Does Heupel have the killer instinct as a coach?

[Big Orange Captain]

What has happened to the offense the last two games? It seems the play calling has changed from the first 4 games to the last two against State ahd Arkansas. It seems we have been less aggressive and more hesitant with play calling and more conservative in general. It’s like Heupel has morphed into Butch Jones getting ultra conservative and trying to sit on a lead. I noticed he started doing that last year as well now last season we had a good enough defense that we could do that and trust our defense to win the game. However we cannot do that this season the defense cannot be trusted to win the game we need our offense to score as much as we can and keep the throttle down. We left at least 10 points on the board against Arkansas and that game got way too nerve wracking at the end cause of Heupel’s conservative play calling and trying to milk the clock. We were fortunate we didn’t lose to Miss.St and Arkansas but a win is still a win but it don’t have to be so damn stress inducing. And if Heupel stays aggressive and goes for the kill shot against Georgia we win that game. Maybe he was saving some stuff for Bama and not showing much against State and Arky i don’t know. . Always play to win not too lose!! I watched A&M deliver the knockout punch to Florida last night and thought man it would be nice if we could close out a game like that and not sweat out another close game.

 

[rocktopper16]

I’m not sure this is the right answer but we honestly are dealing with some injuries on the offense that have really handcuffed what we do. Ethan Davis, Pendleton, Jackson, Jefferson, Brame to name a few.

Some are playing through it while others can’t.

 

[Big Orange Captain]

I’m not sure this is the right answer but we honestly are dealing with some injuries on the offense that have really handcuffed what we do. Ethan Davis, Pendleton, Jackson, Jefferson, Brame to name a few.

Some are playing through it while others can’t.

That might be part of it. Injuries seem to always plague us

 

[BLUTickbusdriver]

That might be part of it. Injuries seem to always plague us

That’s bc we are still in probation until 2028. We don’t have a full roster yet…Pruitt, the gift that keeps on giving:/

 

[chuckiepoo]

That’s bc we are still in probation until 2028. We don’t have a full roster yet…Pruitt, the gift that keeps on giving:/

Hundreds of violations occurred in Tennessee football program over 3 seasons - NCAA.org

Over the course of three seasons, the Tennessee football program committed 18 Level I violations — encompassing more than 200 individual infractions — most of which

www.ncaa.org

@Big Orange Captain

 

[Godfatha]

What has happened to the offense the last two games? It seems the play calling has changed from the first 4 games to the last two against State ahd Arkansas. It seems we have been less aggressive and more hesitant with play calling and more conservative in general. It’s like Heupel has morphed into Butch Jones getting ultra conservative and trying to sit on a lead. I noticed he started doing that last year as well now last season we had a good enough defense that we could do that and trust our defense to win the game. However we cannot do that this season the defense cannot be trusted to win the game we need our offense to score as much as we can and keep the throttle down. We left at least 10 points on the board against Arkansas and that game got way too nerve wracking at the end cause of Heupel’s conservative play calling and trying to milk the clock. We were fortunate we didn’t lose to Miss.St and Arkansas but a win is still a win but it don’t have to be so damn stress inducing. And if Heupel stays aggressive and goes for the kill shot against Georgia we win that game. Maybe he was saving some stuff for Bama and not showing much against State and Arky i don’t know. . Always play to win not too lose!! I watched A&M deliver the knockout punch to Florida last night and thought man it would be nice if we could close out a game like that and not sweat out another close game.

It’s definitely an unsettling trend. We saw it in the 2nd quarter, and after the turnover we got in Georgia territory and it ultimately cost us. We’ve seen it against Miss State and Arkansas, and it almost bit us in those two games. We saw it somewhat against Syracuse in the 2nd half and it let them make it closer than it should have been.

 

[adam.vol]

That’s bc we are still in probation until 2028. We don’t have a full roster yet…Pruitt, the gift that keeps on giving:/

It’s only two scholarships per year, out of 105. Starting 2025-2026 academic year, scholarships limit was raised from 85 to 105. We have 23 more scholarship than ever before.

 

[MOOOOONEY]

No

 

[TJVol95]

What has happened to the offense the last two games? It seems the play calling has changed from the first 4 games to the last two against State ahd Arkansas. It seems we have been less aggressive and more hesitant with play calling and more conservative in general. It’s like Heupel has morphed into Butch Jones getting ultra conservative and trying to sit on a lead. I noticed he started doing that last year as well now last season we had a good enough defense that we could do that and trust our defense to win the game. However we cannot do that this season the defense cannot be trusted to win the game we need our offense to score as much as we can and keep the throttle down. We left at least 10 points on the board against Arkansas and that game got way too nerve wracking at the end cause of Heupel’s conservative play calling and trying to milk the clock. We were fortunate we didn’t lose to Miss.St and Arkansas but a win is still a win but it don’t have to be so damn stress inducing. And if Heupel stays aggressive and goes for the kill shot against Georgia we win that game. Maybe he was saving some stuff for Bama and not showing much against State and Arky i don’t know. . Always play to win not too lose!! I watched A&M deliver the knockout punch to Florida last night and thought man it would be nice if we could close out a game like that and not sweat out another close game.

No

 

[Brave Volunteer]

It’s only two scholarships per year, out of 105. Starting 2025-2026 academic year, scholarships limit was raised from 85 to 105. We have 23 more scholarship than ever before.

This.

 

[ArmchairQB]

We probably lead the nation in injuries on point after attempts. With our offense, we’re probably never going to win a time of possession battle with a competitive opponent.

The flip side of that coin is that muscle injuries occur more frequently the longer you’re on the field. Fatigue’s a thing. Everyone would love to go for the kill all the time and keep running the offense but I want to think everyone would love our entire DL to be healthy going into November, too. And there’s a relationship between time of possession on offense and health of the defense.

That’s not to say we just prefer to let games be close when we had the opportunity to put them away. But I do think it’s maybe a factor when half the season is still ahead of us.

 

[njvols]

I'm not sure if I agree or not, but JH would obviously know more than me, but I think he's pivoted the past couple of years, especially w/ us over past two years of having a pretty stout D. Can't really say that this year but I think part of maybe his lack of aggressiveness is he values moving the chains and keeping D off the field as much as possible, as opposed to having multiple 3 and out's...which has happened a decent amount in the past. What I didn't like on, I think it was the second turnover we got at about the 50 yard line, was when we threw two low percentage bombs, and pulled a 3 and out, and punted the ball right back to them...we had 3 and out twice after turnovers, which is a cardinal sin almost as bad as a turnover.

It will be interesting to see if he takes a more aggressive mindset vs Bama, who you know has the ability to score, and try to take the crowd out of the game. Could this be JA's "Iceman Clausen in Florida" moment?

 

[CAVPUT]

Hundreds of violations occurred in Tennessee football program over 3 seasons - NCAA.org

Over the course of three seasons, the Tennessee football program committed 18 Level I violations — encompassing more than 200 individual infractions — most of which

www.ncaa.org

@Big Orange Captain

Heupel watches teams tamper and snag guys off our roster, but he's not nearly active enough in the portal IMO. Even with being down a couple of 'ships every year duev to sanctions, it shouldn't be so crippling. Players leave on their own and coaches often encourage kids/misevals to move on to free up room. Just no reason to be this weak in the secondary and so thin at WR with not one, but two portals available before the rule change. Look at what Kiffin did at QB. He's active as all get out and seems to always have a plan if someone goes down. Just can't believe 2 'ships over 5 years can be this damaging in the portal era. Just like he does with his staff, Heupel is loyal to a fault. He refuses to make the tough choices needed in today's cfb world.

 

[posivol]

as the sec devolves into parity and nfl lite w/ our new schedules. We must come to realize that one or 2 score games will become the new normal. We play for the win weather by 1 point or 100 the win is all that matters. When you have the game won, take your W and prepare for next week's battle.

 

[McDad]

UT has the number 1 scoring offense.

It honestly seems like many of you simply enjoy drama. Football isn't enough to satiate your need for entertainment. So you create points of concern.

 

[Big Orange Captain]

Heupel watches teams tamper and snag guys off our roster, but he's not nearly active enough in the portal IMO. Even with being down a couple of 'ships every year duev to sanctions, it shouldn't be so crippling. Players leave on their own and coaches often encourage kids/misevals to move on to free up room. Just no reason to be this weak in the secondary and so thin at WR with not one, but two portals available before the rule change. Look at what Kiffin did at QB. He's active as all get out and seems to always have a plan if someone goes down. Just can't believe 2 'ships over 5 years can be this damaging in the portal era. Just like he does with his staff, Heupel is loyal to a fault. He refuses to make the tough choices needed in today's cfb world.

That’s my big criticism of Heupel as well, he’s done a remarkable job here 42-16 since 2021 but he never hits the portal hard enough and he is loyal to a fault to his coaching staff. I don’t think he has ever fired a coach on his staff.

 

[DaddyChad]

Honestly Heupel’s decision making on paper was fine. Problem was with the flow of that game our defense couldn’t stop anything.

 

[OffTackleVol]

What has happened to the offense the last two games? It seems the play calling has changed from the first 4 games to the last two against State ahd Arkansas. It seems we have been less aggressive and more hesitant with play calling and more conservative in general. It’s like Heupel has morphed into Butch Jones getting ultra conservative and trying to sit on a lead. I noticed he started doing that last year as well now last season we had a good enough defense that we could do that and trust our defense to win the game. However we cannot do that this season the defense cannot be trusted to win the game we need our offense to score as much as we can and keep the throttle down. We left at least 10 points on the board against Arkansas and that game got way too nerve wracking at the end cause of Heupel’s conservative play calling and trying to milk the clock. We were fortunate we didn’t lose to Miss.St and Arkansas but a win is still a win but it don’t have to be so damn stress inducing. And if Heupel stays aggressive and goes for the kill shot against Georgia we win that game. Maybe he was saving some stuff for Bama and not showing much against State and Arky i don’t know. . Always play to win not too lose!! I watched A&M deliver the knockout punch to Florida last night and thought man it would be nice if we could close out a game like that and not sweat out another close game.

Yes, he does.............

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

as the sec devolves into parity and nfl lite w/ our new schedules. We must come to realize that one or 2 score games will become the new normal. We play for the win weather by 1 point or 100 the win is all that matters. When you have the game won, take your W and prepare for next week's battle.

This. All day long.

It's comical reading some of these posts.

 

[CAVPUT]

UT has the number 1 scoring offense.

It honestly seems like many of you simply enjoy drama. Football isn't enough to satiate your need for entertainment. So you create points of concern.

To a degree, but I think concern about these injuries...Staley and Bishop being the latest....along with the awful defense we're seeing are valid and hardly created. We don't do anything well on defense and very often we look confused presnap almost on every other play. Maybe what Banks is attempting to do is simply too confusing to the players and needs to be dumbed down so the players can just react? Dunno, but anyone who has watched this team this season knows there are some major red flags on that side of the ball. And in this league, that's going to cost us now that the easy part of the schedule is in the rear view mirror.

 

[FranklinVFL]

It’s only two scholarships per year, out of 105. Starting 2025-2026 academic year, scholarships limit was raised from 85 to 105. We have 23 more scholarship than ever before.

I think the SEC did not allow that and made 85 still the max. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but NCAA allows 105, but SEC does not.

 

[CAVPUT]

That’s my big criticism of Heupel as well, he’s done a remarkable job here 42-16 since 2021 but he never hits the portal hard enough and he is loyal to a fault to his coaching staff. I don’t think he has ever fired a coach on his staff.

And after what he went thru at OU, I don't think he ever will fire anyone. I think that loyalty is what keeps him from being aggressive in the portal as well. It's almost like he just does not want to bring in a transfer in to play over the kids he's recruited. Maybe he sees that as a betrayal? He's a high character college coach working in a professional football league. I wish him well. Hope he pulls it off.

 

[CAVPUT]

I think the SEC did not allow that and made 85 still the max. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but NCAA allows 105, but SEC does not.

Why in the world would the SEC deliberately put it's members at such a crazy disadvantage especially with the money at stake? Makes no sense that they would do that or that coaches wouldn't be up in arms about it.

 

[McDad]

To a degree, but I think concern about these injuries...Staley and Bishop being the latest.

No argument. What do those injuries have to do with cjh's "killer instinc"?

...along with the awful defense we're seeing are valid and hardly created. We don't do anything well on defense

the ncaa stats through 6 games disagrees.

and very often we look confused presnap almost on every other play. Maybe what Banks is attempting to do is simply too confusing to the players and needs to be dumbed down so the players can just react? Dunno, but anyone who has watched this team this season knows there are some major red flags on that side of the ball. And in this league, that's going to cost us now that the easy part of the schedule is in the rear view mirror.

Again, what does all your pearl clutching about defense have to do with Cjh's killer instinct?

 

[EastTNVol6240]

Absolutely not. But you’ll get 245789 excuses in this thread.