Vol football is in good hands

#51
#51
Cafego's Ghost said:
Fear not. Lest there be any doubt, this is a well coached team that simply lacks depth and talent. We were out of gas in the mid-3rd quarter but what do you expect with only 71 players? I watched the Johnny Majors rebuild and it took him 5 years. But after 5 years we were quite the team. If you build it they will come. If this guy can recruit just a little bit we will be fine. And boy did the kids from Tennessee play hard. That is the key in my view, keep a good corps of Tennessee kids with a vested interest. I say year one and two will be painful, but year three in the Swamp will be a 4 quarter game.
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I agree with everything here but the "only 71 players" excuse is weak. Teams don't need 4th strings. Our 1st and second stringers aren't talented enough right now
 
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#52
#52
OrangeAllDay said:
Bro UT boosters have money. I mean look at Fulky. As much as I love the guy, he’s no where near the best player on the basketball team, and he’s raking in the money from endorsements. Honestly our rebuild is probably easier with the new NIL in my opinion. Hell our 3 rd string quarterback has an endorsement t-shirt deal. You act like we’re ETSU or something.
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Heyyyy....go easy on ETSU. There are many of us on here that are dual threats. (UT and ETSU).:cool:
 
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#54
#54
VolsSportsFan said:
Yes, but most didn't think Pruitt was a joke until it was completely obvious. And most didn't think Jones was joke until it was compoletely obvious. And most didn't think Dooley was a joke until it completely obvious. And the whole "If you can't see this staff is miles better than the last" talk happened with each previous coach.

He will get his 3-5 years, and anyone writing him off is silly, but people need to pump the brakes on the praise of him too.
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I'll admit until the Kentucky game in 20 Pruitt had me fooled into thinking it was just the lack of players (QB especially). He was a good recruiter and a lousy clusterfork of a coach. Had some good assistant coaches but micromanaged them to the point of ineffectiveness. Case in point, I don't hear any complaints about Will Friend at Auburn this year. We know how underwhelming the OL was here with Friend.
 
#57
#57
MurphyVol said:
I think it's too early to anoint or bash JH.

Two ways to look at yesterday's game:

Team seemed ready in first half. They did not quit like we've seen before. There were some well designed plays.

Or

Penalties are ridiculous. We have a talent gap with UF that will not be closed at the current level we're recruiting. Pruitt's average loss to UF was by 23 points, so ultimately this feels status quo.

I think next week we'll find out a little more about this staff and team. I hope we don't go to Mizzou and sleepwalk through the first half of a road game with a noon kickoff. This is a winnable game and the coaches need to have the guys up and ready for it. I do not want to see the ol' UF hangover next week.
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This one sure felt different than any of Pruitt’s games though. I do agree the jury is still out. I’m seeing more positive than negative at this point but it’s a fluid situation and it’ll take some time before we know what we have with Heupel. My gut tells me we have a good one though. I haven’t felt this good since we hired Kiffin and that excitement was really more about his dad coming.
 
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#58
#58
This team may have lost, but they didn’t just absolutely give up like Pruitts teams did. Their isn’t any competition between the two coaching staffs, this team made some mistakes, but I’ll take mistakes over zero effort every day of the week. Like I said, we have the heart, the grit even.. just not the talent to win at a highly competitive ‘SEC’ level. It will take time, might even take longer than some of us think, but we will get better.
 
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#59
#59
VolsSportsFan said:
This. I'll give JH he appears better than Pruitt but I've heard all this talk with every other coach since Fulmer and I'm just not going to really entertain it much until he has about 2 seasons at least under his belt. I'm not going to call for his head or expect much but by the same token I'm not starting this "we finally got a coach" crap either.

The jury will be out a good while and JH will get a good while to prove himself.
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See, it’s not hard. That’s very fair. Anyone writing him off already are ridiculous and the same is true of anyone who’s saying it’s clear Heupel is the guy. Nothing is clear at this point. Some, like me, feel good about the direction but know it far from a lock. You choose to be more skeptical and that’s cool but you’re willing to give the guy a chance to prove it one way or another. You’re making way too much sense for a fan board.
 
#60
#60
For what it’s worth, Dan Mullen’s post game presser is probably worth listening to. He had several comments about Heupel and UT and mentioned that UT looked much better coached on film coming into this game vs last year.
 
#62
#62
arkyvol said:
Whether the Vols are in good hands will be answered with the recruiting class. I honestly think this is the most undertalented Vol team I've seen since Bill Battle's last year (I was around back then). I'll give the coaching staff credit for putting some fighting spirit in the team, but there's an old saying, 'you can't put in what God left out'. The Vols weren't outcoached yesterday; they were outmanned, badly.
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We need bodies everywhere. Especially on the LOS both sides. If Huepal can get the QB he wants in the future he can’t afford to keep a gimped up center in with no back up plan. Not bashing Cooper( he certainly gave his all/ commendable ) but that was hard to watch and probably wasn’t inspiring the backfield too much. Vols are painfully thin. Also, pay Rodney Gardner whatever he wants to keep him around.
 
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#63
#63
I was very happy that we didn't just run out the clock the last drive of the 1st half. That is a good sign for the future
 
#64
#64
Jaws said:
That first half is a precursor of what can/will be. I thought UT looked very well-coached on both sides of the ball, the players were disciplined and motivated and UT more than held their own against one of the top teams in the SEC/Nation. That was the most well-coached UT team I’ve seen since 2016 for sure.

Heupel’s offense is hard to deal with. They’re going to move the ball on people. And when Huepel gets a really skilled QB, they’re going to be an elite offense. That’s not a shot at Hooker, but can you imagine a Matt Corral type running this UT offense? I predict TN will win a game or two they’re not supposed to this year. And I also think if UT fans give Huepel enough time, he’s going to have UT contend in the SEC East. It may take 3-5 years, but Huepel knows what the hell he’s doing with offensive football. Going forward, TN has to win these “50-50” games against the SC/KY/Missouri’s of the world, and then find a spot to go out and pick off one of the big ones.

As for Florida, I continue to be amazed at Mullen’s ability to adapt his offenses to fit his personnel. To go from one of the greatest finesse and timing passing offenses in school and NCAA history, to then stop, completely flip it around, and now become an offense that leads the country in rushing, a mauling, ground and pound style rush attack, is amazing.

I think both UF and UT are in really good shape with their current head coaches.
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. Oh look another Gator troll on here endorsing and supporting our coach who they will own for the next 4 years. If we had of hired Kiffin or Freeze you wouldn’t be posting this crap on here and gloating.
 
#65
#65
BigOrangeAl 1979 said:
. Oh look another Gator troll on here endorsing and supporting our coach who they will own for the next 4 years. If we had of hired Kiffin or Freeze you wouldn’t be posting this crap on here and gloating.
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Kiffin doesn’t bother me in the least. A guy who loses 5 games a year for his entire coaching life doesn’t concern me. Does he have a fun personality and exciting productive offense, yes. Does that mean he’s a great head coach. No.

Him or Freeze, either way, I’d still post my honest assessment, like I’ve done with Heupel.
 
#66
#66
WestTennesseeVol said:
These moral victories are giving me some major Butch vibes
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I hate moral victories as much as the next guy, but when you go to a team's stadium as a three TD underdog, you don't come out complaining about moral victories. You talk about what you liked or didn't like about the way your team played. I saw some things to like.
 
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#67
#67
Jaws said:
Kiffin doesn’t bother me in the least. A guy who loses 5 games a year for his entire coaching life doesn’t concern me. Does he have a fun personality and exciting productive offense, yes. Does that mean he’s a great head coach. No.

Him or Freeze, either way, I’d still post my honest assessment, like I’ve done with Heupel.
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. I think Kiffin wins 9 or 10 this season he may beat Bama this weekend
 
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#69
#69
Heupel's got a big job ahead of him; already short-handed because of transfers, he and the coaching staff are getting everything they could hope for with the parts on hand. I haven't seen this team quit as it did under Pruitt, and I think that was a result of the toxicity of Pruitt's volatile demeanor. Alabama, Georgia, Florida all have top level talent throughout their rosters, Heupel has to try to get the same results from less talented players. Biggest thing I think Heupel has to contend with in recruiting is the unknown result of the NCAA investigation. If we get hammered, it's gonna be a long, painful spectacle that will be hard to watch. If they allow Tennessee's self imposed penalties to be the only punishment, Heupel probably will be able to bring in high level talent, which will even the odds considerably with the top three in the SEC.
 
#70
#70
BigOrangeAl 1979 said:
Kiffin could bring those 4 and 5 star kids into Knoxville unlike Heupel
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Jury is still out on Heupel. Kiffin was bringing the talent for sure, but I believe Tennessee would have eventually been in trouble with the NCAA. I suspect the troubles we are going through now would have already happened under Kiffin.
 
#72
#72
BigOrangeAl 1979 said:
. I think Kiffin wins 9 or 10 this season he may beat Bama this weekend
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If Kiffin starts beating Bama and winning 10 games regularly, I’ll be the first to change my opinion. Until I see it, he’s 7-5. I don’t have anything against him personally, I just know nobody has been more forgiven over coaching losses than him. Even last year, the feel is that he had this great season. He was 5-5.

But I’ll be pulling hard for him this weekend to beat Bama. It’s time we all come together to slay that dragon.
 
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#74
#74
USAFgolferVol said:
I agree with everything here but the "only 71 players" excuse is weak. Teams don't need 4th strings. Our 1st and second stringers aren't talented enough right now
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Only true if the 14 guys you're missing are just placeholders for the team picture. If they're competing for playing time, you have a much deeper pool to choose your ones and twos from, you can deal with injuries better, more situational subs, etc.
 
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