Eddie Vol Halen
Senior Life Champion
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2012
- Messages
- 2,780
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- 2,192
Preseason was awesome and expectations were high. It was great to have that feeling again. Vol fans had every right to believe we could abuse the East this year.
We got lucky against Appy State, but I didn't mind. I thought we left it WAY late to win the game, but the only important thing to do was find a way to win. At first I thought it a portent to greatness.
Nothing can ever take away that Florida game and I'll be watching the highlights of the second half in this new digital age forever.
I really thought the Hail Mary would be the springboard to real greatness. I thought the team and the coaches didn't know how to handle expectations at the beginning of the season, but somehow / someway they found a way to win and now they would be locked-in for the big trip to College Station.
Except they weren't. The same problems that plagued Team 120 in the first five weeks manifested in glorious Technicolor in College Station. Last year the team came out fully prepared for every game but epic Saturday coaching malfeasance, especially late in games, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. James Franklin would have been 0 or 1 loss with Team 119 and won the East two years in a row. TAMU was a horrible loss that should not have happened.
We caught Bama at exactly the wrong time - injuries, no bye week, and we caught their best game of the year so far. Nothing anyone could do about it, BUT, the question marks about the offense against elite competition were scary. Offense literally could do nothing and wasn't fooling anyone in red.
South Carolina epitomised the Saturday coaching malfeasance of the BSiA. Quite simply, the Best Staff in America didn't know how to go out and win the worst SECE in a generation.
Despite everything, we had a chance a a Sugar Bowl bid and the BSiA got flat out-coached by Derek Mason and co. We seemed to regress to the Butch comfort zone of mid-tier bowls.
Bowls matter. Victories against Nebraska matter. Watching Derek Barnett break HOF records matter. Watching Dobbs in his last UT game matters (he will be drafted).
As Dickens says, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Vol fans are continuously frustrated by the clear progress made (relative to Stooley) and the naked, inexcusable Saturday coaching malfeasance that has left some very big wins on the field and has contributed to some epic fails. Add to the mix the clear stress and the platitudes ("Champions of Life") and there is a picture of a Big East coach who is still on the porch and not running with the big dogs. It is great to get a victory against Nebraska but that team got boatraced whenever they faced Top 20 talent and sometimes when they didn't.
It was clear the BSiA was actually still doing on the job training with Team 119. I could let that go - because, what choice do we have? - and because I thought there was some real progress being made on the OJT front last year. Which brings us to the real troubling aspects now.
Clearly the BSiA still needs OJT with championship calibre squads.
Why Shoopinator collapsed from TAMU onwards is a really troubling sign.
I feel the kudos Butch has received for his M - F performance has been elevated by a once-in-a-generation legacy class; I fear Team 120 will be the most talented he ever coaches.
We need an epic signing class. Trey Smith aside, the BSiA has failed to lockdown Tennessee in a banner year for in-state talent. Likely 10 - 15 classes can't overcome subpar Saturday coaching in the SEC which we must consider a given now.
We are going to miss Dobbs, Barnett, Sutton, Malone and Kamara in ways we can't fully appreciate yet.
Once again the Vol faithful stand at a crossroads. Let's hope that the BSiA and Team 121 overachieve next year. I don't think expectations can be as high, but we thought the same in 1998. Let's hope for circular history.
We got lucky against Appy State, but I didn't mind. I thought we left it WAY late to win the game, but the only important thing to do was find a way to win. At first I thought it a portent to greatness.
Nothing can ever take away that Florida game and I'll be watching the highlights of the second half in this new digital age forever.
I really thought the Hail Mary would be the springboard to real greatness. I thought the team and the coaches didn't know how to handle expectations at the beginning of the season, but somehow / someway they found a way to win and now they would be locked-in for the big trip to College Station.
Except they weren't. The same problems that plagued Team 120 in the first five weeks manifested in glorious Technicolor in College Station. Last year the team came out fully prepared for every game but epic Saturday coaching malfeasance, especially late in games, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. James Franklin would have been 0 or 1 loss with Team 119 and won the East two years in a row. TAMU was a horrible loss that should not have happened.
We caught Bama at exactly the wrong time - injuries, no bye week, and we caught their best game of the year so far. Nothing anyone could do about it, BUT, the question marks about the offense against elite competition were scary. Offense literally could do nothing and wasn't fooling anyone in red.
South Carolina epitomised the Saturday coaching malfeasance of the BSiA. Quite simply, the Best Staff in America didn't know how to go out and win the worst SECE in a generation.
Despite everything, we had a chance a a Sugar Bowl bid and the BSiA got flat out-coached by Derek Mason and co. We seemed to regress to the Butch comfort zone of mid-tier bowls.
Bowls matter. Victories against Nebraska matter. Watching Derek Barnett break HOF records matter. Watching Dobbs in his last UT game matters (he will be drafted).
As Dickens says, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Vol fans are continuously frustrated by the clear progress made (relative to Stooley) and the naked, inexcusable Saturday coaching malfeasance that has left some very big wins on the field and has contributed to some epic fails. Add to the mix the clear stress and the platitudes ("Champions of Life") and there is a picture of a Big East coach who is still on the porch and not running with the big dogs. It is great to get a victory against Nebraska but that team got boatraced whenever they faced Top 20 talent and sometimes when they didn't.
It was clear the BSiA was actually still doing on the job training with Team 119. I could let that go - because, what choice do we have? - and because I thought there was some real progress being made on the OJT front last year. Which brings us to the real troubling aspects now.
Clearly the BSiA still needs OJT with championship calibre squads.
Why Shoopinator collapsed from TAMU onwards is a really troubling sign.
I feel the kudos Butch has received for his M - F performance has been elevated by a once-in-a-generation legacy class; I fear Team 120 will be the most talented he ever coaches.
We need an epic signing class. Trey Smith aside, the BSiA has failed to lockdown Tennessee in a banner year for in-state talent. Likely 10 - 15 classes can't overcome subpar Saturday coaching in the SEC which we must consider a given now.
We are going to miss Dobbs, Barnett, Sutton, Malone and Kamara in ways we can't fully appreciate yet.
Once again the Vol faithful stand at a crossroads. Let's hope that the BSiA and Team 121 overachieve next year. I don't think expectations can be as high, but we thought the same in 1998. Let's hope for circular history.
