Another Tennessee first

#1

orangeluvr

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#1
In addition to the first eight loss season in Tennessee history , Tennessee became the first team in SEC history to give up 3K yards rushing in a season. CJP & CO 's job is to restore pride Tennessee football.
 
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#2
#2
I'm so glad Jones got 5 years to "build" the program... Maybe 2 more years would have really made a difference. I love how it helped the "stability of program" to keep Jones those extra two years after he showed he wasn't an SEC caliber coach for 3 years.
 
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#4
#4
I agree with Hoosier Vol. It is time to look forward because looking back is too painful.

The only thing I will add is failure becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. As the fans started seeing this season as a failure losing faith in the players and the coaches it destroyed the team. They started hanging their heads and wondering why they were on the field. I still think there is a chance we are not the God awful team that our record states.
 
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#5
#5
I'm so glad Jones got 5 years to "build" the program... Maybe 2 more years would have really made a difference. I love how it helped the "stability of program" to keep Jones those extra two years after he showed he wasn't an SEC caliber coach for 3 years.

It's hard to argue in hindsight, but I don't know how you could have fired him after year three. He improved significantly in the win column from year two and had a blowout bowl win.

I think the majority of the fan base was pretty optimistic in the off-season between his third and fourth year. Of course, he reminded us who he was in that fourth season. If he was fired then, I don't think there would have been too much pause.
 
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#6
#6
It's hard to argue in hindsight, but I don't know how you could have fired him after year three. He improved significantly in the win column from year two and had a blowout bowl win.

Have to agree....year 3 showed promise for the future...a comparably young team took 2 very good teams down to the wire and lost a couple more they should/could have won. May have been hesitant/poor coaching, but the lack of quality depth also contributed to 4th Qtr collapses.

I was hoping Jones would do some self actualization and improve, but he failed to do so; the last 2 years were very disappointing...last year being down right embarrassing. Key injuries aside, the lack of discipline and intensity I saw the previous 2 years just wasn't there.....coaching and leadership failure.
 
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#8
#8
It's hard to argue in hindsight, but I don't know how you could have fired him after year three. He improved significantly in the win column from year two and had a blowout bowl win.

I think the majority of the fan base was pretty optimistic in the off-season between his third and fourth year. Of course, he reminded us who he was in that fourth season. If he was fired then, I don't think there would have been too much pause.

As Colonel Klink would state it

"Ze writing wuz on ze wall"
 
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#10
#10
I was a koolaid drinker. I was excited when Shoop was hired and he said, "nobody will run on this defense" Geesh.
Hey - Jeremy has a bunch of National Championship rings. Butch had a wheelbarrow full of bricks. I'm drinking the Pruitt koolaid. Why? We love the VOLS and live in eternal hope.

GBO
 
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#12
#12
It's hard to argue in hindsight, but I don't know how you could have fired him after year three. He improved significantly in the win column from year two and had a blowout bowl win.

I think the majority of the fan base was pretty optimistic in the off-season between his third and fourth year. Of course, he reminded us who he was in that fourth season. If he was fired then, I don't think there would have been too much pause.

sjt was probably asking for a raise and extension atp. :)
 
#13
#13
Shoop wasn't very good at using the talent he had. Too complex a scheme and too stubborn to use his best athletes when they didn't fully grasp his defense. If Bituli didn't show how dominant he was against Tech, he may have been a backup all season. Maybe the best player on the team only had a situational role against Tech.

Still can't figure out why he gets a pass by most on here. His defenses consistently played slow, because they weren't comfortable in the scheme.
 
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#17
#17
As Colonel Klink would state it

"Ze writing wuz on ze wall"

That may be, but if it's all about winning, then he was on the right track after year three.

After year four, I was pretty convinced that Jones had hit his ceiling. I saw him as 7-5 to 9-3, 2nd or 3rd in the division, go to a bowl game every year kind of coach. His flaws were pretty obvious. My biggest concern was whether the admin would pull the trigger on a guy like that.

I would have never have expected the landslide that he had in his last year, but it was probably for the best. If he would have cranked out a 8-5, .500 in conference performance with a bowl win, we'd probably looking forward to another season of resilient individuals in progress.
 
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#19
#19
It's hard to argue in hindsight, but I don't know how you could have fired him after year three. He improved significantly in the win column from year two and had a blowout bowl win.

I think the majority of the fan base was pretty optimistic in the off-season between his third and fourth year. Of course, he reminded us who he was in that fourth season. If he was fired then, I don't think there would have been too much pause.

UF just fired a coach who won the East with a MUCH less than ideal roster in his first two years. They didn't even let him finish is 3rd season. They determined based on the way he coached and managed the program even while winning that he wasn't good enough to coach at UF.

By that 3rd year, Jones had suffered blowouts that could have been more respectable plus losing 5 very winnable games out of his 17 losses. You didn't have to be a football genius to see he blew the Vandy game by really not understanding his own team, his opponent, or his advantages in year 1. That became a repeating pattern... that was pretty obvious by the time he lost to Arkansas in year 3.


Fans want to believe. Many of them will in spite of reality. But the people who see the inside of the program MUST do a better job of selecting, evaluating, and managing the football HC.
 
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#20
#20
Have to agree....year 3 showed promise for the future...a comparably young team took 2 very good teams down to the wire and lost a couple more they should/could have won. May have been hesitant/poor coaching, but the lack of quality depth also contributed to 4th Qtr collapses.

I was hoping Jones would do some self actualization and improve, but he failed to do so; the last 2 years were very disappointing...last year being down right embarrassing. Key injuries aside, the lack of discipline and intensity I saw the previous 2 years just wasn't there.....coaching and leadership failure.

Difference between year 3 and year 4 is that he could have won the East in year 3. He should have won it in year 4. In year 3, Butch still won all the games he was "supposed to." In year 4, he choked away the East by losing games he wasn't supposed to. Big difference. If Butch didn't lose to South Carolina and/or Vandy in 2016, he's probably still coaching here.

The sad part is that we pretty much all had doubts about Butch being a big time coach halfway through year 3. I suspected that at the time, but it seems crystal clear in hindsight.
 
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#21
#21
can we move on.....please

Not you particularly... but it is interesting that those who attacked those who questioned Jones now want to "move on".

When Dooley was at UT, I argued against criticizing him until he had "gotten his chance". I was wrong. Badly wrong. My basic idea was that he should be given the benefit of the doubt. That is the OPPOSITE of what we should do. We should expect UT's HC to meet a high standard and prove that he deserves trust and support.

IOW's... admit you are wrong and move on having learned that same lesson.
 
#22
#22
Difference between year 3 and year 4 is that he could have won the East in year 3. He should have won it in year 4. In year 3, Butch still won all the games he was "supposed to." In year 4, he choked away the East by losing games he wasn't supposed to. Big difference. If Butch didn't lose to South Carolina and/or Vandy in 2016, he's probably still coaching here.

The sad part is that we pretty much all had doubts about Butch being a big time coach halfway through year 3. I suspected that at the time, but it seems crystal clear in hindsight.

In hindsight... that '15 team was actually better than the '16 team. Their losses were even MORE due to poor coaching. First he excused failure before failure even occurred by complaining about lack of depth and experience. Then he just flat out blew it in 3 of the losses. The 16 season was more about his poor management of the program overall IMO- wrong S&C philosophy/coach, poor player management, soft practices leading to a soft team, poor roster/injury management, etc.
 
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#23
#23
In addition to the first eight loss season in Tennessee history , Tennessee became the first team in SEC history to give up 3K yards rushing in a season. CJP & CO 's job is to restore pride Tennessee football.

Agree but I'm going to say that is OUR job. We need to stop being tolerant of mediocre or worse coaching. We need to stop excusing failure. We need to stop being "patient".

We need to see CJP or any other HC with our eyes wide open instead of ignoring bad signs in their performance because it may strike some as "negative".

We need to be too proud to put up with another Dooley or Jones.
 
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#24
#24
Agree but I'm going to say that is OUR job. We need to stop being tolerant of mediocre or worse coaching. We need to stop excusing failure. We need to stop being "patient".

We need to see CJP or any other HC with our eyes wide open instead of ignoring bad signs in their performance because it may strike some as "negative".

We need to be too proud to put up with another Dooley or Jones.

You think Pruitt is in the same sphere as those 2? Lmao
 
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#25
#25
Difference between year 3 and year 4 is that he could have won the East in year 3. He should have won it in year 4. In year 3, Butch still won all the games he was "supposed to." In year 4, he choked away the East by losing games he wasn't supposed to. Big difference. If Butch didn't lose to South Carolina and/or Vandy in 2016, he's probably still coaching here.

The sad part is that we pretty much all had doubts about Butch being a big time coach halfway through year 3. I suspected that at the time, but it seems crystal clear in hindsight.

We really had no business losing to either Florida or Arkansas in 2015.
 
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