Heupel and head coaching decisions

#1

chattavol420

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#1
Heupel had to make a huge coaching decision on Saturday. It is almost indisputable at this point that a conflict happened involving Jeremy Banks. We could never know whether it was a fail drug test or something else. But he definitely was not arrested. This along with Heuple‘s refusal to elaborate on the issue gives legs to the rumors floating around.

So here’s the question… Does anybody believe a coach like Nick Saban would have suspended his defensive captain and team leader over an internal disruption/dispute that did not involve any legal issues? I’d say absolutely not. I think Saban probably understands how important continuity is and the residual effect of essentially siding with one player over another. Hell…Saban didn’t bench a wr that struck an opposing teams fan on the field despite getting ripped in the media for it.

I don’t believe the Defense came out and decided not to play hard. But we are going to play talented teams every week and there is anything off psychologically going into a game it could make a huge impact.

Think about what the ramifications of benching Jeremy banks apparently are. We had a great opportunity to go to the playoffs and have our quarterback win the Heisman Trophy. No matter how bright the future might be nobody could believe that’s going to happen here with any regularity. History says that this might be the closest Heupel ever comes. Just think 5 years down the road will he look back at the decision to bench banks with regret? Will it be the biggest mistake of his entire career? What is Heupel had pulled Jeremy Banks and others involved into a room and let them hash it out without any suspensions or anything getting out in the media. How differently could Saturday have turned out? If Jeremy Banks is out on the field and the defense is forcing some punts… Is Hendon hooker even running that play trying to lead a come back down three touchdowns late in the game? I think most people would believe that if the situation had been handled differently we’d have likely won the game and would still have Hooker at the helm.

Coaches are essentially CEO’s of billion dollar entities at this level. It’s not just teaching technique, calling plays, and creating game plans. It is so much more than that. Managing personalities and the psychology of a team going into a game is a big part of the job. And we’ll never know all the details that lead to the suspension on Saturday. But in hindsight… I sure as hell hope that suspension was warranted because the price our team paid is staggering.
 
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#5
#5
Wonder if coaching had something more to do with it. Like wonder if the Defensive coordinator was upset and disagreed that his starting LB got suspended and left in Knoxville and thus called a passive game plan. If that’s the case, I’d expect Tim Banks to be fire by the end of this week.
Wow, what a turn of events.
We were riding high, thinking of playoffs and then BOOM, we wake up in 2016 and Butch is still coaching
 
#7
#7
Honestly, it's a situation Heup should have never been in. If the rumors are true, I'm really not sure what Banks expected? Upset because the Heisman candidate QB is getting more $$? Welcome to football in 2022 pal.

Even worse, is the D apparently getting their panties in a wad about the whole deal. Banks swing on Hooker and Milton put a stop to the nonsense. Why the hell would the D expect Milton and/or Hooker to be punished when they were simply dealing with Banks garbage?

I said it in a post last night and will say it again. 90% of these guys career is over after their last Vol game. They may not appreciate it now, but in 15 years those guys are going to be eaten alive by what happened Saturday. I've made some doozies of mistakes in my time which I regret and keep me up at night occasionally, but nothing even close to what was thrown away Saturday.
 
#8
#8
Well, let’s just make up a story because we don’t know what happened. (Can we pretend this is in blue font as I have no idea how to do that?)

The OP is only stating the fact that Banks didn’t play due to an internal incident in the locker room earlier in the week. That is 1000000% fact and not an assumption.
 
#9
#9
Consequences are huge just as you say.

According to Banks and people here with at least some access, Banks wasn’t suspended for fighting Hooker but for something else. That something else was allegedly missing meetings and classes. That earned him a one game suspension. Jeremy broke the rules, Jeremy earned the suspension - that’s on Jeremy not Heupel.

I don’t care what Saban would have done, Heupel is building a culture based on accountability. I support Heupel’s decision 100%.
 
#10
#10
Wonder if coaching had something more to do with it. Like wonder if the Defensive coordinator was upset and disagreed that his starting LB got suspended and left in Knoxville and thus called a passive game plan. If that’s the case, I’d expect Tim Banks to be fire by the end of this week.
Wow, what a turn of events.
We were riding high, thinking of playoffs and then BOOM, we wake up in 2016 and Butch is still coaching
There is not much left if anything left at all that says Tim Banks should be the DC at Tennessee. There is more reason for him to go than stay.
 
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#13
#13
No matter the facts, neither coaches nor players were sabotaging their own chances to go to the playoffs.
Everyone went in to the game Saturday night planning to defeat USCe.
The defense was listless and the rout was on.
No one planned it. The defense simply played like they were lost.
 
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#14
#14
Consequences are huge just as you say.

According to Banks and people here with at least some access, Banks wasn’t suspended for fighting Hooker but for something else. That something else was allegedly missing meetings and classes. That earned him a one game suspension. Jeremy broke the rules, Jeremy earned the suspension - that’s on Jeremy not Heupel.

I don’t care what Saban would have done, Heupel is building a culture based on accountability. I support Heupel’s decision 100%.

I dunno man, I'm hearing there were two distinct issues. 1. Missing class/meetings and then 2. Whatever happened in the locker room.

The suspension was a cumulative thing -at least in the version I'm hearing.

Who the hell knows what really happened. None of it was good though obviously.
 
#15
#15
Heupel had to make a huge coaching decision on Saturday. It is almost indisputable at this point that a conflict happened involving Jeremy Banks. We could never know whether it was a fail drug test or something else. But he definitely was not arrested. This along with Heuple‘s refusal to elaborate on the issue gives legs to the rumors floating around.

So here’s the question… Does anybody believe a coach like Nick Saban would have suspended his defensive captain and team leader over an internal disruption/dispute that did not involve any legal issues? I’d say absolutely not. I think Saban probably understands how important continuity is and the residual effect of essentially siding with one player over another. Hell…Saban didn’t bench a wr that struck an opposing teams fan on the field despite getting ripped in the media for it.

I don’t believe the Defense came out and decided not to play hard. But we are going to play talented teams every week and there is anything off psychologically going into a game it could make a huge impact.

Think about what the ramifications of benching Jeremy banks apparently are. We had a great opportunity to go to the playoffs and have our quarterback win the Heisman Trophy. No matter how bright the future might be nobody could believe that’s going to happen here with any regularity. History says that this might be the closest Heupel ever comes. Just think 5 years down the road will he look back at the decision to bench banks with regret? Will it be the biggest mistake of his entire career? What is Heupel had pulled Jeremy Banks and others involved into a room and let them hash it out without any suspensions or anything getting out in the media. How differently could Saturday have turned out? If Jeremy Banks is out on the field and the defense is forcing some punts… Is Hendon hooker even running that play trying to lead a come back down three touchdowns late in the game? I think most people would believe that if the situation had been handled differently we’d have likely won the game and would still have Hooker at the helm.

Coaches are essentially CEO’s of billion dollar entities at this level. It’s not just teaching technique, calling plays, and creating game plans. It is so much more than that. Managing personalities and the psychology of a team going into a game is a big part of the job. And we’ll never know all the details that lead to the suspension on Saturday. But in hindsight… I sure as hell hope that suspension was warranted because the price our team paid is staggering.
Coach Heupel was in a worse situation than Coach Saban IF the rumors I'm seeing are legit.

Saban's player didn't hit a fellow teammate, much less the major reason why the team is having a lot of success. It changes things.

Perhaps there's been a simmering rift between the offense and defense because the offense is being hailed as extraordinary while the defense is being called ordinary (being polite.) Perhaps some on the offense began to pick, jaw, whatever OR perhaps some on the defense started something because they felt some inferiority. I'm not taking sides because I really don't know.

Should Heupel have seen this brewing, if anything WAS brewing? Yeah, IF something like the above was brewing he needs to be on top of it. IF things went south because one guy suddenly got his diaper in a knot and starting sowing trouble or throwing hands, Heupel had to sit him no matter who he is.

If the D went "tribal" and got upset over Banks being kept out for legit reasons, we've got a team building problem that needs to come back on Coach Heupel. If the problem DIDN'T originate with Banks and he took the fall for someone else, Heupel isn't who I hoped he is.
 
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#16
#16
Whatever happened between Banks and Hooker doesn't matter! What does matter is the results of that game against SC and the impending results of Vandy game. Not going to be a blowout at all, with all the drama that has been UT football over the past 16 years, Vandy could very well add salt to the wound.....
 
#17
#17
had issue with hooker what i can undestand defense had issue with offense and that why they gave up 63 points. coach my have hugh problems. hope they can settle it before saturday and play as a team. their no I in team
 
#18
#18
Heupel had to make a huge coaching decision on Saturday. It is almost indisputable at this point that a conflict happened involving Jeremy Banks. We could never know whether it was a fail drug test or something else. But he definitely was not arrested. This along with Heuple‘s refusal to elaborate on the issue gives legs to the rumors floating around.

So here’s the question… Does anybody believe a coach like Nick Saban would have suspended his defensive captain and team leader over an internal disruption/dispute that did not involve any legal issues? I’d say absolutely not. I think Saban probably understands how important continuity is and the residual effect of essentially siding with one player over another. Hell…Saban didn’t bench a wr that struck an opposing teams fan on the field despite getting ripped in the media for it.

I don’t believe the Defense came out and decided not to play hard. But we are going to play talented teams every week and there is anything off psychologically going into a game it could make a huge impact.

Think about what the ramifications of benching Jeremy banks apparently are. We had a great opportunity to go to the playoffs and have our quarterback win the Heisman Trophy. No matter how bright the future might be nobody could believe that’s going to happen here with any regularity. History says that this might be the closest Heupel ever comes. Just think 5 years down the road will he look back at the decision to bench banks with regret? Will it be the biggest mistake of his entire career? What is Heupel had pulled Jeremy Banks and others involved into a room and let them hash it out without any suspensions or anything getting out in the media. How differently could Saturday have turned out? If Jeremy Banks is out on the field and the defense is forcing some punts… Is Hendon hooker even running that play trying to lead a come back down three touchdowns late in the game? I think most people would believe that if the situation had been handled differently we’d have likely won the game and would still have Hooker at the helm.

Coaches are essentially CEO’s of billion dollar entities at this level. It’s not just teaching technique, calling plays, and creating game plans. It is so much more than that. Managing personalities and the psychology of a team going into a game is a big part of the job. And we’ll never know all the details that lead to the suspension on Saturday. But in hindsight… I sure as hell hope that suspension was warranted because the price our team paid is staggering.

South Carolina scored TDS on 9 of 10 drives. It doesn’t matter if Banks played or not. Rattler was Oklahoma Spencer Rattler and our secondary is one of the worst. We were losing that game no matter what.
 
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#19
#19
Heupel is the HC…….that means he’s the leader.

He makes the decisions, and everyone else should fall in line “regardless.”

In no way could anyone expect one person no matter who that is would cause Tennessee to lose 63-38.

I wouldn’t have expected that even if Hooker had been out.
 
#20
#20
I'll just about bet the farm JB was not left in Knoxville over a locker room spat/fight. Whether they be locker room "shindigs" or practice field scraps, player fights are just part of it. They get broken up and everybody carries on.

Whatever happened, I'm confident CJH did what he had to do and he will be fine going forward. As far as the players go, hopefully one or two leaders will emerge from whatever this "event" was/is.

I'll be glad when the speculation dies and we're not seeing a new thread every hour detailing the latest rumor/theory of what went down...
 
#21
#21
Heupel had to make a huge coaching decision on Saturday. It is almost indisputable at this point that a conflict happened involving Jeremy Banks. We could never know whether it was a fail drug test or something else. But he definitely was not arrested. This along with Heuple‘s refusal to elaborate on the issue gives legs to the rumors floating around.

So here’s the question… Does anybody believe a coach like Nick Saban would have suspended his defensive captain and team leader over an internal disruption/dispute that did not involve any legal issues? I’d say absolutely not. I think Saban probably understands how important continuity is and the residual effect of essentially siding with one player over another. Hell…Saban didn’t bench a wr that struck an opposing teams fan on the field despite getting ripped in the media for it.

I don’t believe the Defense came out and decided not to play hard. But we are going to play talented teams every week and there is anything off psychologically going into a game it could make a huge impact.

Think about what the ramifications of benching Jeremy banks apparently are. We had a great opportunity to go to the playoffs and have our quarterback win the Heisman Trophy. No matter how bright the future might be nobody could believe that’s going to happen here with any regularity. History says that this might be the closest Heupel ever comes. Just think 5 years down the road will he look back at the decision to bench banks with regret? Will it be the biggest mistake of his entire career? What is Heupel had pulled Jeremy Banks and others involved into a room and let them hash it out without any suspensions or anything getting out in the media. How differently could Saturday have turned out? If Jeremy Banks is out on the field and the defense is forcing some punts… Is Hendon hooker even running that play trying to lead a come back down three touchdowns late in the game? I think most people would believe that if the situation had been handled differently we’d have likely won the game and would still have Hooker at the helm.

Coaches are essentially CEO’s of billion dollar entities at this level. It’s not just teaching technique, calling plays, and creating game plans. It is so much more than that. Managing personalities and the psychology of a team going into a game is a big part of the job. And we’ll never know all the details that lead to the suspension on Saturday. But in hindsight… I sure as hell hope that suspension was warranted because the price our team paid is staggering.

Pretty big assumption that one player makes a 25 point difference isnt it?
 
#23
#23
Can’t let the inmates run the asylum. If someone is causing trouble, they need to be punished. Looks like more need to be left home as well. I’d rather win or lose with guys that WANT to play hard for UT. Doesn’t matter how much talent, ability, and impact they have if they don’t care and won’t try.
 
#24
#24
Well, I think we can all safely assume Saban would have let him play… example A: Burton …Doing what you think is right can be pretty tough sometimes (I’m reading between the lines with that last part) lol
 
#25
#25
Heupel had to make a huge coaching decision on Saturday. It is almost indisputable at this point that a conflict happened involving Jeremy Banks. We could never know whether it was a fail drug test or something else. But he definitely was not arrested. This along with Heuple‘s refusal to elaborate on the issue gives legs to the rumors floating around.

So here’s the question… Does anybody believe a coach like Nick Saban would have suspended his defensive captain and team leader over an internal disruption/dispute that did not involve any legal issues? I’d say absolutely not. I think Saban probably understands how important continuity is and the residual effect of essentially siding with one player over another. Hell…Saban didn’t bench a wr that struck an opposing teams fan on the field despite getting ripped in the media for it.

I don’t believe the Defense came out and decided not to play hard. But we are going to play talented teams every week and there is anything off psychologically going into a game it could make a huge impact.

Think about what the ramifications of benching Jeremy banks apparently are. We had a great opportunity to go to the playoffs and have our quarterback win the Heisman Trophy. No matter how bright the future might be nobody could believe that’s going to happen here with any regularity. History says that this might be the closest Heupel ever comes. Just think 5 years down the road will he look back at the decision to bench banks with regret? Will it be the biggest mistake of his entire career? What is Heupel had pulled Jeremy Banks and others involved into a room and let them hash it out without any suspensions or anything getting out in the media. How differently could Saturday have turned out? If Jeremy Banks is out on the field and the defense is forcing some punts… Is Hendon hooker even running that play trying to lead a come back down three touchdowns late in the game? I think most people would believe that if the situation had been handled differently we’d have likely won the game and would still have Hooker at the helm.

Coaches are essentially CEO’s of billion dollar entities at this level. It’s not just teaching technique, calling plays, and creating game plans. It is so much more than that. Managing personalities and the psychology of a team going into a game is a big part of the job. And we’ll never know all the details that lead to the suspension on Saturday. But in hindsight… I sure as hell hope that suspension was warranted because the price our team paid is staggering.
Looked like there were others that needed to be suspended or left at home. Besides….if rumors are true….I’d say that he potentially chose not to make the trip. But your theory is “danged if you do, danged if you don’t”. If he wasn’t punished, then someone else would have been mad and skimped on effort in protest. Probably same results.
If there’s one shred of truth to rumors, looks to me like a bunch of guys need to go somewhere else and play.
 

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