough to have bulletproof depth at every position unless you're recruiting like Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, etc.
 
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#32
#32
Aesius said:
Just because it's year 5 or year 10 or year 15 doesn't mean a coach will never have seasons where depth isn't quite up to snuff. Crap happens every offseason. Guys unexpectedly declare for the draft, other guys quit/get kicked off the team, and some recruits that looked like sure things just never pan out.
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And every team/coach deals with it, so it's really not a good excuse since everyone is on equal footing, provided they've had enough recruiting cycles to get their own "hand picked" guys.
 
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#33
#33
Nationdom said:
No excuses. Butch has been here 5 years, any attrition, lack of depth, or any other bs excuse is on Butch. The guy thinks he's done something here lol. This is Tennessee. You haven't done anything that any other average coach could do here. Win 10 games this year or good bye.
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If Butch has another mediocre year I think it's pretty clear Currie won't hesitate to find his replacement. Just imagine Currie is Arnold Schwarzenegger from Commando and everything will be ok.

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#38
#38
I'd love to hear Hubbs define and then defend this statement.

"Lack of depth" means little at this time of year. During the season when the injuries are piling up, and you're playing the guys who started the fall on 3rd string, that's a "lack of depth" in college football.

But in the spring, when you have 85-105 players on the roster, 10-15 in each position group meeting room, and you haven't even figured out who the two-deep are yet, "lack of depth" comes pretty close to being meaningless.

Like I said, would love to hear in detail why Hubbs thinks this is an issue in April.
 
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#39
#39
Nationdom said:
No excuses. Butch has been here 5 years, any attrition, lack of depth, or any other bs excuse is on Butch. The guy thinks he's done something here lol. This is Tennessee. You haven't done anything that any other average coach could do here. Win 10 games this year or good bye.
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Your lack of football knowledge is scary. Or is it just your agenda?
 
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#42
#42
jakez4ut said:
6 draft eligible players, 3 of which are early departures

Injuries

Attrition

Some guys haven't been what we thought they'd be.
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"Some guys haven't been what we thought they'd be." My issue with that quote is under Butch Jones, the players who were supposed to make an immediate impact, rarely ever do. The lack of player development from this staff has been down right puzzling.
 
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#49
#49
Daddy Gee said:
It takes 6-8 years to build a program
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For all you Frank Martin lovers out there. Took him 5 to make a tourney. And it was pretty funny to basically hear I'm give the Champions of Life speech after the game without using that exact phrase.
 
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#50
#50
mitzustu said:
For all you Frank Martin lovers out there. Took him 5 to make a tourney. And it was pretty funny to basically hear I'm give the Champions of Life speech after the game without using that exact phrase.
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He took them to the final 4 when no one even had them making the tournament in preseason. Not even comparable.
 
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