dduncan4163
Have at it Hoss
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Messages
- 21,471
- Likes
- 43,974
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/t...edia-days-tennessee-vols-guarantee-bowl-game/
Hope springs eternal at SEC Media Days. That was certainly the case with Tennessee contingent Tuesday.
“Really close,” linebacker Daniel Bituli said when asked how close the Vols are to competing at a championship level.
Most would disagree. One would think that simply having a winning season and making a bowl game would be something to be proud of in 2019.
“We’ll definitely get to a bowl game,” linebacker Darrell Taylor said. “That’s not a thing.”
Actually, that would be a thing.
The Vols have missed out on a bowl trip each of their past two seasons and have missed a bowl game 5 of the past 8 seasons. Sure, the schedule is markedly easier this year, but there’s no guaranteed December trip for the Vols as they head into Jeremy Pruitt’s second season as a head coach.
As for competing at a championship level, that would certainly be a “thing.” The Vols are expected to be picked 4th or 5th in the SEC East by the media attending SEC Media Days. The official votes will be released Friday, but Taylor isn’t concerned about preseason predictions by a bunch of sportswriters.
“We won’t worry about responding,” Taylor said. “We’ll just do what we have to do to be successful every week.”
Given the rather optimistic nature of the two UT defenders on Tuesday, it was only natural to ask quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, whom everyone would expect to be a leader on the team, what he thought about Taylor’s prediction.
“No, that’s not for me,” Guarantano said. “D.T. is a little crazy. I definitely love the confidence though. I appreciate my teammate for that.”
Guarantano went on to say the usual — that he and his teammates were focused on getting better every day and not concerned about the longterm results. However, he admitted it was hard not to think about the potential the future could hold.
“Absolutely, of course,” the junior said. “You grow up thinking about SEC championships and national championships and all those types of things and those kinds of awards. It’s natural to, but we just have to focus and we know what our main goal is.”
Hope springs eternal at SEC Media Days. That was certainly the case with Tennessee contingent Tuesday.
“Really close,” linebacker Daniel Bituli said when asked how close the Vols are to competing at a championship level.
Most would disagree. One would think that simply having a winning season and making a bowl game would be something to be proud of in 2019.
“We’ll definitely get to a bowl game,” linebacker Darrell Taylor said. “That’s not a thing.”
Actually, that would be a thing.
The Vols have missed out on a bowl trip each of their past two seasons and have missed a bowl game 5 of the past 8 seasons. Sure, the schedule is markedly easier this year, but there’s no guaranteed December trip for the Vols as they head into Jeremy Pruitt’s second season as a head coach.
As for competing at a championship level, that would certainly be a “thing.” The Vols are expected to be picked 4th or 5th in the SEC East by the media attending SEC Media Days. The official votes will be released Friday, but Taylor isn’t concerned about preseason predictions by a bunch of sportswriters.
“We won’t worry about responding,” Taylor said. “We’ll just do what we have to do to be successful every week.”
Given the rather optimistic nature of the two UT defenders on Tuesday, it was only natural to ask quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, whom everyone would expect to be a leader on the team, what he thought about Taylor’s prediction.
“No, that’s not for me,” Guarantano said. “D.T. is a little crazy. I definitely love the confidence though. I appreciate my teammate for that.”
Guarantano went on to say the usual — that he and his teammates were focused on getting better every day and not concerned about the longterm results. However, he admitted it was hard not to think about the potential the future could hold.
“Absolutely, of course,” the junior said. “You grow up thinking about SEC championships and national championships and all those types of things and those kinds of awards. It’s natural to, but we just have to focus and we know what our main goal is.”