Composition of a physical football team

#1
G

gisman

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#1
I was just thinking about what makes a physically dominating team. Some factors that contribute are conditioning, mentality, and ability. I was thinking back on teams that I thought just whipped Tennessee physically over the years, even when Tennessee was good. This is just what comes to mind, certainly not a complete list.

Nebraska 1997
Auburn 2004
Georgia 2005
Arkansas 2006
Florida 2007
Most of the current Alabama teams

Physical Tennessee Teams in the past 20 years (i am sure there are more, but these stand out to me)
1998
2001
2015?


So the question I have is what specifically makes a team physically dominating or what is the key that moves a team into that category. Personnel(ability, talent, and individual mentality) seems to me to be the most important factor. Most of those teams had some really great players who brought that with them to the field.

I would normally look and say personnel, but then I look at that 1997 Nebraska team that destroyed us, even though I thought the Vols had more NFL talent.

Would enjoy hearing others thoughts.
 
#4
#4
Coaching is about skill development, technique and strategy. Physicality to me is all mental. You have to want your opponent to pay dearly for deciding to step out on the same field as you. It is an odd, but satisfying, feeling to watch someone's will methodically get crushed.
 
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#6
#6
OrangeByBirth said:
You cannot coach without speed and size. You can improve on talent but cannot create it. Coaches can motivate athletes to "give their all." Failure to develop talent leads coaches to become coffee boys for Nick Satan.
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I still contend that all of our problems aren’t solely talent related. After year 2 in same S/C program should help. I fail to believe that Vandy, SC, FL, Miz are that much better in talent. Continuity in the program is a huge positive, along with development and not churning players in and out every year. Pruitt will definitely get us to a higher level as long as we give him time. Whether he’ll elevate us to the top remains to be seen.
 
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#7
#7
Fast-twitch muscle fibers are good to develop.

Did y'all see Derrick Henry manhandle everyone who tried to tackle him on that 99 yard touchdown and pretty much the same on the other 3 of his 4 touchdowns last night?
 
#9
#9
njvols said:
I still contend that all of our problems aren’t solely talent related. After year 2 in same S/C program should help. I fail to believe that Vandy, SC, FL, Miz are that much better in talent. Continuity in the program is a huge positive, along with development and not churning players in and out every year. Pruitt will definitely get us to a higher level as long as we give him time. Whether he’ll elevate us to the top remains to be seen.
Click to expand...

Agree completely about the talent- we are doing our program a disservice, and giving all coaches a free pass, when e perpetuate this myth that we are totally without talent. Simply isn't true.
 
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#10
#10
The reason that I added 2015, was because it was the most physical team since Kiffin probably. Not difficult competition. Just wondering why that team didn't get run over by Alabama. I would say Derick Barnett and Jalen Hurd are a big part of the reason.

Much of this topic is driven by our lack of physicality. Like NJVOLS said - it is hard to believe those teams were more talented than Tennessee.
 
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#11
#11
gisman said:
I was just thinking about what makes a physically dominating team. Some factors that contribute are conditioning, mentality, and ability. I was thinking back on teams that I thought just whipped Tennessee physically over the years, even when Tennessee was good. This is just what comes to mind, certainly not a complete list.

Nebraska 1997
Auburn 2004
Georgia 2005
Arkansas 2006
Florida 2007
Most of the current Alabama teams

Physical Tennessee Teams in the past 20 years (i am sure there are more, but these stand out to me)
1998
2001
2015?


So the question I have is what specifically makes a team physically dominating or what is the key that moves a team into that category. Personnel(ability, talent, and individual mentality) seems to me to be the most important factor. Most of those teams had some really great players who brought that with them to the field.

I would normally look and say personnel, but then I look at that 1997 Nebraska team that destroyed us, even though I thought the Vols had more NFL talent.

Would enjoy hearing others thoughts.
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to see who were the leaders on the teams you mentioned, and the correlation. How much of an overall impact was Tebow on that team ?! Al Wilson on ours ?! Who is our Al Wilson currently ?! Perhaps it plays a part.
 
#12
#12
VolDaddy61 said:
It would be interesting to see who were the leaders on the teams you mentioned, and the correlation. How much of an overall impact was Tebow on that team ?! Al Wilson on ours ?! Who is our Al Wilson currently ?! Perhaps it plays a part.
Click to expand...
This has been our problem...the Al Wilson’s of the world are on other teams.
 
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#14
#14
gisman said:
I was just thinking about what makes a physically dominating team. Some factors that contribute are conditioning, mentality, and ability. I was thinking back on teams that I thought just whipped Tennessee physically over the years, even when Tennessee was good. This is just what comes to mind, certainly not a complete list.

Nebraska 1997
Auburn 2004
Georgia 2005
Arkansas 2006
Florida 2007
Most of the current Alabama teams

Physical Tennessee Teams in the past 20 years (i am sure there are more, but these stand out to me)
1998
2001
2015?


So the question I have is what specifically makes a team physically dominating or what is the key that moves a team into that category. Personnel(ability, talent, and individual mentality) seems to me to be the most important factor. Most of those teams had some really great players who brought that with them to the field.

I would normally look and say personnel, but then I look at that 1997 Nebraska team that destroyed us, even though I thought the Vols had more NFL talent.

Would enjoy hearing others thoughts.
Click to expand...

For me the one team (or was it more then one year) was the Nebraska team... The thing that made or even now makes the difference is size. If all else is even then size makes the difference. In my mind, any time I am watching a college or high school football game, the first thing to jump out at me is the size difference. That is the nightmare legacy I have from watching us against those Neb. teams.
 
#15
#15
volgrad500 said:
Agree completely about the talent- we are doing our program a disservice, and giving all coaches a free pass, when e perpetuate this myth that we are totally without talent. Simply isn't true.
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Not giving the coaches a complete pass.. OL not knowing blocking assignments and false starts at inopportune times was BAD.. However, I think the talent level could be 6 out of 11 on either side of the ball being OK. Those other 5 can get picked on, and they did. Over and over. All it takes is a couple of guys having breakdowns on any given play and the "talented ones", don't matter. Talent becomes apparent when 11 guys to do their jobs on most every play. There were/are enough "bad seeds" on this team that are either physically limited, or mentally uncoachable. Nick Saban might have had a better record with this bunch this season, but he wouldn't have made it to the SECCG. Some here think that. I think it's delusional.
 
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#16
#16
gisman said:
I was just thinking about what makes a physically dominating team. Some factors that contribute are conditioning, mentality, and ability. I was thinking back on teams that I thought just whipped Tennessee physically over the years, even when Tennessee was good. This is just what comes to mind, certainly not a complete list.

Nebraska 1997
Auburn 2004
Georgia 2005
Arkansas 2006
Florida 2007
Most of the current Alabama teams

Physical Tennessee Teams in the past 20 years (i am sure there are more, but these stand out to me)
1998
2001
2015?


So the question I have is what specifically makes a team physically dominating or what is the key that moves a team into that category. Personnel(ability, talent, and individual mentality) seems to me to be the most important factor. Most of those teams had some really great players who brought that with them to the field.

I would normally look and say personnel, but then I look at that 1997 Nebraska team that destroyed us, even though I thought the Vols had more NFL talent.

Would enjoy hearing others thoughts.
Click to expand...

For me the one team (or was it more then one year) was the Nebraska team... The thing that made or even now makes the difference is size. If all else is even then size makes the difference. In my mind, any time I am watching a college or high school football game, the first thing to jump out at me is the size difference. That is the nightmare legacy I have from watching us against those Neb. teams.
 
#17
#17
ptcarter said:
Not giving the coaches a complete pass.. OL not knowing blocking assignments and false starts at inopportune times was BAD.. However, I think the talent level could be 6 out of 11 on either side of the ball being OK. Those other 5 can get picked on, and they did. Over and over. All it takes is a couple of guys having breakdowns on any given play and the "talented ones", don't matter. Talent becomes apparent when 11 guys to do their jobs on most every play. There were/are enough "bad seeds" on this team that are either physically limited, or mentally uncoachable. Nick Saban might have had a better record with this bunch this season, but he wouldn't have made it to the SECCG. Some here think that. I think it's delusional.
Click to expand...

Solid post. This helps make sense of the mess we are in.
 
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#18
#18
ptcarter said:
Not giving the coaches a complete pass.. OL not knowing blocking assignments and false starts at inopportune times was BAD.. However, I think the talent level could be 6 out of 11 on either side of the ball being OK. Those other 5 can get picked on, and they did. Over and over. All it takes is a couple of guys having breakdowns on any given play and the "talented ones", don't matter. Talent becomes apparent when 11 guys to do their jobs on most every play. There were/are enough "bad seeds" on this team that are either physically limited, or mentally uncoachable. Nick Saban might have had a better record with this bunch this season, but he wouldn't have made it to the SECCG. Some here think that. I think it's delusional.
Click to expand...

No I agree, it's somewhere in the middle. It's not SECCG talent, but it's also not curb-stomped-by-Vandy talent either.
 
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#19
#19
njvols said:
I still contend that all of our problems aren’t solely talent related. After year 2 in same S/C program should help. I fail to believe that Vandy, SC, FL, Miz are that much better in talent. Continuity in the program is a huge positive, along with development and not churning players in and out every year. Pruitt will definitely get us to a higher level as long as we give him time. Whether he’ll elevate us to the top remains to be seen.
Click to expand...

Well I've been saying our talent is not that good. You don't get beat 50-17 by Missouri at home and then in the next breath say our talent is comparable, no way. Now with that said, we can take our current players and further develop them into better players, but we need a lot more talented players with speed...
 
#20
#20
VolDaddy61 said:
It would be interesting to see who were the leaders on the teams you mentioned, and the correlation. How much of an overall impact was Tebow on that team ?! Al Wilson on ours ?! Who is our Al Wilson currently ?! Perhaps it plays a part.
Click to expand...

I could see J. Banks emerging as our leader.
 
#22
#22
malibuvol said:
Well I've been saying our talent is not that good. You don't get beat 50-17 by Missouri at home and then in the next breath say our talent is comparable, no way. Now with that said, we can take our current players and further develop them into better players, but we need a lot more talented players with speed...
Click to expand...

From a recruiting standpoint, Missouri has the worst talent in the league. We are top 5-6 using that same metric. I just don't see how we are that far behind teams like vandy and missouri from a talent perspective. There is something more to the problem.
 
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#23
#23
aaronvol said:
juice.
Click to expand...

There is something to this. Look at Florida from 2006 to 2007. They took a huge step up in physicality in one year with a lot of the same players. Auburn 2003 to 2004. Alabama from 2007 to 2008. Big steps up for all of those teams. It wasn't all talent.
 
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#24
#24
savannahfan said:
For me the one team (or was it more then one year) was the Nebraska team... The thing that made or even now makes the difference is size. If all else is even then size makes the difference. In my mind, any time I am watching a college or high school football game, the first thing to jump out at me is the size difference. That is the nightmare legacy I have from watching us against those Neb. teams.
Click to expand...
You have to add stamina and endurance to the mix. It seemed to me that the Chargers were able to wear down the Steelers the other night. You don't see that often but the big fellas on Pittsburg's D seemed to have very little left in the tank. Up-tempo offenses take advantage of that once they get tired by not subbing which forces the linemen to have to stay in the game,get penalized or call time-out. All teams need 8 good DLinemen ready about middle of 4th qtr. I really don't know why they seem to tire quicker than OLinemen or I'm imagining it that way.
 
#25
#25
Derrick Henry was actually tossing guys aside with one arm. I would love to see Tennessee get three or four Derrick Henry clones. Henry is specifically what Pruitt is talking about, when he's talking about "power football". Our players play too soft. Rather than knocking a player on his ass, Tennessee just simply moved out of his way. If a lineman cannot bench at least 425 pounds or better and squat at least 700 pounds, we will struggle to compete in the SEC. We have had RBs, that could bench 400+pounds. Wanting to play and give your all for Tennessee makes a huge difference too.
 
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