Finebaum: For TN A Bowl Game Would Be Impressive

#102
#102
driscokid said:
I see 8-9 wins. They were much better talent-wise than 4-8 last year just very poorly coached starting when Butch hired Larry Scott as OC. The poor coaching had an effect way before the season started. I’d say they may surprise and you can chalk Missouri as a win with Dooley as OC...
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To add to that what was Odom thinking hiring him as OC/QB Coach when he's never done either. I'm betting that stunts Drew's development as a QB.
 
#103
#103
volfannbama said:
No sec team is a given
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Some should be.. Especially Vandy, UK, Mizzou and Ark. Rarely do any of them end up top 20-25 in recruiting with any consistency. Those are most years the bottom 4 finishers in the SEC in recruiting. UK more than the other 3 but even then their talent isn't close to the better recruiting teams. They will occasionally get their upsets but most years they should be givens.Just shows how much the oversigning rule has somewhat helped even out the playing field. Or atleast help shorten the talent gap.
 
#104
#104
NeverWe'llSever said:
Impossible to predict before spring.
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Yeah it’s really not knowable just have good or bad we’ll be at this point. Predicting wins and loses now is totally a talking point and nothing more. Shoot we’re not even for sure who’ll be 50% of our starters. Depending on what freshmen will be SEC ready immediately, JC etc....so take any predictions one way or the other for what they are....complete guesses....
 
#106
#106
Coug said:
For a team that was 0-8 in the SEC last year and having just hired Pruitt, the Vols would be lucky to go to a bowl game.

tn2018.jpg


Considering reality it's hard to argue this.

Find 6 wins in that schedule. Go ahead, give it a shot.
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We lost to Kentucky, Florida, and South Carolina by a combined 15 points with Jones and Shoop leading the show and a backwards passing game.

We can get six.
 
#107
#107
Coug said:
For a team that was 0-8 in the SEC last year and having just hired Pruitt, the Vols would be lucky to go to a bowl game.

tn2018.jpg


Considering reality it's hard to argue this.

Find 6 wins in that schedule. Go ahead, give it a shot.
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3 gimmes. South Carolina vandy Missouri Kentucky. That’s 7 for u. Not that hard to find 6
 
#109
#109
I find if I expect nothing, it becomes impossible to be disappointed. I'm focusing on being entertained by the shortcomings in effort, victories, coaching competency, public speaking, and organizational governance.

I've been really entertained so far.

This actually allowed me to be entertained by Saints teams in the 90s, and that's worked out pretty good. Every season since Drew Brees showed up has been all the more fantastic because I don't expect success.

Lord knows I've tried everything else. Good booze and no expectations sounds like a recipe for a pretty great Saturday any given weekend, actually.
 
#110
#110
jasonvol18 said:
Some should be.. Especially Vandy, UK, Mizzou and Ark. Rarely do any of them end up top 20-25 in recruiting with any consistency. Those are most years the bottom 4 finishers in the SEC in recruiting. UK more than the other 3 but even then their talent isn't close to the better recruiting teams. They will occasionally get their upsets but most years they should be givens.Just shows how much the oversigning rule has somewhat helped even out the playing field. Or atleast help shorten the talent gap.
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As i said, no sec team is a given. Sure some should be.....but they are not. Funny we (not you and me, but vn in general) that this conversation last season. We were laughed at for suggested that vandy, mizzu, uk etc were not gimmes and well, we see how that worked out.
 
#111
#111
Vol_Doc said:
Love being the underdog.
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Yep, not a bad place to be. This next team has a lot of the pieces to be an improvement, but the questionable part is how well and how quickly all the pieces fit together to make a team - that includes the coaches as well as the players.
 
#114
#114
I had us at 6-6 or 7-5 at best this year. Missed badly obviously. See more of the same next year. Going with 5-7 with a ceiling of 6 wins. Pruitt will be working with butchs roster for the most part. Until this roster gets cleaned out and turned over, I see little reason to think more highly of our chances. Will say it again....transfers and early departures for the draft won't be bad news to me. Turn this roster over as soon as possible.
 
#115
#115
I flatout EXPECT 6 WINS minimum and back in a bowl game.

Back in a bowl game is a serious must.

We badly need all those extra practices to get our regular rotational players better and to get our younger players much better and ready to contribute the next year.

Not getting all those extra practices will actually slow our rebuild and growth for the next season.

As bad as we were last season I think anything over 6 WINS is icing on the cake and a small sign that Pruitt and our new staff has things moving in the right direction.

8 or more WINS and Pruitt should be coach of the year.

VFL...GBO!!!
 
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#117
#117
Coug said:
For a team that was 0-8 in the SEC last year and having just hired Pruitt, the Vols would be lucky to go to a bowl game.

tn2018.jpg


Considering reality it's hard to argue this.

Find 6 wins in that schedule. Go ahead, give it a shot.
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When I look at this schedule, I see 7 regular season wins. I see ETSU, Charlotte, UTEP, Kentucky, Missouri, Vandy & South Carolina.
My reasoning for that is because
# 1. We will be better coached and the games we lost due to poor coaching will be fixed. Games like Kentucky & South Carolina & Florida. The players are better IN SPITE of lack of player development. #2. Game philosophy Pruitt will coach differently. For instance, passing on the 5 yard line 3 straight plays vs Florida.
 
#119
#119
DiderotsGhost said:
In spite of the VN perception that Florida will be tough, I actually think Florida is the one on the "toss-up" list that we should win. They are in a worse situation than us right now and it's going to take them a couple of years to rebuild as well. It's also a home game for us.
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I’m not saying Florida is going to be great by any means, but I do think the arrow is pointing up, and I think the roster is going to be much improved. I think the Florida turnaround has a chance to be much faster (possibly next year) than Tennessee. Martez Ivey and Cece Jefferson coming back for Senior seasons and not to the NFL is HUGE. Additionally, it looks like some key suspended guys from last year will be back; Jordan Scarlett and linebackers James Houston and Ventrell Miller provide key depth that UF was missing last year.

The only impact players Florida loses are Taven Bryan on the d-line and Brandon Powell at slot receiver. Everyone else is back, including the entire o-line first and second team. Totally loaded at DE with Cece, Zuniga, Polite and a couple of 5-star kids waiting in the wings (Carter and Clayton).

Every LB on the team is back, everyone from the secondary is back.

I think UF goes 8-4, 9-3, I think UT goes 6-6.
 
#120
#120
If we win less than six something is wrong. That is the floor. Anything else is unacceptable. We will be in the seven or eight win range.
 
#122
#122
Why do we have arguably the strongest schedule in the NCAA every single year, makes absolute zero sense for a rebuilding program.
 
#124
#124
Grudenator said:
Why do we have arguably the strongest schedule in the NCAA every single year, makes absolute zero sense for a rebuilding program.
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We dont. It just appears that way because we usually arent very good or have very little confidence in our team.
 
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#125
#125
Pretty brutal schedule. I think we start 3-0. Lose 5 straight, then win our last 4. I think we'll finish 7-5
 
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