Can the Vols be relevant while Saban is at the helm in Alabama?

#51
#51
People said the same thing as the OP in the 70s, only then it was Bryant. We hired a national championship winning coach who brought in a good staff and constantly upgraded it. We were lucky to have had an alumni in the pipeline who provided us the splash hire.
 
#52
#52
OnlyGodForgives said:
When he retires Tennessee will immediately leapfrog the other 7 or 8 (on average) teams in the league that outrecruit the Vols and establish a dominance heretofore never seen in nature. Why? Because all of those Bama recruits have been itching to come to Knoxville all these years. but for Saban's congenial attitude towards them.
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Lol
 
#53
#53
diehardvolsfan said:
Yeah I don’t see TN winning another title in my lifetime and it sucks. Major issues would need to be addressed and fixed before this program wins titles again but yes I could easily see 10 win seasons again no doubt....will TN ever challenge for the CFP? MAYBE in 10 years if they get lucky....
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“easily” and “no doubt”? This is Tennessee football...think I’d go with “with great difficulty” and “highly doubtful”.
 
#54
#54
gr82batnvol said:
Personally, I think the day Saban retires is when the Vols will have a chance to once again be relevant in SEC play. His recruiting year after year, and his production on the football field is very hard to overcome. The more I think about it, I’m glad Georgia lost. They need to lose momentum in recruiting. Alabama may indeed be on top for another 5-10 years but once Saban leaves, they won’t have the same kind of dominant success. Not that I think Smartt is in the same league, but we don’t need a young Saban disciple creating his own legacy just because he’s the student of one of the best coaches in the game today (unless it’s Pruitt at UT) but I just don’t see that happening with either team. At some point, the Saban bubble is going to burst.
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We were beating Georgia: 2014 Lost at GA 35-32, 2015, Beat GA 38-31, 2016 Beat GA 34-31 (Kirby 1st season). In 3 years Kirby has turned GA into a potential Bama killer.
 
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#56
#56
BigOrangeTrain said:
The heyday of the 90's is gone and likely never to return. I don't see an SEC title in the next 10 years at least. Much less a NC. We are a mid to lower tier program now. It is what it is.
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Until the decision makers care we will be mediocre at best.
 
#57
#57
VolunteerHillbilly said:
People said the same thing as the OP in the 70s, only then it was Bryant. We hired a national championship winning coach who brought in a good staff and constantly upgraded it. We were lucky to have had an alumni in the pipeline who provided us the splash hire.
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Majors didn’t “constantly upgrade” anything. Go back and look at his career at Tennessee. His first 4 years...FOUR....was worse than Battle’s last 4. He was under .500 after his first 44 games (21-23-1). In today’s world of college football, he would’ve been fired after going 5-6 in year 4. It took him until year 9 to get Tennessee ranked at the end of the season with the 1985 “Sugar Vols”. He followed that up with a disappointing 7-5 season in 1986.

There was nothing “constant” about Majors’ program at Tennessee until 1989-1991, his final 3 full seasons at Tennessee (his 13th, 14th and 15th), when he finally experienced some “constant”,consistent success.
 
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#58
#58
KBVol said:
Majors didn’t “constantly upgrade” anything. Go back and look at his career at Tennessee. His first 4 years...FOUR....was worse than Battle’s last 4. He was under .500 after his first 44 games (21-23-1). In today’s world of college football, he would’ve been fired after going 5-6 in year 4. It took him until year 9 to get Tennessee ranked at the end of the season with the 1985 “Sugar Vols”. He followed that up with a disappointing 7-5 season in 1986.

There was nothing “constant” about Majors’ program at Tennessee until 1989-1991, his final 3 full seasons at Tennessee (his 13th, 14th and 15th), when he finally experience some “constant”,consistent success.
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The upgrade was to the staff. He fired coaches who were not getting it done. Not going to go through the whole history again, but Dickey had us at national championship contender level when he left. Battle didn't recruit for shite and the team regressed every year he was here until it was pretty much in the cellar when Majors came.
 
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#60
#60
hog88 said:
Until the decision makers care we will be mediocre at best.
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Agreed. Our leadership from the University president on down has been awful/nonexistent for going on 20 years now, since Joe Johnson left in 1999. Just shows that you can have all the natural resources that you want, but without the proper focus from strong leadership organizing and marshaling it correctly, you’ll get poor results. Tennessee athletics, in particularly the football program, “personifies” that idea perfectly.
 
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#61
#61
KBVol said:
Majors didn’t “constantly upgrade” anything. Go back and look at his career at Tennessee. His first 4 years...FOUR....was worse than Battle’s last 4. He was under .500 after his first 44 games (21-23-1). In today’s world of college football, he would’ve been fired after going 5-6 in year 4. It took him until year 9 to get Tennessee ranked at the end of the season with the 1985 “Sugar Vols”. He followed that up with a disappointing 7-5 season in 1986.

There was nothing “constant” about Majors’ program at Tennessee until 1989-1991, his final 3 full seasons at Tennessee (his 13th, 14th and 15th), when he finally experienced some “constant”,consistent success.
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I think he was referring to Majors constantly changing/upgrading his staff...which he did.

Was it '83 or '84 that SI picked UT to win the NC? Good times.
 
#62
#62
VolunteerHillbilly said:
The upgrade was to the staff. He fired coaches who were not getting it done. Not going to go through the whole history again, but Dickey had us at national championship contender level when he left. Battle didn't recruit for shite and the team regressed every year he was here until it was pretty much in the cellar when Majors came.
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So he upgraded the staff, but not the results?

Agree that Battle didn’t leave Majors a great situation when he left in 1976, but it’s wrong to say that Majors “constantly upgraded” anything. Battle did more with what he left Majors than what Majors and staff were able to do what they inherited. Majors took a program “in the cellar” and proceeded to keep digging down further.

I know Majors constantly turned his assistants coaches over a ton for years, but there was nothing “constant” about the results he/they got until his career as Tennessee’s coach was nearly over.
 
#64
#64
KBVol said:
So he upgraded the staff, but not the results?

Agree that Battle didn’t leave Majors a great situation when he left in 1976, but it’s wrong to say that Majors “constantly upgraded” anything. Battle did more with what he left Majors than what Majors and staff were able to do what they inherited. Majors took a program “in the cellar” and proceeded to keep digging down further.

I know Majors constantly turned his assistants coaches over a ton for years, but there was nothing “constant” about the results he/they got until his career as Tennessee’s coach was nearly over.
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IMO, things changed for Majors with the '82 class which included T-Rob. When UT got a true QB they got better.
 
#65
#65
The SEC office being in Alabama is part of the problem. It needs to be moved to Atlanta. They allow and assist in the cheating.
 
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#68
#68
Gonna have to be, plus you got Kirby, Mullen, and Dabo. We just need the players and not to screw this oc hire up
 
#69
#69
Once we snag Enos and their OC goes to coach Maryland, that program will fall faster than a skydiver!

They only a one way to go and that is down. People used to say the same about CPF, Pete Carroll and Spurrier.
 
#70
#70
bear-pooping-grass-brown-defecating-450w-436716739.jpg


Does a bear shat in the woods
 
#72
#72
gr82batnvol said:
Personally, I think the day Saban retires is when the Vols will have a chance to once again be relevant in SEC play. His recruiting year after year, and his production on the football field is very hard to overcome. The more I think about it, I’m glad Georgia lost. They need to lose momentum in recruiting. Alabama may indeed be on top for another 5-10 years but once Saban leaves, they won’t have the same kind of dominant success. Not that I think Smartt is in the same league, but we don’t need a young Saban disciple creating his own legacy just because he’s the student of one of the best coaches in the game today (unless it’s Pruitt at UT) but I just don’t see that happening with either team. At some point, the Saban bubble is going to burst.
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Yes we’re TN.
 
#74
#74
TennesseeTarheel said:
Going against Saban in recruiting is like the popular kid going against the unpopular kid where they're picking their teams from the guys standing around and the popular guy gets to pick his whole team first and the unpopular guy gets what's left. His team s are stupid good. Even when they're bad.
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This started when Saban started out recruiting talent from middle and west Tennessee when Fulmer was our coach. It will not change until we have a coach that pulls that talent back to UT.

There is always a regional balance in college football in the south. When FSU was good Georgia and Florida was average. When Alabama is good Auburn and Tennessee are average. When UT was good Alabama was average. That is the reason that UT and Bama has never met in the SECCG in the last 26 years. Personally I thought that when that game was created we would have to have to face Bama twice a year. Now I can see why that has never happened.
 
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#75
#75
gr82batnvol said:
Personally, I think the day Saban retires is when the Vols will have a chance to once again be relevant in SEC play. His recruiting year after year, and his production on the football field is very hard to overcome. The more I think about it, I’m glad Georgia lost. They need to lose momentum in recruiting. Alabama may indeed be on top for another 5-10 years but once Saban leaves, they won’t have the same kind of dominant success. Not that I think Smartt is in the same league, but we don’t need a young Saban disciple creating his own legacy just because he’s the student of one of the best coaches in the game today (unless it’s Pruitt at UT) but I just don’t see that happening with either team. At some point, the Saban bubble is going to burst.
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He is not that great of a coach as proven at the professional level. He does have the ability to recruit/ manage a recruiting network better than anyone on the planet. As long as he gets first choice on any player he wants he will be strong. You don't beat him on the field, you beat him on the recruiting trail. When I see UT taking players from Bama then I will know we are back. Until them it's all talk to sell season tickets. This is why I have advocated for hiring a big name coach, not for his coaching ability, but his possible ability to take players from Bama.
 
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