Clemson replaced TN

#101
#101
05_never_again said:
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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Haslam and his puppets pushed winning football to the side when Fulmer was let go.
 
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#102
#102
rusty11 said:
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.
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I don’t see how averaging 10 wins a year for 15 years is underachieving. If it turns out Smart is better than Richt, which can’t be said definitively today given Richt had a better record at this point, then I would say UGA was very fortunate to hire a second straight coordinator that just happened to be better than one of the 10 best coaches in the country at that time.
 
#103
#103
jbr82 said:
Haslam and his puppets pushed winning football to the side when Fulmer was let go.
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I wouldn't say they pushed winning football to the side when Fulmer was let go. It is in their interest for Tennessee to be good. I don't think for a second they want Tennessee to be bad or intentionally do things so Tennessee is bad.

What they want to do though it control everything, make all the important decisions, and have football be successful solely because of them/be successful on their terms. They want to run the University like Jimmy runs the Cleveland Browns, and I think Jimmy fancies himself as a combination of T. Boone Pickens and Jerry Jones.
 
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#105
#105
UTwild82 said:
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.
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Just no reason whatsoever to believe we’ll ever get “back to the top”. None. 7, 8, the occasional 9 win season, and an upset every once in awhile? Sure. But championships ever again at lowly Tennessee? No.
 
#106
#106
jbr82 said:
Haslam and his puppets pushed winning football to the side when Fulmer was let go.
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Fulmer was pushing it aside too. Whether you agree with him being let go or not you can’t deny that Fulmer opened that door by having 2 losing seasons in 4 years.
 
#108
#108
hUTch2002 said:
I don’t see how averaging 10 wins a year for 15 years is underachieving. If it turns out Smart is better than Richt, which can’t be said definitively today given Richt had a better record at this point, then I would say UGA was very fortunate to hire a second straight coordinator that just happened to be better than one of the 10 best coaches in the country at that time.
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He lost to us! That's underachieving. Lol!
 
#109
#109
KBVol said:
Just no reason whatsoever to believe we’ll ever get “back to the top”. None. 7, 8, the occasional 9 win season, and an upset every once in awhile? Sure. But championships ever again at lowly Tennessee? No.
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I mean, we can but I'm just in a "I'll believe it when I see it" mode. It just sucks. Growing up knowing Tennessee is going to be in the middle of fighting for championships every single year. Now? We're a joke. It just sucks.
 
#110
#110
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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True story here
 
#112
#112
Not going to lie... With UT games bordering on unwatchable, I have started watching and pulling for Clemson as a second team to root for. I think Trevor Lawrence is fun to watch and that he will be one of top 3 best QBs to play in college over the next few years.
 
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