Andy Staples: "Tennessee fans need to learn from Nebraska fans."

[USF grad in TN]

It's unlikely TN ever gets to where Bama, Clemson, or Ohio State is currently without a truly elite head coach and a little luck. Honestly, if the playoffs are expanded, the days of multiple championship dynasties like Clemson and Bama might be over.

It will take an elite coach, but I don't know of any law of nature that says Tuscaloosa has to be the center of the football universe.

 

[MWAVolfan]

Honestly, if we look at our history after Neyland (1953-Present) we have had a couple bursts of great years but been fairly mediocre the rest of the time. We had a nice 5 year run in the late 60's and early 70's. Then obviously you have the 95-98 run which really has skewed people's perception of the program. Other than that you will have some great years like 56, 87, 89, 01 but there is a whole lot of mediocrity in there.

Three things about this:

1. No football program is dominant for more than a few years at a time before lapsing. Alabama is a HUGE outlier and once Saban is gone/dead you'll see that even Alabama can fall. Look at Florida or any other school in the SEC. All of them have had times of being down in recent history. What saved Florida post Spurrier was making the right coaching hire with Meyer but they had to get through the Zook era first. Then they sucked again.
2. If you looked at the record books 10 years ago (before UT fell apart) Tennessee was something like #7 all time in wins and #5 all time in bowl appearances. We were no slouches over many many decades. The second most successful program in SEC history. It's not "Tennessee had a few good seasons in the past" We piled up wins over the decades.
3. Tennessee's failure was administrative. Our program has become unattractive because coaches are wary of dealing with the backstabbing and meddling and cheapness of the administration. Tennessee has always had a very big coast-to-coast recruiting budget. Getting kids to play here wouldn't be hard if you had a coach with a brand name and the power to get things done without administrators getting in his way. We probably would have been OK had Kiffin not dumped our @ss in the middle of the night. I think he could have been 100% better than Dooley, Jones or Pruitt combined.

Tennessee is and always could have been one good coaching hire away from none of this ever happening. But we were CHEAP and didn't value football above all else. Absolutely noone in the country was impressed by any of our last three coaching hires.

 

[Rushin Orange Collusion]

Uh, Bama won the natty in 92 and won the SEC in 99. In between no telling how many freaking SEC Championship appearances. UT right now would love to have one of Bama's so called down periods. Bama has never even come close to having the decade plus of awfulness that UT has just had. Bama is just at another level and historically always has been compared to UT.

DuBose, Franchione, Price and Shula give their regards. Four coaches in 10 years.

 

[Rickyvol77]

They won the SEC in 1999. They won 10 games in 2002 and 10 games in 2005

They only won the SEC because UT didn't win the East. UT destroyed Bama that year and Bama lost to La Tech too

 

[Rickyvol77]

Tennessee has had some decent years sprinkled in as well. 2007 won the East, 2015 and 2016 were disappointing, but still solid years. Don’t wanna hear anything about being bad for too long from a gator fan. Florida has been bad or mediocre for most of their history.

Bandwagon gator fans don't remember that prior to 1992 Ole Miss had more fans than they did

 

[TheDeeble]

Lol. Here are some 10 year records of a few of the most successful programs over the last 20 years. . . Right before their success:

USC
90: 8-4
91: 3-8
92: 6-5
93: 8-5
94: 8-3
95: 9-2
96: 6-6
97: 6-5
98: 8-5
99: 6-6
2000: 5-7

UsC WiLl nEvEr bE gOoD. . . CaN’t cOmPeTe wItH tHe eAsT cOaSt

LSU
89: 4-7
90: 5-6
91: 5-6
92: 2-9
93: 5-6
94: 4-7
95: 7-4
96: 10-2
97: 9-3
98: 4-7
99: 3-8

LsU WiLl nEvEr cOmPeTe wItH tHe BaMas and fLoRiDaS

Clemson
94: 5-6
95: 8-4
96: 7-5
97: 7-5
98: 3-8
99: 6-6
2000: 9-3
2001: 7-5
2002: 7-6
2003: 9-4
2004: 6-5

ClEmSoN WiLl aLwAyS pLaY sEcOnD fIdDlE tO fSu and now with mIaMi in the ACC, wAtCh oUt!
.

It is pretty simple. Get a good coach and the right environment you can compete yearly when you have the resources and facilities TN does. Problem has been finding the coach lately...

I'm surprised so few people actually get this.

 

[MWAVolfan]

It's unlikely TN ever gets to where Bama, Clemson, or Ohio State is currently without a truly elite head coach and a little luck. Honestly, if the playoffs are expanded, the days of multiple championship dynasties like Clemson and Bama might be over.

But we can absolutely get to where Auburn or Florida have been recently, which is pretty damn good, and still competing for SEC titles, and with a little luck, getting in the playoffs and winning a Natty.

And yet if you go back to the 80's and 90s Ohio State was garbage and when was Clemson ever a powerhouse before Dabo Swinney. And of course Bama had a whole decade of suck like UT has had. You are correct that it DOES take an elite coach. It always has taken that. Tennessee hasnt come anywhere close to hiring an elite coach since firing Fulmer. Kiffin was a splash hire, but not on the level of Saban or Meyer (at Florida and Ohio State).

 

[MWAVolfan]

Bandwagon gator fans don't remember that prior to 1992 Ole Miss had more fans than they did

People forget that before Miami in the 80s and Florida and Florida State in the 90's, football was basically nonexistent in Florida. Florida football became a thing because of men like Spurrier, Bowden and Johnson. But I get it, everyone views history only through the lense of the present.

 

[tennrich1]

Sorry ....but neither one of those people’s opinions matter one iota to me. Seriously! Why would I care what any media person,either in sports or otherwise, thinks about any subject? I don’t want to hear their opinions....just give me truth which they are now incapable of doing! Few people in this world I have less respect for than media!

 

[Hyperion]

Absolutely laughable. Tennessee has all the pieces in place to be elite at college football, except for the coach.

 

[kcvols1]

Nebraska can also no longer juice their players like the East German women's olympic swim team like

This is NOT Mel Tormé.

Love that film.

 

[kcvols1]

Who is Andy Staples?

Is that Mavis’ boy? What he know about football? Stick to singing.

 

[Hyperion]

It's neither as bad as Staples makes it sound or as good as many would probably hope. The fact is that we are at a fundamental disadvantage in our division to Florida and Georgia because of their recruiting bases and status as flagship schools in state's full of talent. We can reach a 90's type state if we can be consistent and one or both of those teams goes in the crapper but as long as Florida and Georgia are competently coached we are going to lose to either or both of them more often than not. If one or both get a crappy coach, there's our window.

If we get a window, we get in there and we fight like hell to hang onto it, but if either or both become competently coached again, we'll have trouble holding them off in the division. Unless there is a fundamental demographic shift in the recruiting bases, that's the reality of our situation. It's more or less been this way since black people started playing football. When that happened Florida and Georgia's advantage kicked in.

Our 90's run was brought on by a long period of stability and good coaching, Georgia, Clemson and LSU were all simultaneously down in the 90's and we took advantage, when Richt got to Georgia, Meyer to Florida and Saban/Miles at LSU that started to knock us back down the ladder. With all that said though, there is no reason for us to be as bad as we have been. We have had piss poor coaching since Fulmer was fired. If we had a decent coach we should be beating South Carolina, Kentucky, Vandy, Missouri, et al. nearly all the time, we should average between 7-9 wins with an occasional spike up to 11 and maybe a fall to 5-6 every now and then. As it is we haven't even been .500 since we fired Fulmer, that is underperforming at Tennessee, big time.

I reject this. I would agree that competing against UGA is much more difficult than the 90s due to the explosion in talent in that state. However I'd also argue we're in a much better position to compete against UF today than in the 90s. Tennessee's natural recruiting base is actually a LOT stronger than it was in our heyday. Much more talent in Tennessee and that growth is centered in far more UT friendly Nashville than Memphis. North Carolina is even more loaded. There's simply too much talent in Georgia for us to not get our share.

Kirby and Mullen are good, but they aren't football savants like Saban, Spurrier or Meyer. If UT makes a good hire, they'll be in the conversations for winning the East very soon.

 

[kcvols1]

I don't know of any law of nature that says Tuscaloosa has to be the center of the football universe.

Well, I’ve heard if you gave a monkey a brain, he’ll swear he’s the center of the universe.

In Tuscaloosa’s case, that checks out.

Shout out to Fishbone.

 

[djohnnyg]

Just an observation. It seems fans of other SEC schools are fine...nice and civil as long as we are all down on ourselves criticizing the program. They will chime in with a "I hope you guys get it together." Etc etc..and these fans seem really cool in those times. But the moment we talk positive or start talking like we are anything other than the SECs doormat or talk like we are going to compete in the SEC or suggest there will be a time when we beat the "big 3" again...they get mad and start refuting us. These fans are cool as long as we "know our place " We touch a nerve when we start talking hope for a return of greatness....but we're fine as long as we accept our role as has-beens. Just what I'm noticing here.

 

[Arrested Devolopment]

Please explain that difference. Accepting mediocrity is a choice... not a fate.

Yeah, the original post doesn't make much sense to me either. It's like "60% of the time it works 100% of the time."

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

I reject this. I would agree that competing against UGA is much more difficult than the 90s due to the explosion in talent in that state. However I'd also argue we're in a much better position to compete against UF today than in the 90s. Tennessee's natural recruiting base is actually a LOT stronger than it was in our heyday. Much more talent in Tennessee and that growth is centered in far more UT friendly Nashville than Memphis. North Carolina is even more loaded. There's simply too much talent in Georgia for us to not get our share.

Kirby and Mullen are good, but they aren't football savants like Saban, Spurrier or Meyer. If UT makes a good hire, they'll be in the conversations for winning the East very soon.

As I said, I am not one of those who argues that we can never be elite again, but the calculus of college football recruiting and thus the raw potential of programs most certainly was altered by the integration of the sport. The numbers are hard to argue with and 51 seasons is not a small amount of data.

All time wins 1869-1969

I-A Wins 1869-1969

All time wins 1936-1969 (early AP era)

I-A Wins 1936-1969

All time wins 1970-2020 (post integration)

I-A Wins 1970-2020

Then in the post-integration era with Tennessee specifically, look at the contrast between 1970 to 1988, 1989 to 2001 and 2002 to 2020.

I-A Wins 1970-1988

I-A Wins 1989-2001

I-A Wins 2002-2020

Then look at recruiting per 247, for 2022, which most consider to be an all-time great talent year in the State of Tennessee, here is the breakdown:

TN: 1 five star, 11 four stars
GA: 4 five stars, 24 four stars
FL: 5 five stars, 39 four stars

Sure some kids want to leave those states and do, but we have to fight everyone else for them, however a lot of those kids are inclined to play for an in state school and we have trouble pulling those kids as long as the in state schools are competently managed. Since their home states have 2 and 3 times the amount of talent as our State, they have a built-in advantage, not insurmountable, but built-in nonetheless.

 

[arkyvol]

After the last decade he may not be terribly far off. There is not another Saban out there.

There's always another Saban out there; the trick is finding him.

 

[rdk4121]

"Tennessee is basically irrelevant to the conversation these days, so what is the message Tennessee gives to the fans in Knoxville now?"

I'll tell you why that is wrong. Anytime we are even in the top 25, you'd think we're legit national title contenders. This year people thought we'd beat Georgia. When we started off 5-0, we were one of the hottest teams in the nation, a trendy pick. In 2012, having Gameday here for a barely ranked team against Florida was a big deal. Now we hire a successful AD and we have football scene thinking "wow, they might actually do something right." They're worried we will. We are still a top 10 job in the nation for sure. Not many places have the facilities, the money, the recruiting base, the tradition, the fan base that we do. We're talking Texas, USC, Bama, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma maybe, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan. That's about it. If and when we get this figured out, they'll all figure out they should've enjoyed the times when we were down.

 

[arkyvol]

This is one Vol fan who doesn't expect UT to be another Bama or LSU (thank God for small miracles). All I expect and hope for is that the Vols get back to being a serious program, i.e. frequent top ten category. We've had a run of exceptionally bad coaches. That won't go on forever. Staples is a mediocre analyst; the Vols are not a mediocre program.

 

[voltoo]

Paul Finebaum asked Andy Staples what he would say to Tennessee fans about the state of Tennessee football. Something like "Tennessee is basically irrelevant to the conversation these days, so what is the message Tennessee gives to the fans in Knoxville now?"

Staples basically said (also paraphrased somewhat) that - "Tennessee fans need to learn from Nebraska fans, who've come to term with what Nebraska is now. Nebraska fans would be happy now just being Wisconsin. That's reality. You win some games, you occasionally compete for the Big 10 title. Tennessee fans need to learn that same lesson. You can't compete for national titles every year at Tennessee. You're not Alabama, you're not LSU. You never will be. Every now and then you will compete for an SEC East title (note: that's not a real thing, Andy), and every so often you may in the mix for a national title. But you won't do it every year, and that's okay. It's not like the 1990s. The days of Tennessee being a major player are over."

Seriously, SCREW this GARBAGE. THAT is the sort of mentality that makes you a Nebraska. "Aw shucks we're just lucky to be playing good this year" horsecrap. I wonder if they said the same garbage about Alabama after Mike Price exploded in scandal and Mike Shula flopped into oblivion. I'll save you the Google searches - they did. Sports journalists used to write about how Alabama was irrelevant, particularly when the NCAA bashed their heads in for the textbook stuff. But here we are 15 years later and these fat flapping gasbags are running their mouths about how Alabama is one of a kind and Tennessee "trying to be Alabama" simply won't work, and they need to be content being a Nebraska or being third in the SEC East division.

Never believe these morons. Never back down. Never stop aiming to be the best. I long for the day when Tennessee can print out every page containing all the garbage these idiots spewed and cram it down their throats until they choke on it.

I listened to the interview. We have made numerous errors over the last 12 yrs that I have brought us to this point. We have the ability to fix these things. College football moves in cycles. The biggest problem is going cheap on hires and a poor decision by Hamilton in 2008 that started the train downhill. The right people making the right decisions can fix the current mess. Staples sounded like a loser to me. Recruiting is better in Tennessee. The fan base is second to none. Our AD will bring in an outstanding coach.

 

[Rylee_Vol18]

Andy Staples? Never heard of her.

 

[Rickyvol77]

Just an observation. It seems fans of other SEC schools are fine...nice and civil as long as we are all down on ourselves criticizing the program. They will chime in with a "I hope you guys get it together." Etc etc..and these fans seem really cool in those times. But the moment we talk positive or start talking like we are anything other than the SECs doormat or talk like we are going to compete in the SEC or suggest there will be a time when we beat the "big 3" again...they get mad and start refuting us. These fans are cool as long as we "know our place " We touch a nerve when we start talking hope for a return of greatness....but we're fine as long as we accept our role as has-beens. Just what I'm noticing here.

its a byproduct by social media and fake sports media "making drama and stories" were there are none, much like they do in politics for clicks and likes.

Example:

UT message board poster "I think we might could win 8-9 games and compete if we could just find a QB"
UT fan Twitter tweet: "Did you see where some UT fans think we could win 10 games and the SEC east?"
UT local sports media does story "UT fans expect SEC title hunt"
National sports media narrative/other SEC boards: "UT fans actually think they are going to win the NC every season"

all BS made-up crap by echo chambers

 

[sjt18]

You can accept the fact we ARE a mediocre program without being ok with it. Sorry bro I don't know how else to explain it.

So you do accept mediocrity.... and you are resigned to that being more or less permanent. Again, the only real difference between you and others is that you might be bitter about it while they're not.

 

[LazhilUT]

Paul Finebaum asked Andy Staples what he would say to Tennessee fans about the state of Tennessee football. Something like "Tennessee is basically irrelevant to the conversation these days, so what is the message Tennessee gives to the fans in Knoxville now?"

Staples basically said (also paraphrased somewhat) that - "Tennessee fans need to learn from Nebraska fans, who've come to term with what Nebraska is now. Nebraska fans would be happy now just being Wisconsin. That's reality. You win some games, you occasionally compete for the Big 10 title. Tennessee fans need to learn that same lesson. You can't compete for national titles every year at Tennessee. You're not Alabama, you're not LSU. You never will be. Every now and then you will compete for an SEC East title (note: that's not a real thing, Andy), and every so often you may in the mix for a national title. But you won't do it every year, and that's okay. It's not like the 1990s. The days of Tennessee being a major player are over."

Seriously, SCREW this GARBAGE. THAT is the sort of mentality that makes you a Nebraska. "Aw shucks we're just lucky to be playing good this year" horsecrap. I wonder if they said the same garbage about Alabama after Mike Price exploded in scandal and Mike Shula flopped into oblivion. I'll save you the Google searches - they did. Sports journalists used to write about how Alabama was irrelevant, particularly when the NCAA bashed their heads in for the textbook stuff. But here we are 15 years later and these fat flapping gasbags are running their mouths about how Alabama is one of a kind and Tennessee "trying to be Alabama" simply won't work, and they need to be content being a Nebraska or being third in the SEC East division.

Never believe these morons. Never back down. Never stop aiming to be the best. I long for the day when Tennessee can print out every page containing all the garbage these idiots spewed and cram it down their throats until they choke on it.

That mentality is what keeps programs down. You should never accept your glory days are over