Tennessee is not an Elite team (poll)

Would you personally rather have better coaching or better players (today)?

  • Better coaching staff

    Votes: 190 45.5%

  • Better players

    Votes: 228 54.5%
  • Total voters
    418
  • This poll will close: .
#126
#126
A dream scenario would be to get Golesh to come back as OC by matching his salary and getting Danny White to guarantee he was next in line to be our head coach. Otherwise, get a new DC and a new offensive line coach.
 
#127
#127
I’m going to also throw out better trainers and strength and conditioning… it just seems people are dropping like flies getting hurt… OI know, I know dead horse.. and for the love of God, cut the coaching staff that is not producing good results and upgrade them.. it’s not bromances, it’s business
 
#128
#128
All-Vol said:
Post-Fulmer, the problem has primarily been the coaches and program infrastructure, not the players. Talent has been there (top-15 recruiting average), but development, schemes, and execution have faltered across multiple staffs. Players execute what they're taught.

When issues like penalties or poor tackling span eras, it's on the coaches to fix. Fans are partly right, firing coaches addresses symptoms, but true championship caliber needs holistic program fixes (e.g., better retention, adaptive schemes).

Under Heupel, the Vols are closer to contending than since Fulmer, but without addressing the constant issues, they'll hover at 8-9 wins. That's far better than Kiffin, Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt. But a program of this caliber should be better.

Or are we deluded and we're just Vandy with a bigger stadium?

Speaking of Vandy.
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8 or 9 wins will get harder moving forward with 9 SEC gams. We are a good team but, just honestly are a few pieces short of taking it to the next level. Playing GA and AL tight for part of the games was nice, but we want to be the bride, not the maid of honor.
 
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#129
#129
Woodlawn VOL said:
I don’t understand this either, you got to play with some emotion and fire. You should be able to do both. At some point you got to fight, the great teams go make their breaks stay hungry and expect to win and never let up. But I disagree on one thing, this team can still win out. We just got to do the basic things better. GBO
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I pray you are right. I don't mind being wrong on that. As a matter of fact I'm praying I am. I want to beat FL in the swamp very badly.
 
#130
#130
ConantheVolbarian said:
A dream scenario would be to get Golesh to come back as OC by matching his salary and getting Danny White to guarantee he was next in line to be our head coach. Otherwise, get a new DC and a new offensive line coach.
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He's in Year 3 and 6-1 at USF. He's not stepping down to be OC here. He'll be HC somewhere major next year.
 
#131
#131
Also, a better staff will be more consistently successful and talent will come.

A talented team won't stay talented long with poor coaching.




I'm not 100% against Banks but I have been 100% against Martinez since he got here and I'm not horribly impressed with our LB play either.
 
#132
#132
OSU hired Jim Knowles in 2022. They lost him the end of last year. Yet somehow their defense is even better. Why? Elite players.
 
#133
#133
BleedOrange81 said:
Vandy is doing it with 2-3 stars at best…
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Vandy is doing it with an experienced qb who came with his offensive coordinator but there is absolutely no excuse for Tennessee's inability to field a competent defense. People forget that Aguillar had virtually no time to learn the offense and has a bunch of receivers who are wildly inconsistent.
 
#138
#138
marcusluvsvols said:
Lmao at the "better coaching staff" votes. We have won 30 games the last 3 seasons. Seasons 2, 3, and 4 of the CJH era. We will likely win our 10th in a bowlgame this season after a 9-3 regular season. When vegas had us at 7.5wins and our own SEC media picked us to finish 9th in a 16 team conference.

Not sure if we have that many idiots here, or just emotional tittybabies that let their feelings govern their decisions rather than their intellect, logic, and reason.

FIRE POPE!!
He just landed the #1WR AND #1 WR class in the nation. Great 24 and 25 classes too.

FIRE ELARBEE!!
He just landed the #1 Tackle in Sanders AND a 3* in Perry that is our most versatile. GREAT 26class too. Our Oline has been maybe best in SEC til Bama game with 4 sacks in 6 games.

FIRE BANKS!!
We FINISHED last season with 7th best defense in FBS. Havent had SEC caliber players at his Safety position since hes been here. Let Jacobe Thomas leave via portal so he has to start Turrentine who has never been good in 4 years. We have 2 good Safeties coming in 26, one being Wyatt who was a 5* until he committed to our VOLS.

Who else yall wanna fire this week?

If you're so confused that you want to fire Coach Hype then I can't help you. You probably don't have time with all the "No Kings" protests and trips to the pawn shop with other folks property to actually watch football anyway.
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We’re sick of the “we’re winning X games crowd”. We’ve benefited from pretty soft schedules the past 2 years in comparison to others. The numbers mean nothing. It’s who you beat that matters. We’ve not beat a team ranked anywhere close to the top 25 this year but I expect you’re ecstatic with that 5-2 record.

We won plenty last year but then got into the playoffs and proved we didn’t belong there. We need to start winning the ones that matter and stop struggling against the ones that should be easy. I’m not saying fire Heupel, I’m just saying this grand illusion of how many games we’re winning doesn’t hold as much water as just purely numbers suggest.
 
#139
#139
We aren't there. And it was proven week one. If we had blasted Syracuse, then it would have been different. But we didn't. We have a good, solid team. Nothing approaching SEC championship level. Certainly not national title worthy. We need to coach better and recruit better.

Anybody who's looked at the teams who've won the SEC in the last 10 years and looked at us, can clearly see the difference. It’s only the rampant delusion that speaks of the ****en playoffs. Completely deluded brainwaves. We simply aren't that team.

Hopefully we get it right next year. But the hope strategy usually fails. Almost every time. So there is that...
 
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#142
#142
midnight orange said:
We’ve got the players but they’re injured. I think the season looks a lot different with McCoy and Gibson
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We don't have the players. Ohio state showed us. GA showed us. Ala showed us. Oklahoma will show us. We don't have the depth. We don't have the weight. Our offense has about six plays we run. We play these weak teams and score a lot of points. We have only played two ranked teams and gotten beat. We are not ready to get off the porch yet.
 
#144
#144
Volador said:
Georgia, Bama and Gators have not feared UT in decades, and their records against us give reason for this. Coach Heupel came into a mess and made us relevant again, which was much needed and appreciated.

So, here is the underlying Q in our/Vol Nation's attempt to become an Elite Team and whereby our SEC foes will actually fear playing the Volunteers.

If you had ONE choice (and yes, there are a million variables to this question) to secure either better coaching or players (and you cannot select both), which would you personally prefer?


PS This is not an indictment on the current team/coaches however, we now have two losses w a brutal schedule remaining. So, that being said, if you had a magic wand and could be granted one of the 2 choices, which would you select?
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I disagree. Every team in the SEC feared us in '22. So much, in fact, that they had to resort to sign stealing to take us out. Having said that, it's clear we're nowhere near '22 and likely won't be again with Heupel as the head coach.
 
#146
#146
All the above plus....healthier players, just a little more luck, no threat of losing quality players we acquire and need from the NIL, better schedule...I mean seriously? We are a field goal from elite. Losing to Bama at home at this point in the season really is not surprise. Our conference was tough and now it is kinda ridiculous. If Danny knows better coaches he should be giving them a contract. I do not like to bitch about coaching because I do not know any better. Occasionally yes, dumb call or call that didn't work the way it was supposed to. Finally, we are still in a good position and just need to win tomorrow night, beat Oklahoma, Florida, NM State and Vandy. And as always, really enjoy seeing the officiating get its' due for some horrible calls against the Vols. Go Vols!
 
#148
#148
Most teams do fear us, that's why everybody gives us their best effort. Arkansas either fears us or they ain't too bright.. Their fans stormed the field last year when we hadn't beaten them since 2007! Now that's some respect there as storming the field is usually reserved for teams you haven't beaten in a long time!
 
#149
#149
EastTNVol6240 said:
For the people saying players, I’d suggest looking at someone like Vandy right now. No way do they have our talent level but look what they’re doing. That’s coaching, leadership, confidence, attitude. It’s contagious from the top down. Leadership means something.

Sure we need some more great recruits, but that alone isn’t the answer. Look at the past years when FSU and A&M were absolutely loaded but blew it. Coaching matters.
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Yeah, but nobody respects them either. Vandy used to be a glorified scrimage for the top teams in the conference. All they had to do was show up like for practice. Even though they have been winning some big games the last 2 years, it doesn't mean their opponents really believe the hype. I put Missouri in this category as well. They are just Missouri and not a powerhouse blue blood. That's why when a blueblood is in a down period, it's even harder to win games because everybody respects you and considers a win over you as a big win. All those years we were down, we still couldn't sneak up on anybody.
 
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