Death of a program

#51
#51
JonGrudensAgent said:
Closing in on a generation that hasn't seen the Vols enjoy real success. Backing into SECCG in 2007 and Belk Bowl wins really don't count as real success in my book.

If Pruitt isn't the guy, then this program isn't going to recover any time soon and it'll get a lot worse before it gets better IMO.
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I was talking about this with my daughter during the game Saturday night. She has never been able to experience what it feels like to be a fan of a great Tennessee team.
 
#52
#52
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
I was talking about this with my daughter during the game Saturday night. She has never been able to experience what it feels like to be a fan of a great Tennessee team.
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It could have been a story the dude was making up for effect, but it still struck me as being plausibly true.

I was listening to Basilio after a game last year and a guy called in and said that as he and his son and I were leaving the game the kid asked why the stadium was so big. The dad asked what he meant, and the son said something to the effect of "Well we aren't good...why is the stadium so big?"

A significant and growing portion of the fanbase has no personal recollection of Tennessee playing in, much less winning, a game of national importance.
 
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#53
#53
MyBloodRunnethOrange said:
I was talking about this with my daughter during the game Saturday night. She has never been able to experience what it feels like to be a fan of a great Tennessee team.
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same for my kids. heck, my wife and i have been married for 14 years and she's never really been around for it either.

they just take it on blind faith that we were once really, really good lol.
 
#54
#54
I've never seen so many who want to take their toys and go home when the going gets tough. IT AIN"T OVER, DID WE QUIT WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR ?
 
#56
#56
It's up to us to not let Tennessee die. As long as so many of us love Tennessee unconditionally it will never die. It's not easy but we've got to endure the pain and keep the faith
 
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#59
#59
CTVolsfan14 said:
It always comes down to the almighty $. As long as there is funding, resources, facilities, stadium, donor dollars, recruiting budgets ect.. the program isn't dead no matter how much of a laughing stock we are on the field.
When the financial support behind that stops.. that's when it's officially dead.
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If indeed it does come down to the almighty dollar UT is in fine shape compared to all other sschools but 1. As I recall that's either Notre Dame or Michigan in both gross and net revenue generated by athletics followed by #2 Tennessee and that's current fiqures. Basketball is on the rise now. UT will be one of the last schools in this nation to throw in the towel and a renovation is set to begin soon at around $375 mil. Post something worthy of being discussed instead of the repetitive doom and gloom being posted on these boards.
 
#60
#60
NEOCON said:
How close is UT to becoming a dead football program?

This is a serious question.

There have been football programs in the past like Army, Navy, Minnesota, SMU that we’re at the very top.

Minnesota claims 7 national championships. We can debate the 7 but the fact is they use to be very good. Now, they are honestly nothing.

So how many more years of this can happen before the stadium gets empty, the fans stop caring, and suddenly 7 or 6 wins becomes the acceptable norm?

The 7 or 6 win norm part I think is very close to happening, I fear.

What are you honest thoughts on how much more time TN has to turn this around?
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10-15 years should be sufficient.

We would know it’s coming before it happens though. Recruiting is your first sign.
 
#61
#61
jakez4ut said:
same for my kids. heck, my wife and i have been married for 14 years and she's never really been around for it either.

they just take it on blind faith that we were once really, really good lol.
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At this point, most of the Millennials invested in the team seem to be kids whose parents were huge fans/attended a bunch of games as kids.

My wife kind of falls into that category. When she was a kid she didn't follow the team to the same degree that she does now, but she and her dad, who is a huge fan, went to at least a few games a year. She honestly doesn't have any detailed personal memories of the team being great; she doesn't personally remember even watching Peyton play, and most of what she remembers about the national title is the fact she stayed at her grandparent's house because mom and dad went to Tempe to see it :)
 
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#63
#63
wmcovol said:
Bama will fill the house and so will Ky (yeah they'll come down from the hills for the indoor bathrooms and a Cat win). Other than that, i doubt they'll be 90K for the other home games left. Pretty sad when the visitors fill you place up so they can see a win....
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"Come down for the indoor bathrooms" Come on Man !
 
#64
#64
EZE said:
UT football problems are very similar to the Dallas Cowboys. For the Cowboys, inept Jerry plays GM and only picks coaches that he can control. He also makes terrible personnel decisions. And, to top it off, I heard on the radio today that he insisted on a play that his team ran in college in the early 60s. (The play lost 10 yards.)

In our case, we have inept Haslams getting in the way. They will not stand for a coach who will not give them unfettered access. Until we deal with that, it will be more of the same.

Alabama had the same problem with Bear Jr. Saban made it clear he wouldn’t put up with booster meddling and Alabama took care of it.

Until somebody stands up like this at UT, we are doomed. The Haslam tentacles run deep, and it will take a miracle.
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Boy you are full of it. You actually think CJP is going to put up with Haslam meddling? Hamilton, Hart , and Currie let him dawg them around but those days are over. Thunder will take care of little Jimmy if he has to and him and Phil appear to be pretty tight. You were watching when that clique went down weren't you?
 
#65
#65
MurphyVol said:
I dunno about dead but we're very much irrelevant. This will be something like out 6th losing season in 11 years.

I think our record of the last decade is very comparable to Kentucky's.
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59-58 for the past 10 seasons, including this one. #2, #10, #1 in the next three games. Yes, we are going under .500 football for the decade before October is over.
 
#66
#66
1967vol said:
With the exception of a time about 20 years ago, Tennessee football has been average in the SEC, which is about where it should be, with a few years of exceptional. But, average is the "steady-state".
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You need to recheck Vol history under Neyland. Undefeated unscored on. A national powerhouse year in and out prior to and after WWII.
 
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#67
#67
How close is Tennessee to being a dead football program?

How Dead, is Dead?
You mean Dead Dead or just Dead?
You must clarify?
 
#68
#68
1967vol said:
With the exception of a time about 20 years ago, Tennessee football has been average in the SEC, which is about where it should be, with a few years of exceptional. But, average is the "steady-state".
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Tennessee is pretty clearly the 2nd best team overall in the history of the SEC behind Alabama. 2nd most all time wins, T-2nd most conference titles, 2nd most national titles.
 
#69
#69
tbones0711 said:
Boy you are full of it. You actually think CJP is going to put up with Haslam meddling? Hamilton, Hart , and Currie let him dawg them around but those days are over. Thunder will take care of little Jimmy if he has to and him and Phil appear to be pretty tight.
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Um, the Governor is a Haslam. He appointed all the Board of Trustees or they all report to him. He just rebuilt the board into a smaller entity that's even harder to get people on. The likely interim President - for 1 - 2 years - Randy Boyd is a Haslam buddy. Thunder's net worth isn't clear, but its likely based on the value of the public deals Thorton has been in, that if the Haslam's woke up with Thunder's money, they'd think they went broke. Multiple Haslam's have north of 2.5 billion of net worth.

All the big connections in East Tennessee run through the Haslam's, not Thorton. He has influence, but doesn't call the shots in Nashville and Knoxville. Ergen, worth about 17 - 18 billion, is the only guy with the money, but he doesn't have the connections in Tennessee the Haslam's have throughout the university and the state by virtue of building his fortune outside of TN. The idea that CJP has any power over the Haslam's, or that Thorton can "take care of little Jimmy" is laughable. What does it say it took a fan revolt, an athletic department revolt, a state legislatures revolt, a revolt of the Chancellor and a revolt of non-Haslam boosters simultaneously to keep Jimmy Haslam from picking the coach. And then the Chancellor got fired, probably for other issues, but its unlikely that didn't play a part.

Edit: Typo. I'm anal, but only after I've posted.
 
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#72
#72
05_never_again said:
Tennessee is pretty clearly the 2nd best team overall in the history of the SEC behind Alabama. 2nd most all time wins, T-2nd most conference titles, 2nd most national titles.
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Yogi Berra once said: “The future’s just not what it used to be”
How right can you get?
 
#73
#73
I'll add Haslam has run off Fulmer once, and kept him from becoming Athletic Director once. Yes, Fulmer stuck it to him during the Schiano coaching fiasco, but right now Haslam is up 2 - 1 on Fulmer, and Fulmer's coaching pick got trounced in Neyland and may not win an SEC Game this year.
 
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#74
#74
glhal2814 said:
Um, the Governor is a Haslam. He appointed all the Board of Trustees or they all report to him. He just rebuilt the board into a smaller entity that's even harder to get people on. The likely interim President - for 1 - 2 years - Randy Boyd is a Haslam buddy. Thunder's net worth isn't clear, but its likely based on the value of the public deals Thorton has been in, if the Haslam's woke up with Thunder's money, they'd think they went broke. Multiple Haslam's have norther of 2.5 billion of net worth.

All the big connections in East Tennessee run through the Haslam's, not Thorton. He has influence, but doesn't call the shots in Nashville and Knoxville. Ergen, worth about 17 - 18 billion, is the only guy with the money, but he doesn't have the connections in Tennessee the Haslam's have throughout the university and the state by virtue of building his fortune outside of TN. The idea that CJP has any power over the Haslam's, or that Thorton can "take care of little Jimmy" is laughable. What does it say it took a fan revolt, an athletic department revolt, a state legislatures revolt, a revolt of the Chancellor and a revolt of non-Haslam boosters simultaneously to keep Jimmy Haslam from picking the coach. And then the Chancellor got fired, probably for other issues, but its unlikely that didn't play a part.
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The only way for the Haslams to see reduced influence is for non-Haslam "appointees" (i.e., Fulmer and Pruitt) to be successful.
 
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#75
#75
If you look at where our program is and then consider the direction football in general is going with all these targeting rules and changes to protect the qb etc. , I doubt that Ill care much for football in the future. I dont like the direction things are going.
 
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