Thats the frustrating part. I totally agree. This team is already capable of greatness in spurts but just not quite there yet to be great consistently. Thats admittedly hard.
We looked great against UGA and won the game if Gilbert does his job. We had a HORRIBLE game offensively when the defense finally got it together and held Bama to 28 points at their house. We looked like the better team at times but beat ourselves with playcalling and dropped passes. Its frustrating.
We have CJHs best recruiting class by FAR coming in next year. Especially at WR and LB. We only need a couple Safeties and a couple Dtackles from the portal IMO. May grab an experienced TE as well. This roster has gotten deeper and more talented every year under CJH
Big things to come. Buckle up!! Its just not this year yet...nor was it ever gonna be for 99% of people. The future is incredibly bright. The clown who wrote that article has never coached football in their lives. Probably never even played football with pads on. For them to say CJH needs to fire coaches is like me telling NASA they need to switch astronauts for the moon missions coming up. Completely talking out their azzes.
And here is where we disagree. Go with me here...
Look at the numbers I posted on the UT defense this year in another thread. Should be easy to find. If not, then just go to the NCAA FB stats page, and see where UT ranks in team stats. That's so you know where I'm coming from here.
If I were the hypothetical newly-appointed GM of UT Football, and what I said went, I'd make two moves at the end of this season:
- Coach Heupel has to pick his OC, and give them the play calls. That let's Josh focus on the big picture, like clock management; timeouts; run/pass call; etc. Game management. The things that have plagued him to this point. He gets to pick his OC, but his OC calls the plays.
- Sorry, but Tim Banks is gone. His only fan right now is John Chavis, and for painfully obvious reasons. And I go after...for example...a guy like the Vandy DC. Someone who does more with less. An aggressive offense requires an aggressive defense. He gets to pick his assistants. He gets a 3-year deal, and one year to show improvement; two years to show big improvement; and three years to produce a Top 5 SEC defense. For every year he hits the mark, he gets a one-year extension. If he hits on his first 3 years, then he gets a rolling 3-year extension every year, i.e. - he always has 3 more years on his deal. If he slips to lower half in the SEC, then those extensions stop until he's back on track. Buyout is 100%. If he's any good, I'll make him the highest-paid DC in the nation after 3 years to keep the Penn State's at bay.
Heupel can win here..and win big...but he needs a defense that matches his offensive style. What we have right now does not. Banks is a solid guy, but he's not a good fit for this offense. Them's just the facts. Offense wins games, Defense wins championships. It is what it is.
Adapt, or fail. Right now, we're on the wrong track.