A lot of truths...(ESPN article)

[JonGrudensAgent]

Butch needs to find a way to win this game by putting his players in position to win, preparing them to win, coaching in the game to win. He needs to be creative & unpredictable and get TN over this HUMP. On TN first offensive possession come out with something the Gators have not seen on tape yet. Surprise them, catch them off guard-I don't care what it is so long as it works! Butch has a tremendous opportunity the next 4 weeks against 4 teams currently in the top 20. Start this Saturday by beating FL handily.

The last 2 games against FL have shown Butch' game plan to play conservative, not to lose, clock management etc have proven ineffective. He needs to come out his shell this Saturday, put it all on himself and cut his guys lose, I think he will and I think he will beat FL by 14 or more Saturday. He doesn't need a bunch of trick plays, just the right plays:clapping:. The great coaches turn momentum in their favor with brilliant and sometimes just gutsy play calls, often times when their opponents, announcers and fans least expect it. JUST DO IT BUTCH-BEAT FL!!!

All this sounds terrific to me.

Whether the guys with the headsets complies or not will be seen on Saturday.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Why is that 9 win stretch such an accomplishment? Who shouldn't we have beaten in that time period? South Carolina...barely. The weak sisters of November? Northwestern is arguably the most impressive win....think of that, NORTHWESTERN! App. State....no comment. VT, Ohio.....either could have gone the other way.

I'm thankful for the streak.....but it's just beating the teams your supposed to beat.

I've not asked for a coaching search. I don't want one. Butch succeeding is the best thing for the program and the fanbase. He has that opportunity....right now. All some of are saying is it must happen now, or the next year and a half are going to be difficult for him. He'll lose a large part of the fanbase, recruiting will inevitably drop off, and he loses many key players that should make team 120 successful. Platitudes, catch phrases, and selling himself won't be enough. He has to at least split the next 4, with one of them being Saturday. Nobody wants to beat Florida more than me. I promise you.

We can disagree without being disagreeable. We all want the same thing ultimately.

Posters on here could do that but throwing out the never ending "you want Butch fired because you offer any shred of criticism towards him or the team" straw man argument is all a number of posters know how to do on here.

 

[vollygirl]

Posters on here could do that but throwing out the never ending "you want Butch fired because you offer any shred of criticism towards him or the team" straw man argument is all a number of posters know how to do on here.

Add to that "you are willing to settle for mediocrity". There is not a Tennessee fan alive who wants to settle for mediocrity.

 

[TGVol]

So Butch was supposed to walk in here year one and win a Super Bowl right? I get it. I should have known better.

Butch was not asked to win anything in year one and bringing up Super Bowl is just dumb. All he is asked to do is win the SEC east in his 4th year, against the weakest SEC east division in a long time. If you think that's unreasonable then you have a problem.

 

[NashVol11]

Add to that "you are willing to settle for mediocrity". There is not a Tennessee fan alive who wants to settle for mediocrity.

There are a lot of people here who would settle for 8-4/9-3 every year, whatever you want to call that

 

[NashVol11]

Butch was not asked to win anything in year one and bringing up Super Bowl is just dumb. All he is asked to do is win the SEC east in his 4th year, against the weakest SEC east division in a long time. If you think that's unreasonable then you have a problem.

This.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Add to that "you are willing to settle for mediocrity". There is not a Tennessee fan alive who wants to settle for mediocrity.

Exactly.

Personally don't expect perfection but would like to see steady improvement in players from year 1 to year 4 along with minimal self inflicted wounds( turnovers, penalties, coaching gaffes etc).

With a couple of easy games to start the season usually... KY and Vandy on the schedule...and a cupcake homecoming game every year...8-4 or 9-3 should be the baseline moving forward. This program is beyond rebuilding mode now.

Going .500 against the tough part of the schedule shouldn't be too much to ask for and I think expectations were rightly raised this season given the landscape of the SECE and the experience of this team.

Unfortunately, seeing too many players spinning their wheels on development this season and there have been a lot of those self inflicted wounds through 3 games for me to feel confident that they win the East this season.

A win against FL can certainly push this team and the fan base forward though.

 

[Sarms58]

Butch was not asked to win anything in year one and bringing up Super Bowl is just dumb. All he is asked to do is win the SEC east in his 4th year, against the weakest SEC east division in a long time. If you think that's unreasonable then you have a problem.

It would be better than what Fulmer achieved...just for a comparison...and while the SEC east was stronger when Fulmer came in, so was the Vol teams that Fulmer inherited...

I'm all for high expectations...so I'm on board with you, I expect Jones to be better than Fulmer...time will tell...

 

[landscapingvol]

...Our oline is flat out atrocious probably ranked in the bottom 3-4 teams in the conference and Dobbs may be in the top 5 in SEC quarterbacks but that isn't saying a whole lot...

It is alarming that a head coach in his 4th year after 3 games into the season appears to have an oline that is flat out atrocious

It doesn't mean that the guys they went after were terrible. The oline is very difficult to project at the next level and some guys just have not panned out like they had hoped imo. They have a couple solid guys but they have had some busts like Blair and maybe even Richmond to some extent. He may be great but he is getting into his second year in the program and he cannot beat out Thomas who is just not very good. I am no Mahoney apologist but I highly doubt they are being taught to not block anybody. I think it is probably a case of the two solid lineman trying to do too much and the other three are not pulling their weight.

 

[vollygirl]

There are a lot of people here who would settle for 8-4/9-3 every year, whatever you want to call that

Who "settle"? Sorry, I just don't get this line of thinking.

 

[Orange_Vol1321]

The only thing I disagree with from the article is that Del Rio = Sutton, Kirkland, JRM (but JRM should be able to play, right?)

Regardless, we have to win this game. I have to say, I've felt a lot of enjoyment like I thought I would this season. We lose Saturday, and Tennessee football won't be the same for me.

Ohhh nooooo, they have got to you to volly! Code blue over here code blue stat!

 

[NashVol11]

Who "settle"? Sorry, I just don't get this line of thinking.

How is that confusing? If you're fine with staying in the 8-9 win range and occasionally winning an SEC East "title," your bar is low and you're settling. If you expect the program to get to 10+ wins at some point, this year is that point. There's no way around it. But, we still have posters trying to lower the bar for the 10th year in a row

 

[Tin Man]

Apparently, the nega-consensus is to fire the entire coaching staff, gut the athletics department, and go Div.III. Become the academic powerhouse of land-grant universities, the research leader of all public institutions. Tennessee will unseat Michigan where it really counts.

Well, I'm certain Neyland could be utilized for numerous events, including hosting special Div. I matchups, NFL "event" games (Titans vs Bengals and/or Panthers in K-town), concerts, super motocross, etc...

 

[vollygirl]

How is that confusing? If you're fine with staying in the 8-9 win range and occasionally winning an SEC East "title," your bar is low and you're settling. If you expect the program to get to 10+ wins at some point, this year is that point. There's no way around it. But, we still have posters trying to lower the bar for the 10th year in a row

Other than hearing a person say "I'm fine with staying at 8 or 9 win seasons", how do you know the person you're talking about is "settling"? That's what I'm trying to understand.

 

[vollygirl]

Ohhh nooooo, they have got to you to volly! Code blue over here code blue stat!

:lol:

 

[NashVol11]

Other than hearing a person say "I'm fine with staying at 8 or 9 win seasons", how do you know the person you're talking about is "settling"? That's what I'm trying to understand.

So you agree that that's settling? Because people have said that all over this site.

 

[vollygirl]

So you agree that that's settling? Because people have said that all over this site.

You said, "If you're fine with staying in the 8-9 win range and occasionally winning an SEC East "title," your bar is low and you're settling."

So I said, "Other than hearing a person say "I'm fine with staying at 8 or 9 win seasons", how do you know the person you're talking about is "settling"?"

I don't see people all over this site saying they are fine with winning 8 or 9 games a year.

 

[CAVPUT]

So you agree that that's settling? Because people have said that all over this site.

I won't take any winning season for granted after the last decade. Is it what I want? No but historically I think the argument can be made that 8-9 wins is about the norm for this program. Expectations are fine but let's keep em realistic. We aren't Bama or OSU.

 

[pharmDvol11]

That a lot of fans push to the side or just refuse to accept.

Beating Florida is a must for Tennessee Volunteers -- and Butch Jones - SEC Blog- ESPN

I agree that the excuses are gone and we should no longer say that we a rebuilding this year. The team has built an identity. And yes we have sustained some key injuries. Butch has been recruiting his tail off and preaching next man up for like 3-4 years now. So to put it on injuries means he's really not developing the guys he has on the bench. Maybe those players aren't motivated and we're having to recruit over them. But I think if that were the case they would've all transferred out by now. I'm not ready to burn Butch to the mattress but I'm ready to start seriously analyzing what he's doing with the program.

 

[NashVol11]

I don't see people all over this site saying they are fine with winning 8 or 9 games a year.

Then look harder. I'm not saying that every (or close to every) Butch supporter is saying that, but it's been said here on several occasions.

On top of that, there are several others who will say before the season that they expect 10-2, then watch us go 8-4, and start telling everyone how 8-4 is the best possible outcome and even Saban wouldn't do any better.

 

[VolinMichigan]

In a vacuum, Jones' 3-13 record against ranked teams is terrible. However, with the context of a massive rebuild and massive roster turnover that stat loses some of its shock value.

 

[Capt Straight]

In particular
Quote:
Jones has put together a respectable win-loss record, but it doesn’t hold up upon closer inspection. Eleven of his 21 wins from 2013-15 came against teams that finished the season below .500. Against teams ranked in the AP poll, including this season, he’s 3-13. In the SEC, only Florida, Vanderbilt and Kentucky have fewer wins over ranked teams during that time.

So what! A win is a win and 10 or so years from now, all that will be remembered is the won/loss record.

 

[NashVol11]

In particular
Quote:
Jones has put together a respectable win-loss record, but it doesn’t hold up upon closer inspection. Eleven of his 21 wins from 2013-15 came against teams that finished the season below .500. Against teams ranked in the AP poll, including this season, he’s 3-13. In the SEC, only Florida, Vanderbilt and Kentucky have fewer wins over ranked teams during that time.

So what! A win is a win and 10 or so years from now, all that will be remembered is the won/loss record.

Not really. Plenty of people remember that we weren't beating Bama before Fulmer, and that Fulmer got owned by Meyer/Saban/basically every other good coach despite his good record

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I love that the article says this in particular:

In the SEC, only Florida [and two others] have fewer wins over ranked teams during that time.

Love that he pointed out: Florida has fewer wins over ranked opponents in that time period than we do.

I think we're ranked right now!

So let's help them keep that particular streak going, that whole thing about losing more to ranked opponents.

I like that!

 

[VFL-82-JP]

LoL, McDad, I used "totally ratchet" today on the phone with my daughter. And I completely used it in the right context. Here's how our conversation went:

[she's complaining about a boy being a jerk]

Me: "yeah, that's totally ratchet."

K: <pause> "Dad, don't even try that."

Me: "what?"

K: "you know what. You are not able to use those words."

Me: "oh, you know what ratchet means?"

K: "of course. But it doesn't sound right coming from you."

Me: "What? I used it right, didn't I?"

K: "well, yeah, but it's so out-dated, plus you're middle-aged." [she said that: middle-aged...you could hear the eye-roll through the phone]

Me: "What do you mean out-dated? That's current lingo."

K: "Dad, that's from like, two-thousand twelve. It used to be current slang, but it's not now."

...

So anyway, McDad, I simply can not win for losing with my daughters, no matter how on fleek I may be. But thanks for giving me the new word for messing with them, I'm totally going to keep using it over the weekend, several times.

Go Vols!