Are we really that far behind Florida?

#28
#28
Considering that the Vols were dead last in Total Offense and 13th in scoring in the SEC, I'd say, yes we are that far behind Florida.
We're having trouble with Vanderbilt, muchless, Florida, unfortunately.
 
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#29
#29
Woke said:
Eh...don’t disagree with anything you said but it’s TEAMS that win or lose not position matchups. Mullen is just at home at UF and his advantage is he doesn’t have to recreate the wheel there like Pruitt has to with us.

Mullen inherited a familiar culture with players who are a better fit with what he wants to do. He can overachieve on O while piecing together a D.

Pruitt inherited a soft losing culture with a lot of diverse athletes. He has to piece together an aggressive physical D AND a winning team mindset while letting Chaney piece together a productive O. Pruitt and Chaney have to recruit and develop the right players for their schemes going forward and quickly develop the new players they’ve brought in. So there are a lot more pieces to put together on our side.

That’s what 2019 is for. We’ll be basically where UF is now in 2020 imo. From that point on the teams should be pretty even going forward if things continue as they’re going.

Can we beat UF in 2019? Absolutely. Will the game be highly competitive? I’d be willing to bet on it. Don’t think we’ll get curb stomped. Are we going to win? Possible but unlikely in 2019.
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Didnt UF & UT both just win 5 games in 2017 & UF had players suspended for our game in 2018. The inherited culture wasn't great (see suspensions) at UF Mullen IMO is a great coach,
 
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#31
#31
volfanhill said:
Let’s worry about beating Vandy before we worry about Florida
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Some of us are multitasking.

chatt-townVOL said:
Florida is going to hammer us
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What is your definition of "hammer us"?

Because I think we lose, but IMO they hammered us last year and I don't see that happening this year. I'd be willing to bet on it. Even just a publicly "I was wrong, I overrated Florida, like always " bet.
 
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#35
#35
Behr said:
How's that?
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Mullen wanted the UT job when Florida didn't show him interest in the beginning, Currie didn't make a move until after the Vandy game and at that point it was too late. Currie was supposed to meet with Mullen after the Egg Bowl but he took the Florida job and the rest is history. Look at the Currie text and emails the week of the Vandy game, Mullen ignored him following the Egg Bowl and Currie was told by the Haslams to hire Schiano.
 
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#36
#36
Mullen inherited much better defensive players that Pruitt did coming in. Mullen is also a proven offensive coach, so they of course Improved on the offensive in while have a solid defense in place. I think long term Pruitt will be a better coach. He has already shown the ability to change and adapt when needed to, plus he is a better recruiter.
 
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#37
#37
De La Cloobs said:
Screw Florida

Last year’s loss to UF was tough, mainly because it’s UF but also by how badly we got beaten. Going into that game though, everyone thought it would be much closer.

We were fresh off arguably the worst season in UT football history. It was our 3rd game. We had 6 turnovers... 6. We had two true freshmen DBs that didn’t hit their stride until later in the season. Guarantano got injured in the second half. The entire team was under coached in the Butch years particularly with strength and conditioning. Pruitt didn’t seem to have control of the team like an established/seasoned head coach normally would because I think the team as a whole seemed liked it was still trying to figure out its identity under the too fresh of a coaching change.

With where we are now, and assuming Pruitt and this team has found their identity, I don’t think the Florida loss will be a blowout this year. I’m not saying we win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we pull it off.

Most of our roster is returning. Everyone has a year of the new system under their belt. The new strength and conditioning will hopefully pay off big for our boys. I believe our coaching staff is top notch and Pruitt wants to dominate; that mentality will spread to the players. Mullen doesn’t seem to have a good relationship with his team (his 2019 class has been a disaster and may continue). And doesn’t Tennessee return more starters than Florida?

I believe most of our shortcomings since last year have been remedied. What people thought would be a close game last year will end up being this year if I had to guess.

Outside of battling in the swamp this year, where does Florida outmatch us? Seriously, enlighten me because I would like to know.
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Mullen is a much more experienced coach and it showed. UF had a ton of issues and yet he still won. This off season has been tumultuous for UF, while things have been pretty quiet on the hill.

I still don’t think you can lose our entire d line and win in this league. The lack of experience at that critical position is the worst I’ve ever seen on a UT squad.
 
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#38
#38
Volsfaninva917 said:
Mullen wanted the UT job when Florida didn't show him interest in the beginning, Currie didn't make a move until after the Vandy game and at that point it was too late. Currie was supposed to meet with Mullen after the Egg Bowl but he took the Florida job and the rest is history. Look at the Currie text and emails the week of the Vandy game, Mullen ignored him following the Egg Bowl and Currie was told by the Haslams to hire Schiano.
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Seems you remember all of that better than I do, but I remember enough that Im not sure it translates to your statement. I don't know.

Id still rather have Pruitt. I may regret that eventually, and for about 4 hours in September of last year I did, but right now I'm anxious to see which one proves me more right. :)
 
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#39
#39
1vol8 said:
I personally can’t argue any point you made. Although there are those that feel we got dominated physically last year I see it differently. I seen a team that matched up physically but made too many mistakes to beat OURSELVES. I think we win or lose by 7 or less this season without the mental mistakes or turnovers.
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I am not sure we physically over matched any SEC team we played last year. Some would say we physically beat Auburn and Kentucky. I think we simply out coached and out played them last year. I think we will have a team that will be able to do that this year except for Alabama and Georgia. We are also over matched in talent and experience by Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. I think we have the best chance to beat Florida of those three. The biggest problem I see with out team is qualityand experienced depth which will determine how many games we win the Fall. I think we will win 7-9 games depending on injuries and how quickly the inexperienced playeers can adapt to SEC football.
 
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#42
#42
Wanna know what the big difference between UT and UF right now is? A proven head coach (that many delusional people didn't want hired here.). It's as simple as that right now. Maybe Pruitt will have a higher ceiling in the long run, but right now Mullen is just way ahead of Pruitt.
 
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#43
#43
Behr said:
Seems you remember all of that better than I do, but I remember enough that Im not sure it translates to your statement. I don't know.

Id still rather have Pruitt. I may regret that eventually, and for about 4 hours in September of last year I did, but right now I'm anxious to see which one proves me more right. :)
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I mean had McElwain not lied about the death threats etc. he probably would not have been fired from Florida, Mullen would have taken the Tennessee job and John Currie would still be the AD. However I will say I believe we're in better hands now than we were 2 years ago but only time will tell.
 
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#46
#46
Volsfaninva917 said:
I mean had McElwain not lied about the death threats etc. he probably would not have been fired from Florida, Mullen would have taken the Tennessee job and John Currie would still be the AD. However I will say I believe we're in better hands now than we were 2 years ago but only time will tell.
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That's the part I don't remember. I don't remember Mullen wanting the Tennessee job or Curry being interested in him in the beginning. I just remembered be one knowing anything and Curry hanging out in the Bahamas because he already had his and Haslam's guy. After that went to hell, it turns to The Pirate. I just don't remember Mullen ever being guaranteed our coach... "If".

I'm not saying you're wrong.
 
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#47
#47
Volsfaninva917 said:
Mullen wanted the UT job when Florida didn't show him interest in the beginning, Currie didn't make a move until after the Vandy game and at that point it was too late. Currie was supposed to meet with Mullen after the Egg Bowl but he took the Florida job and the rest is history. Look at the Currie text and emails the week of the Vandy game, Mullen ignored him following the Egg Bowl and Currie was told by the Haslams to hire Schiano.
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That pretty much sums it up, but who can know for sure? Mullen was my first choice, but I am not certain he even wanted to come here. I mean, why would he have left Mississippi State after he had just built it up, to start from scratch at UT? Especially since our administration at the time was in shambles. The Florida thing threw me for a loop. I had read an article where his wife said she absolutely hated it in Gainesville. Trashed the people there. I thought there's no way. I guess the thought of joining Stricklin, the talent in the state, not having to play Alabama, and the money was too much to pass up for him.
 
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#48
#48
Behr said:
That's the part I don't remember. I don't remember Mullen wanting the Tennessee job or Curry being interested in him in the beginning. I just remembered be one knowing anything and Curry hanging out in the Bahamas because he already had his and Haslam's guy. After that went to hell, it turns to The Pirate. I just don't remember Mullen ever being guaranteed our coach... "If".

I'm not saying you're wrong.
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I agree. I don't think Mullen was leaving MSU for UT. Not with the way things were at the time. Now, if he hadn't taken the Florida job and had been approached by Fulmer after the coaching search debacle, who knows? None of that really matters now. Fact is, Mullen is a very good coach.
 
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#49
#49
It seems like Florida is hemorrhaging players on a daily basis. I don't necessarily think we are catching Florida as much as they may be coming back to the pack.
 
#50
#50
Teeman said:
I agree. I don't think Mullen was leaving MSU for UT. Not with the way things were at the time. Now, if he hadn't taken the Florida job and had been approached by Fulmer after the coaching search debacle, who knows? None of that really matters now. Fact is, Mullen is a very good coach.
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No, it doesn't matter, at all. I was just curious if there was something I didn't know or remember.

Won't be long and we're all gonna be glad it turned out the way it did.

Or not. Lol.
 
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