So who COULD we get if not Heupel?

#101
#101
SoMissVol said:
I totally understand the frustration. But the guy is trying to make chicken salad out of chicken crap and sometimes that’s more challenging than others. Maybe he’ll get a job this offseason and leave, but I feel like he’ll get the John Jancek treatment when he leaves, ie, his replacement will be a huge downgrade and our defense will be EVEN WORSE and we’ll all be left saying he was the best thing since sliced bread. I think this year was an issue of inexperienced personnel, not bad scheme.
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Inexperienced personnel can still tackle. The linebackers have no idea where to go, even the guys that have been around a while. The safeties stand around and wait for completions to happen and then engage the defender.
 
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#102
#102
JMSqb11 said:
Our defense for 3 straight weeks has played well enough to win comfortably. Our offense has laid duds and given the other team multiple scores that negated the defense’s play.

Literally, our offense just had to play average.
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This is true. That said, our defense is bad and we are letting one good year in 2024 in which the only decent QBs we played still shredded us make us believe Banks is some sort of savant. He’s quite bad.

It’s also true that OU made adjustments at the half and abused our D for thirty minutes after that.
 
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#103
#103
SoMissVol said:
I totally understand the frustration. But the guy is trying to make chicken salad out of chicken crap and sometimes that’s more challenging than others. Maybe he’ll get a job this offseason and leave, but I feel like he’ll get the John Jancek treatment when he leaves, ie, his replacement will be a huge downgrade and our defense will be EVEN WORSE and we’ll all be left saying he was the best thing since sliced bread. I think this year was an issue of inexperienced personnel, not bad scheme.
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What about every other year? He has had 1 good year here, and he was absolutely loaded with talent. Nearly any coach can get it done with the talent he had last year. We need a coach that can coach them up to better than they really are. That’s what good coaches do.
 
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#104
#104
EastTNVol6240 said:
The problem with this whole situation is Nico leaving actually improved our situation, we just didn’t know it then. With that said it makes that whole argument irrelevant. JA has been an upgrade, although last night was a terrible game for him.

Had Nico stayed there’s a good chance we have 2 less wins right now. How would you feel about Heup if we were a 4-5 team right now?
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You can’t say that. No one knows.

Nico at UCLA under a staff that was so in over their head is not equivalent to a 3rd offseason under Heupel who has shown he can develop a QB and tweak the offense to minimize their deficiencies. Aguilar isn’t mobile, Nico was. Nico couldn’t connect on deep balls last year, Aguilar can.

I don’t think we would be just as good on offense but it’s foolish to say our offense would be downright awful.

If you think Nico would have made no progress in his development under a 3rd year with Heupel, you’re saying more about Heupel’s ability as a coach than Nico
 
#105
#105
Wahoooo said:
after sleeping on it. And after sleeping on it after the UGA game, it still sucks that we should have won both games and be sitting here with one loss and a closer game to Bama vs what the score showed,

Nevertheless, I don’t want JH canned.

For those who do, who are you going to realistically hire?

I would not be surprised if Auburn cans Freeze this week. If so, you will have LSU, UF, Auburn open. Add in Arkansas and possibly UK, along with Va Tech. Will Dabo be out as well? Seems like he is begging to be fired.

Do you seriously think that we could hire someone better than JH with all the openings? If so, who?

Are we more attractive than LSU, UF and Auburn currently? All three have won nattys and SEC championships since we last did so some 27 years ago.

To my knowledge, there is not a Phil Fulmer or Johnny Majors waiting in the wings to come home.
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I agree this may not be the best time with all the jobs out there. But this job is definitely more attractive than Auburn’s at this time and on pretty equal footing with Florida. Better than Penn St also. We have a great administration and AD now. But Heupel needs to shake up this staff. If it can’t generate better discipline by now I question if it ever can. Next year is more than likely a pivotal year for Heupel. GBO
 
#106
#106
West Vol said:
This is true. That said, our defense is bad and we are letting one good year in 2024 in which the only decent QBs we played still shredded us make us believe Banks is some sort of savant. He’s quite bad.

It’s also true that OU made adjustments at the half and abused our D for thirty minutes after that.
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The travesty was putting Carter in coverage while he had turf toe in both feet. That’s why Mateer converted the first third and long. Just dumb decision making to put him out there.
 
#108
#108
allvols4life said:
I like Heupel, but sadly his loyalty to his buddies is hurting us. Halzle, Martinez and Possibly Banks need to be replaced and then see where we are. That said; do however question CJH's lack of calling for challenges of suspect /bad calls, getting in the officials @ss for bunk flags and his apparent confusion with clock management
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Not possibly Banks, he definitely needs to be fired!
 
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#109
#109
unfrozencvmanvol said:
My thought process is that, the day Nico walked out the door and went back to California, most reasonable people would have projected us 6-3 at this point in the season, and that's exactly where we are. Like it or not, the fortunes of the 2025 Vol season always rose and fell on whether Nico would develop into the player he had the potential to be. If he did, we would have a higher ceiling. Since he hasn't and isn't even here anymore, we have a lower one this year. Honestly, if we beat either Florida or Vandy and finish 8-4, it won't be a bad year. Beat both and it's a good year, considering the situation we were put in by the I Am A Leava family.
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Aguilar served us better than that UCLA guy ever would have had he stayed. MacIntyre and/or Merklinger should get the reps now that CFP is a non-factor.
 
#110
#110
JMSqb11 said:
You can’t say that. No one knows.

Nico at UCLA under a staff that was so in over their head is not equivalent to a 3rd offseason under Heupel who has shown he can develop a QB and tweak the offense to minimize their deficiencies. Aguilar isn’t mobile, Nico was. Nico couldn’t connect on deep balls last year, Aguilar can.

I don’t think we would be just as good on offense but it’s foolish to say our offense would be downright awful.

If you think Nico would have made no progress in his development under a 3rd year with Heupel, you’re saying more about Heupel’s ability as a coach than Nico
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I never used the word awful, but I do fully believe JA is an upgrade. Especially in our system. Heupel lives on big plays in his offense. Nico couldn’t deliver that.

And while I’m not the biggest fan of Heup, I also think we got a dud in Nico. Maybe dud is harsh, but he definitely wasn’t going to live up to what most expected.
 
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#111
#111
Lane Kiffin is like the girl that cheated on you and keeps doing it.I wouldn’t take his word if he said he’d be here tomorrow.Everyone will mess their britches when Danny White bolts to LSU.
 
#112
#112
EastTNVol6240 said:
I never used the word awful, but I do fully believe JA is an upgrade. Especially in our system. Heupel lives on big plays in his offense. Nico couldn’t deliver that.

And while I’m not the biggest fan of Heup, I also think we got a dud in Nico. Maybe dud is harsh, but he definitely wasn’t going to live up to what most expected.
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I trace it back to Nico not taking over for Milton after we lost to Bama in 2023. The season was over then and we could have had 5 games to see what we had in Nico so Heupel could spend all offseason in 2024 crafting an offense that fits him.

We are now in the same boat with a QB with no eligibility left and 4 games left in 7-8 weeks.

There is no amount of coach speak that can honestly say there is still a lot to play for this year. So Heupel needs to think about the long term health of the program and see what Merk / Gmac have.
 
#114
#114
Most people arent actually wanting coach fired. They want him to fire assistants. They also assume hes not going to, so therefore they see him as being out the door himself. So it sounds like they want him fired today.
 
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#115
#115
JMSqb11 said:
I trace it back to Nico not taking over for Milton after we lost to Bama in 2023. The season was over then and we could have had 5 games to see what we had in Nico so Heupel could spend all offseason in 2024 crafting an offense that fits him.

We are now in the same boat with a QB with no eligibility left and 4 games left in 7-8 weeks.

There is no amount of coach speak that can honestly say there is still a lot to play for this year. So Heupel needs to think about the long term health of the program and see what Merk / Gmac have.
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I see both sides. We need to see the other QBs, but what does it say about your coach if he benches JA for the next month just to look toward 2026? If I’m a recruit I definitely notice if he’s throwing JA in the garbage or allowing him to finish his time here.

It’s indeed a tough spot Heup has placed himself in. I anticipate he will stay with JA, which like you said does 0 for the development going into 26.
 
#116
#116
EastTNVol6240 said:
I see both sides. We need to see the other QBs, but what does it say about your coach if he benches JA for the next month just to look toward 2026? If I’m a recruit I definitely notice if he’s throwing JA in the garbage or allowing him to finish his time here.

It’s indeed a tough spot Heup has placed himself in. I anticipate he will stay with JA, which like you said does 0 for the development going into 26.
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I don’t care what other QB recruits think. We are stocked deep at the QB position but we don’t know what we have.

And I seriously doubt Aguilar will care. He’s making over a million dollars to essentially play 8 games. That’s a great consolation considering how this year started for him.

The last thing Heupel can afford is to have a QB with zero experience starting 2026.
 
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#117
#117
My grandson is aa huge Auburn fan but Knowledgeable enough to realize that this year is a bad time to go looking for a new coach - too many high profile programs have already entered the bidding wars so you’ll pay a very high price for the few quality coaches available. We’re not gonna get back on the coaching carousel just yet - the last time we did we had the worst decade in our football history.

Heupel is gonna have to get more money to get more talent on the field and on the staff…Dabo won two titles with great coordinators…Fulmer won a title with a great coordinator. It’s gonna be a difficult process but we need to have the best OL coach available, the best defensive secondary coach available, etc.

For now, we need to heal and get ready to bounce back…winning in the swamp and knocking that smile off of Pavia‘s face. Would’ve a good ending to this season.
 
#118
#118
Legion of Doom said:
Lane Kiffin would take our job over those other jobs. He has talked more than once about his love for the job he left. Plenty of great coaches out there. If DW is such a great AD he should be able to find a great coach. Heck for enough money you could convince an Urban Meyer or one of those guys to coach again.
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Dude. Cmon. He’s not coming here. And even if he wanted to.. **** NO.
 
#123
#123
If you set any SEC coach down and ask "what do you need to win the SEC championship" he is going to say "more NIL money". Nico's 2 million contract was considered outrageous just 2 years ago, now it's the average. You need more to recruit them, more to retain them and a larger pool for the non-stars. We are 2 steps behind the leaders and need to double up to catch up. I don't think we will or that we should go down that road any further. We will probably continue to be middle of the pack NIL with middle of the pack results, which is the best approach until this system blows up and everyone starts over. It's not sustainable.
 
#125
#125
EastTNVol6240 said:
If you think this is about 1 loss then you’ve not been paying attention.
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I understand you’re frustrated but if you only look at the losses and ignore the direction of the program, the wins, and everything else then you’re only looking at the glass being half empty and not full. We are, and still are after this loss, trending in the right direction. Sometimes there will be bad seasons. Majors had them. Fulmer had them. And Heupel will have them. His winning percentage has been one of the best since my time being alive as a Vols fan. We are bringing in a QB I believe will win us a chip. In no way am I going to even consider discussing wanting to move on until I see the entire Fraz tenure play out.
 
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