Clemson replaced TN

#77
#77
GRN1926 said:
I dont see this talked about. Heck, maybe I am fool for having such thoughts. To me, Clemson has taken our spot at the table. The elite players we once upon a time picked up from the region that didnt attend Georgia, Alabama, or Florida are going there. 10-15yrs ago Trevor Lawrence and Tee Higgins would have been Vols. Add in Cade Mayes and I'd say we would all be feeling a bit better about the future of TN football right now. Their rise coincided with our demise, and their continued strength doesn't help us on the trail. I for one will be rooting for them to lose every game they play.
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Danged ol' Clempson!
 
#79
#79
A bunch of schools, not just Clemson, have replaced Tennessee.

During the 1995-2001 glory years the SEC was a two-team conference. Florida and Tennessee. In the Southeastern part of the country, Spurrier, Bowden, and Butch Davis fought over the Florida talent and the rest of it went to Tennessee. South Carolina and Clemson were terrible. Georgia was mediocre and inconsistent. Alabama was inconsistent and on/off probation. Auburn did have some good years but was also fairly inconsistent. LSU was awful.

Look at what each of those schools has experienced from about 2005 until the present. South Carolina had a distinct up period with multiple 10+ win seasons and a division title. Clemson won a national title, played for another, and routinely wins conference titles. Georgia consistently won 9-10 games, occasionally won the East, and won the SEC/almost won a title last year. Alabama is experiencing the greatest run by a team in the history of the sport with 5 national titles. Auburn and LSU each won a title, played for another, and won the SEC twice. Each of those schools I just mentioned did nothing even close to that from 1995-2001. When you stop and think about it, it is staggering how much better the conference has been over the last decade than it was in the 1990s. It is painful to admit, but when the rest of the conference got better, Tennessee just completely disappeared from the stage. During the SEC's glory years, we were completely MIA.

Think about key players we had during that era and where they were from: Peyton Manning, Jamal Lewis, Peerless Price, Tee Martin, Shaun Ellis, Travis Henry, Raynoch Thompson, Deon Grant, Cosey Coleman, Albert Haynesworth, etc. Each of those guys went to high school in an area located firmly in enemy territory, whether it be LSU, Georgia, Ohio St, Alabama/Auburn, South Carolina/Clemson, etc. A bunch of those guys, if they were top high school recruits today, probably don't come to Tennessee. We still might catch a John Henderson, an Eddie Moore, a Jason Witten, a Chad Clifton since they were in-state, or maybe a Donte Stallworth since he was from California, but we'd get nowhere near the same volume and depth we got in the glory days. Tennessee is at its best when we are able to recruit nationally.
 
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#81
#81
GRN1926 said:
I dont see this talked about. Heck, maybe I am fool for having such thoughts. To me, Clemson has taken our spot at the table. The elite players we once upon a time picked up from the region that didnt attend Georgia, Alabama, or Florida are going there. 10-15yrs ago Trevor Lawrence and Tee Higgins would have been Vols. Add in Cade Mayes and I'd say we would all be feeling a bit better about the future of TN football right now. Their rise coincided with our demise, and their continued strength doesn't help us on the trail. I for one will be rooting for them to lose every game they play.
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Our problems are much larger, much more complex than the ascension of 1 ACC program.
 
#82
#82
Not just Clemson, but Georgia, Auburn, and LSU all got MUCH better. Even Bama got better. All of the Southern football schools have improved, except us. And the competition is so fierce to get back to the top, who knows when/if we will.
 
#83
#83
coachmilo13 said:
I would have told Vanderbilt basketball coach Bryce Drew to go elsewhere too. And it wouldn't have been a pleasant place either!
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Ha Brian Drew is from Draft Day movie. Not sure why but I've used drew each time I mean Petty. Bryce Petty
 
#84
#84
If your going to be honest the number one thing Clemson did to contribute to the demise of our program was give us Clemson grad Mike Hamilton. Go back and look at all the athletic programs under Doug Dickey.
Mike Hamilton was directly or indirectly responsible for ruining almost every single program. Worst Athletic Director in the history of Athletic Directors. Just by looking at him you can tell he knows nothing about sports.
 
#86
#86
njvols said:
It seems Pruitt can recruit, and certainly realizes where our deficit is at on the OL/DL. 12 of our 20 commits are OL/DL commits. IF you go by rivals, our OL has one 5*, two 4*, one 3*, and two 3* TE, which seems pretty good. On DL, we've got 6 commits. However, on DL, we've got one 4*, three 3* @ DT and two 3* at DE. So, the numbers are there. My novice opinion is that getting guys like Smith and Wanda Morris on OL are no brainers, but solid OL can be developed with not over the top ratings. On other side of line, however, I don't think you can be an elite D without some consensus future NFL DL players. Am sure Pruitt knows this, and hope we've got a few more spots for more highly touted OL/DL additions, along with, of course, the RB/LB from NC.
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If he can sway Wright I'd be a happy camper. Others would be just more icing on he cake
 
#88
#88
volpreacher said:
You are correct, Swinney was promoted as a position coach and went 4-3 during the first year. Went 9-5 second year and then 6-7 the third year. Had he been at UT, these so called fans would have called for his head.
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And would have succeeded
 
#89
#89
Well, we hired Kiff, Dools, and Jones. They didn't care about the UT Vols . I think Jones tried but he never did quite understand. I think Pruitt is smart enough to understand what tradition is all about. When that pride comes back into the equation, we will see a big change.
 
#90
#90
Glocker_Alum_2005 said:
Started withTaj Boyd.
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Thanks to Kiffin! Boyd was recruited by Fulmer. Fulmer gets fired and Kiffy takes over. Tells Taj that he will honor his scholarship but he will not play QB. Taj goes to Clemson rest is history!

I know because I’ve talked to Taj about it personally.

🤬
 
#91
#91
Cartervol said:
They come in here every year and cherry pick a few that should be Vols. They get the ones from their state that would have went here also. You got Musclecramp doing pretty well at SC too so we just don't get them away from that state like we used too.
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Yeah, but what a rebuild to respectability USC east was. It took like 15 years with Holtz and then Spurrier and all they ever did was win the East and be the sacrificial lamb in the SEC champ game. We won't even give a coach 5 years. I think we have a coach, but I think everybody else is just better than in the old days. It's just tough. Richt underachieved and left Smart with a solid team that he added a few pieces to. He was also able to take advantage of the weak division. Priutt was left with very little, but still I think we will improve if we don't lose too many good players to injury. I swear, we will lose the next 3 games badly, I wish we'd just go vanilla and play it safe so maybe we could win out after this stretch. If we lose too many players, we will only win 1 or 2 more games.
 
#93
#93
GRN1926 said:
You are correctx they didn't. But they hit the jack point in a program manager, realized that and gave him the cash to surround himself with a top level staff. Have to give then props for that.

They hit the jackpot with Chad Morris, then paid up making him the highest paid assistant in college football.
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They did hit the jackpot with Morris. And you can call it a jackpot because he was certainly a gamble. He had 1 year of college experience before Clemson and that was at Tulsa as the OC. Clemson got lucky that the next star was already on their staff. So really I would say you credit the coach that hired Swinney, Bowden, and the Clemson administration for recognizing Swinney’s talent and being patient through a mediocre start by him. I don’t think our decline has anything to do with Clemson. Yes they are taking recruits but even if they were terrible those recruits would be going somewhere else. If you want to say they are responsible for 1% of it due to that then whatever but that’s about it. Interesting topic and good discussion, I just disagree.
 
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#94
#94
Neyland Law Vol said:
This is correct. If you root for Clemson, you are rooting against TN. TN needs Clemson to fall apart to help it get back to where it was. Not happenstance that Dabo was hired in 08 as we fired Fulmer. Programs have been headed in opposite directions since then.
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On the contrary I think it is complete happenstance. Swinney wasn’t a hot prospect for any open HC positions. He was a nobody outside Clemson. Had we hired him to follow Fulmer the fans would’ve revolted.
 
#96
#96
GRN1926 said:
Reality is he is gonna have to get 4 and 5yr guys and develop them. Maybe add one or 2 elite prospects along the lines when we can. That's the reality of this rebuild. The line is a developmental position and we are not going to get as many elite prospects there as others will in the short term. This rebuild isnt going to be winning sec titles in year 3. If Pruitt is winning 8 games by year 3-4, recruiting is improving/strong, and we can see the development of our lines then Pruitt is having success and we need to stick with him.

Somebody has to go down for us to come up. Who is it going to be?
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I agree on your timeline for Pruitt. I think we pass everyone in the East except UGA and UF in year 3.
 
#98
#98
Behr said:
Do you realize there are people on this board that would fire Pruitt today and hire, sorry rehire Kiffin if they could? A bunch of'em.
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Don’t count me as one. I like what I see of Pruitt so far. Yes he’s going to make some mistakes but there are little signs of good things. I don’t think Kiffin is a good HC. He certainly hasn’t proven to be one yet. Maybe for a smaller program like FAU he will do well. We will see.
 
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