Recruiting Forum Football Talk IX

#75,801
#75,801
RandomUTfan said:
I want to ask everyone who is questioning the future of the football program right now and predicting things like averaging 9 wins to look again at our recruiting class and look at the other classes ranked in the same neighborhood as ours. Realize that it represents new NIL $ into football that wasn't there a couple of classes ago. And it's not just football. Look at the basketball roster.

The $ is there and is not going away. It just seems to increase. And watch the portal this year too. I bet we nail it. But it won't rank high because most of the teams that will, have a lot more work to do in the portal than we do.
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Only like 4 teams in cfb that win 10 games every year. OSU, Oregon, UGA, ND. And all those programs were ready-made as soon as those coaches stepped on campus. Recent history winning cultures, great players, etc.

An influx of NIL is fantastic but it’s difficult to make the step from a 9 win team every year to 10 win.

Btw I’m not questioning the future of the program. I just don’t think people realize how few teams win 10 games every year
 
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#75,804
#75,804
dmwvol12 said:
Yep but ESPN and the Disney mouth breathers have been telling us repeatedly that Lane was a changed man. Will never understand the infatuation with such a scumbag. He’s a decent football coach but an absolute horrible human being.
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Serious question, why all the hate for Lame in this situation or is it all just leftover hate for UT situation? He seems to have grown as most of us have but in this situation I don’t see what he has done wrong. Here is my earlier post where I seriously want someone to tell me what they would have done.

I probably would have made the same decision as Lame.

Dadof2Vols said:
So if you were Lame what would you have done. He hasn’t made this a media circus everyone else has.

I don’t go back to the Lame to UT days so maybe I look at it a little different than others And don’t have the built in hate.

One the one hand, he has a team he loves, a home and family life he now loves and the other is he has a school offering him 100m plus a game changing amount to build a CFP contender with and they both want an answer ASAP.

He is really in a no win situation. Sure he wants to have both, any of us would. Those claiming they could easily say no to what LSU is rumored to be offering is being disingenuous.
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#75,807
#75,807
HoleInTheRoof said:
Day after thoughts.... (half of which I'll likely get roasted for but whatever)

  • Obese people shouldn't be allowed in the stadium. Not hefty. Not overweight. Obese people. The bleacher style seats are already crowded. I got to enjoy last nights game with two morbidly obese dudes to my right. I basically had to stand up the entire game because if I wanted to sit down, dudes fat cells were spilling onto me like thanksgiving gravy. Dude to my immediate right wasn't even in any Vols gear, and never cheered. Just ate pretzels and popcorn and sat there being fat.
  • I think I posted this after the Oklahoma game but the signs were right there in our face all year long that we just weren't a good team this year. Outside of the Georgia game and the first half vs Florida, we never really looked good. Teams like UAB moved the ball way better than they should have against us. NMS was a bore. Arkansas and Miss State are cheeks, but both took us to the wire. Kensucky of all teams scored 30+ on us. And the New Mexico game was like watching drunk people play Jenga.
  • I hate, hate, hate how three players this year were vocal and public before our games, disrespecting us, as we just proved them right.
  • To kind of soften the blow last night, yeah yeah yeah we should never lose to Vandy, but consider that that team had, I want to say one podcast said, 26 graduate students. Those were grown men. Meanwhile, our roster is literally 49% freshman and 16% sophomores. If you were at the stadium and you saw the seniors being called out - first off it was a very short ceremony, only 12 guys some of which weren't contributors. Brian Grant. Montrell Bandy. Jourdan Thomas. William Wright. We are a very young team that went against a well coached team full of grown men in the 20's. It showed.
  • I know I was posting incessantly all week about the line, as I tend to track that stuff during game week if I something looks fishy. Hopefully some understand why now. That line action was suspect all week. Then myself and @OGbabyaviVol in back to back posts pointed out how there was a massive wager placed on Vandy less than an hour before kick off. The money percentage was 85% on Tennessee, then around 245pm it shifted to 56% towards Vandy.

    Hence my comments that the fix was in. Which is to say, someone knew that Vandy was going to be getting a favorable whistle all night. Now, I was at the stadium so I didn't to see all the television replays, but right from the jump the calls were suspect. Brazell got mugged first play of the game with two refs staring at it. Neither threw a flag. There were numerous blatant holds on Vandy throughout the night, no flags. There was a lot of post play flaggable extracurricular activities by dirty vandy players - never a flag. And any time the refs got a 50/50 situation, on a questionable or close call, it went Vandys way.

    Sports are able to be rigged. There have been a lot of documented instances of point shaving, players wagering, corrupt refs etc in sports. That is what I'm saying. I'm not saying there is this grand conspiracy by Sanky or the SEC to screw Tennessee (although it wouldn't surprise me if it came out that the sec wanted as many 10-2 teams for playoff consideration as possible). What I am saying as that sports are corrupt, refs can be bought, and someone somehow knew to put a ridiculous amount of money on Vandy last night just before kickoff. Argue with me until you're blue in the face, but I will die on that hill. Money rules all.
  • I am on board the Tim Banks has to go bandwagon. Nothing more needs to be said.
  • This'll be a popular opinion I'm sure, but AP has speculated that Rodney Garner might be Auburn bound after this year, depending on who they hire as a coach. I don't think that would be that big of a loss. Listen, RG is a legend. And I know a good evaluator and a good recruiter (although I think his best recruiting days are behind him). But our DL is not elite. It has never been elite under him. I mean, last year there was talk of us having the best DL in football - and we were damned good, until we played a very good team like UGA or Ohio State who mauled us in the trenches. We've seen time and time again our DL get pushed all over the place. Im not just talking about last night because I fully understand Vandy was holding a lot, but against Miss State and other much lesser opponents, our DL never made a significant impact in games. We had something like 26 sacks going into the Alabama game, and how many have we had since? Am I wishing RG would leave? No. But I definitely don't think it would be that big of a deal if he did. Most DL recruits mention coach chop more than RG.
  • I'm fading on Coach Heupel. On the one hand this feels like crazy talk because I'm pissed off and disappointed after watching a 8-4 season, when not that long ago I went into every season HOPING we could get to at least 8 wins. I don't want this to be like how, when Fulmer left I was actually excited. I'm wary of always being careful what you wish for. Which is to say I'm not wishing Heupel leaves. But I am saying he leaves a lot to be desired. Our offense, even with all our new wrinkles this year, is easily defensed. Crash down on the mesh point and you cause havoc more than half the time. The rush to the line just so the RB can run into the ass of the guard is beyond predictable. We don't run tempo anymore, or at least not near as much. And worst of all, he's too stubborn to make changes to his coaching staff. Which brings my next point -
  • Our OL coach is useless. It's documented he's not a good recruiter and has no personality. I fully attribute our recruiting successes to NIL and other coaches, plus it not being hard to recruit to Tennessee. Our OL is not good. He doesn't develop people. Everyone wants to point to Darnell Wright, but who else has really grown under his watch.
  • I think the only way we see any coaching changes this off season is if Danny White presses the issue, which I think is a real possibility. By virtue of having as young of a team as we have, plus the situation we went into the season with with our cornerback depth issues and question mark at QB, you can almost consider it a monumental achievement that we salvaged 8 wins out of this season. At the same time, in year five, the ceiling has to be higher at a place like Tennessee. You can't sell 8-4 while at the same time pushing for talent fees and everything else. Changes need to be made. I could see DW having some hard conversations with Heupel.
  • I cheered the loudest when Andre Turrentine was announced during senior day - but thats only because he's leaving. In state kid, transferred here from OSU, and to his credit gave his all for Tennessee. It probably isn't his fault that his all just wasn't very good. At all. In fact, in the five years this staff has been here, no one has played the safety position well. I might sound foolish saying that considering McCoullough is getting plenty of reps with the Rams now.... but we all know what he was here. Which begs the question: what is going on with (a) our recruitment of safeties and (b) our development of safeties? I mean, Farooq is still a young player and he certainly flashed some this year.... he also flashed in negative ways this year. The middle of our defense has been a liability for years. Why is that?
  • Speaking of the middle of our defense... is William Inge another example of an elite recruiter but mediocre coach? Has any of our linebackers, save for some big hits by Perlotte, and a few plays here and there by AC (who i know is hampered by injuries) impressed anyone this year? I suppose its too early to tell as Inges linebackers are literally true freshman this year. I know he has an incredibly impressive group of linebackers coming in this cycle as well. But I'll definitely be keeping an eye on their development going forward.
  • There is talk of Joey possibly coming back next year. I mean, I guess. This might be crazy talk but I'd be fine going into next year with new blood at the position. Don't get me wrong - I love the player, his mom is awesome, he gave us some incredible moments and memories this year, and there is a part of me that wonders how he'd do with a full offseason under his belt. But there is another part of me that thinks that, ultimately, he isn't an NFL caliber QB. I think Faizon and McIntyre have higher ceilings. And I think in order to be an elite team, you have to have an elite, NFL caliber QB. Consider this years roster being almost 50% freshman. Start McIntyre next year, let him get a year of starts under his belt. Let the chips fall where they may. Then in 2027 all of our mostly blue chip freshman today will be third year players.

    I don't remember the exact circumstances around it, but years ago Bill Parcells made a roster decision where he either cut or traded decent starter and went with a less experienced guy with more upside. When asked about it, he praised the player but basically suggested he was a progress stopper. As in, in order for the younger guy with more upside to progress, he was going to have to play, and he wasn't going to be able to do that as long as the older guy was there. I would hate to refer to Joey as a progress stopper because that is incredibly disrespectful, but .....

    And as an added bonus, if JA can't come back, that means Pavia can't either. Although I would like another shot at that punk.
  • I wouldn't be surprised at all, or bothered at all, if Peyton Lewis went to the portal. He is big and fast but he has not demonstrated to me the vision or instincts of an SEC back. I could see him heading to Virginia Tech with Franklin, which is a lot closer to home for him.
  • I have a lot on my mind, and I doubt anyone is still reading this, but if you are, thanks for letting me vent. This is therapy for me.
  • At the end of the day, Vandy is still Vandy. Vandy will stay Vandy. They caught lightening in a bottle this year, and I don't even care that they're landing the 20 year old five star freshman QB. Next year will be a complete reset on their roster. And as much as I hate Pavia, credit given where it's due. The kid is a freakishly good college QB. He has that intangible - call it moxie, swag, whatever, that just makes him elite. If Joe Milton had an ounce of whatever that intangible is, he'd be unstoppable. It's a rare trait and Vandy benefitted from having a 32 year old QB who had it, with a roster full of grown men. They're not going to be able to sustain that going into next year. And if their offensive coordinator lands a head coaching job somewhere.... well, that isn't good for Clark Lea. Last night suuuuuuuuucked. Being at the stadium suuuuuuuuuuucked. It was their night. At the end of the day, this will be their one win and they can gloat over it the next 12 months, but we'll probably go on to win the next 10 in the series.
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I agree with most of this and an outstanding post which I read every word and discussed much of it with my son. Thanks for posting it and some really good insight. Wish you could publish it. I hope CJH can make it work and still believe he needs to be given the chance. However, need to make some changes.
 
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#75,808
#75,808
Dadof2Vols said:
Serious question, why all the hate for Lame in this situation or is it all just leftover hate for UT situation? He seems to have grown as most of us have but in this situation I don’t see what he has done wrong. Here is my earlier post where I seriously want someone to tell me what they would have done.

I probably would have made the same decision as Lame.
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I wouldn’t have been tweeting vague references incessantly after it was reported I was a candidate for a couple other jobs.

And according to reporting he’s threatening the school to let him coach or he’s gonna poach the coaches and players.

He’s the same spoiled brat he always has been.
 
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#75,814
#75,814
JacketVol said:
I agree with most of this and an outstanding post which I read every word and discussed much of it with my son. Thanks for posting it and some really good insight. Wish you could publish it. I hope CJH can make it work and still believe he needs to be given the chance. However, need to make some changes.
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#75,815
#75,815
MarcoVol said:
I wouldn’t have been tweeting vague references incessantly after it was reported I was a candidate for a couple other jobs.

And according to reporting he’s threatening the school to let him coach or he’s gonna poach the coaches and players.

He’s the same spoiled brat he always has been.
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I have read in a different report where ole miss told the other coaches on staff if they plan on going get out now.

I don’t think we will know the true facts for a while.
 
#75,818
#75,818
MarcoVol said:
Only like 4 teams in cfb that win 10 games every year. OSU, Oregon, UGA, ND. And all those programs were ready-made as soon as those coaches stepped on campus. Recent history winning cultures, great players, etc.

An influx of NIL is fantastic but it’s difficult to make the step from a 9 win team every year to 10 win.

Btw I’m not questioning the future of the program. I just don’t think people realize how few teams win 10 games every year
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My brother. there aren't more than 10 programs with the resources Tennessee has. Winning in college football in 2025 has become almost exclusively about the resources you have to build a roster. Compare the differences in the top 15 teams and that will invariably what separates them. It's not a perfect science, but it's way easier to win when you have the resources to when you can just take players from the portal who are already proven instead of relying on recruits that may or may not hit. But you also increase your hit rate by recruiting the way Tennessee appears to be right now.

Some teams can't afford to spend huge in recruiting so they spend big in the portal. Ole Miss was doing this. We see other schools use this approach. A lot of those same schools have really good receivers and backs but an average to below QB and LOS. Why? They are cheaper because the market is always flush with really good ones both in the portal and in recruiting.

Tennessee can afford to buy the best QB in the class, the best wr, finish #2 for the best running back (landed the best OL last cycle) AND is still landing elite players in the portal to fill any holes that pop up because recruiting is never a perfect science. The portal isn't either, but you have so much more relevant information on those guys by the time they hit the portal.
 
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#75,821
#75,821
Sandman Vol said:
I don’t believe you have dissuaded yourself of that.

And I appreciate your posts anyways.
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And I feel zero compulsion to prove that I have.

I am not doing this for a reaction. The act is what I'm interested in. I like blessing others' lives and that in turn blesses mine.

Am I all the way where I want to be yet? Heck no. Far away from it, but I've got a road map to where I want to get and I'm working on it.
 
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#75,823
#75,823
Dadof2Vols said:
Serious question, why all the hate for Lame in this situation or is it all just leftover hate for UT situation? He seems to have grown as most of us have but in this situation I don’t see what he has done wrong. Here is my earlier post where I seriously want someone to tell me what they would have done.

I probably would have made the same decision as Lame.
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He wants to take the new job while also finish his old one. That’s not how this works. No school should ever (maybe an exception) let a guy continue coaching when he’s accepted another job. It’s just like the real world- you don’t let employees hang around who’ve taken new jobs. Obvious reasons. Sounds like he tried to strong arm OM by threatening them with no staff. You lose trust as the process continues. It caused dissension among the administration and with his players. You burn bridges that way, and the break ends up being very negative instead of remembering the positive.

He truly didn’t learn from prior experience. Remember that Saban told him to leave for FAU while Bama had a playoff game. You can’t focus on both jobs.
 
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