Florida slug on Heupel UT turnaround

#26
#26
Truth hurts.

Any incoming head coach is going to have an uphill battle against nearly a quarter-century of mediocrity, a declining recruiting base, a revolving door of athletics directors, a Chancellorette who spent her nights last year traveling around Ft. Sanders looking for students daring to have a party, a UT President who is distracted by a project to bring minor league baseball to downtown Knoxville, and a fan base that is battered and weary of it all.

There can be no turnaround a'la Bruce Pearl after Buzz Peterson (AKA "The White Wade") due to one simple fact: in basketball two or three stud players can get you back in contention, five or six get you deep in the tournament. In football the minimum is 22. Right now, by this author's evaluation, the Vols have maaybeee 10-12?

I have belabored this point but it is worth repeating. I have a copy of the 1999 UT Football Media Guide. In the "Meet the Vols" section, on virtually every page, there are one or more players who went on to the next level. Not only that but YOU KNEW when you saw them in '99 who they were.

Do that same little experiment with the 2021 Media Guide (should be up on UT Sports website soon) and get back to me.

Make no mistake. I am a Vol and shall be one 'til I breathe no more.

But I'm not going to peddle sunshine either.

The Gen'rul (UT Sports)

neyland on field.png
 
#28
#28
This guy is spot on and if you don’t think so you are delusional.
The only thing he is "spot on" about is the time constraints comment. Most schools these days will give a coach 3 years to make improvements or they're gone. Heupel knows that. That's become the norm. The rest is just conjecture. The author can't tell the future.

By the way, the term delusional has been overused since the Dooley era. Make your point without describing strangers with negative adjectives.
 
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#29
#29
It will be very hard for Heupel to win big here like alot of the fans will demand.We are so hopelessly behind Florida , Georgia and Bama it’s not even funny at this point. Yet we have some delusional fans and some on here currently that think he should beat all three of them this season or next season lol. I just hope he doesn’t let us slip too far behind Mizzou and Kentucky and South Carolina unfortunately if he can’t recruit better than those teams and he isn’t so far then he won’t last very long in Knoxville. This article was spot on and yep the truth hurts.
 
#31
#31
Truth hurts.

Any incoming head coach is going to have an uphill battle against nearly a quarter-century of mediocrity, a declining recruiting base, a revolving door of athletics directors, a Chancellorette who spent her nights last year traveling around Ft. Sanders looking for students daring to have a party, a UT President who is distracted by a project to bring minor league baseball to downtown Knoxville, and a fan base that is battered and weary of it all.

There can be no turnaround a'la Bruce Pearl after Buzz Peterson (AKA "The White Wade") due to one simple fact: in basketball two or three stud players can get you back in contention, five or six get you deep in the tournament. In football the minimum is 22. Right now, by this author's evaluation, the Vols have maaybeee 10-12?

I have belabored this point but it is worth repeating. I have a copy of the 1999 UT Football Media Guide. In the "Meet the Vols" section, on virtually every page, there are one or more players who went on to the next level. Not only that but YOU KNEW when you saw them in '99 who they were.

Do that same little experiment with the 2021 Media Guide (should be up on UT Sports website soon) and get back to me.

Make no mistake. I am a Vol and shall be one 'til I breathe no more.

But I'm not going to peddle sunshine either.

The Gen'rul (UT Sports)

View attachment 381787
All we can do is give him a chance, just like the other 4. Step back from the ledge, friend.
 
#32
#32

A Florida beat writer bashing UT.......what is new. CJH has played at the highest level and coached it as well and comparing him and Pruitt is proof of his idiocy. All of the current successful coaches started the same path. He (writer) is just getting Florida fans optimistic about the gator's chances of coming in 3rd place in the SEC. I love it when UT is the underdog....makes beating Florida, that much sweeter.
 
#33
#33
The only thing he is "spot on" about is the time constraints comment. Most schools these days will give a coach 3 years to make improvements or they're gone. Heupel knows that. That's become the norm. The rest is just conjecture. The author can't tell the future.

By the way, the term delusional has been overused since the Dooley era. Make your point without describing strangers with negative adjectives.
Delusional must be a trigger word for you bud, I’m sorry I offended you. Tennessee is not what it used to be and it’s going to take winning and only winning to fix that.
 
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#34
#34
Delusional must be a trigger word for you bud, I’m sorry I offended you. Tennessee is not what it used to be and it’s going to take winning and only winning to fix that.
You should go reinvent the wheel. Make it rounder this time.
 
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#36
#36
He's definitely recruiting with a piano chained to his leg, for now. It is what it is. I agree with him on the timing. He's relatively young, and the program has good facilities and tons of money. If he coaches 20 years, then yes, he could turn out to be the next superstar. But as we all know, he only gets about 3, not 20.
 
#39
#39
Truth hurts.

Any incoming head coach is going to have an uphill battle against nearly a quarter-century of mediocrity, a declining recruiting base, a revolving door of athletics directors, a Chancellorette who spent her nights last year traveling around Ft. Sanders looking for students daring to have a party, a UT President who is distracted by a project to bring minor league baseball to downtown Knoxville, and a fan base that is battered and weary of it all.

There can be no turnaround a'la Bruce Pearl after Buzz Peterson (AKA "The White Wade") due to one simple fact: in basketball two or three stud players can get you back in contention, five or six get you deep in the tournament. In football the minimum is 22. Right now, by this author's evaluation, the Vols have maaybeee 10-12?

I have belabored this point but it is worth repeating. I have a copy of the 1999 UT Football Media Guide. In the "Meet the Vols" section, on virtually every page, there are one or more players who went on to the next level. Not only that but YOU KNEW when you saw them in '99 who they were.

Do that same little experiment with the 2021 Media Guide (should be up on UT Sports website soon) and get back to me.

Make no mistake. I am a Vol and shall be one 'til I breathe no more.

But I'm not going to peddle sunshine either.

The Gen'rul (UT Sports)

View attachment 381787
While I agree with much of your post, I disagree it takes 22. Sometime one or two (like Deshawn Watson and Skalski at Clemson) can bring out the best in the rest of a team,
 
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#41
#41
Wow. He makes several valid points, all of which are overwhelmed by his need for snark and jerkish style.

What a.....ahem......Richard.

We’re an easy target. Have been for years. All self-induced unfortunately.
 
#42
#42
It will be very hard for Heupel to win big here like alot of the fans will demand.We are so hopelessly behind Florida , Georgia and Bama it’s not even funny at this point. Yet we have some delusional fans and some on here currently that think he should beat all three of them this season or next season lol. I just hope he doesn’t let us slip too far behind Mizzou and Kentucky and South Carolina unfortunately if he can’t recruit better than those teams and he isn’t so far then he won’t last very long in Knoxville. This article was spot on and yep the truth hurts.

Talking about delusional..............
 
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#43
#43
I'll prefer the following:

"Heupel made an immediate impact during his first year at UCF in 2018,"
"The Knights followed that success in Heupel’s second campaign in Orlando with a 10-3 mark in 2019,"
"The passing attack in 2018 was one of the best in country behind quarterbacks McKenzie Milton and Darriel Mack Jr."
"Not to be outdone, the UCF defense had a stellar 2018 campaign" "and ranked sixth in the nation with 28 forced turnovers on the year."
"UCF’s 2019 defense led the nation in tackles for loss at 9.0 per game while permitting only 23.0 points."
"Heupel’s two seasons at UCF both have produced perfect homefield records"


Josh Heupel - Head Coach - Football Coaches - UCF Athletics
 
#44
#44
Wish Heupel the best and I hope he does well here and turns us around but if I was a betting man then I would put money on us having another new HC at this time in four years hope I’m wrong though we badly need some continuity at the HC position.
I don’t. I think Heupel is more of a Hugh Freeze without the baggage. He is a more mature Butch Jones. I think in 4 years we are going to be trying to figure out how we can keep him in Knoxville. The game is changing to more of his style of coaching and when players see his teams they will want to play for the guy.

He is somewhat mature and comes from a winning program. He understands what he has gotten into and has a plan to make it his program. His success is dependent on support from the administration and the fans. So it is time for us to do our part.
 
#45
#45
To me the lines have been clearly drawn between the top 5 SEC teams and the bottom 7. I don't see any of the bottom 7 teams competing for the SEC title in the near future. The top 5 teams have build assembly line recruiting systems that have been working very well for several years, meaning they have complete depth. The bottom 7 it's the opposite. IMO it will take years to turn this around and kick a team out of the top 5. Tall task ahead for any coach, especially one crippled by NCAA violations.
 
#47
#47
Meh. The guy only stated the obvious. Most journalists live in the past. They prognosticate based on last years information and write about what they've seen the last 2 or 3 years. Tennessee is a better job than UCF, period. That's why their AD and HFC left and why Malzahn is Tubervilling it in Orlando. A step down from the SEC to be sure.

Let's play the freakin' games and see what happens instead of pooh poohing the newest coach in what's been a revolving door. Barne's is winning. Vitello is too.

Saban is 69 years old. There's fewer NC's in front of Bama than behind them. UGA has underperformed since 1980 with one of the best high school recruiting states in the country. The future is not bleak for the rest of the SEC. It's always been cyclical.
 
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#48
#48
It will be very hard for Heupel to win big here like alot of the fans will demand.We are so hopelessly behind Florida , Georgia and Bama it’s not even funny at this point. Yet we have some delusional fans and some on here currently that think he should beat all three of them this season or next season lol. I just hope he doesn’t let us slip too far behind Mizzou and Kentucky and South Carolina unfortunately if he can’t recruit better than those teams and he isn’t so far then he won’t last very long in Knoxville. This article was spot on and yep the truth hurts.

It should be obvious by now that you are either the most miserable of the legion of the miserable, or you are an uga, Bama, or UF troll.

Either is a sad, sad place to be. If you are in fact a UT fan, I urge you to either find some joy in so being, or take a break, brother.
 
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#49
#49
It should be obvious by now that you are either the most miserable of the legion of the miserable, or you are an uga, Bama, or UF troll.

Either is a sad, sad place to be. If you are in fact a UT fan, I urge you to either find some joy in so being, or take a break, brother.
I’m a big Vol fan no doubt just tired of losing tired of my team being kicked around being laughed at. I’n hoping and praying like heck that Heupel is the coach we have been looking for since we fired Fulmer and he has great success here.
 
#50
#50
Earth Shattering.
I guess I'm just generally underwhelmed at the conventional thinking of sports journalists. This man, who spends 2,000 hours per year professionally thinking and writing about sports, provides not a single insight that is not just common knowledge to all fans. UT hasn't been in the top 10 for many years? Shocking! UT's last success corresponded to Georgia, Clemson, and Bama not being as good as they are today? Shocking! When a patient goes to a doctor complaining of pain, dizziness, and shortness of breath, they expect the doctor to not come back to them and tell them that he/she has determined that the patient is experiencing pain, dizziness, and shortness of breath. The patient expects a diagnosis. But then, medicine is a real occupation for competent persons, not a profession for men with a Peter Pan complex.
 
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