Folks just need to settle down

[BigOrangeTrain]

I would say it’s very likely that we beat UGA because we just don’t lose at Neyland anymore. Those days are over.

Lol. We will be close to double digit under Shia to UGA.

 

[vegasvolfan]

We're a good team. Not yet a championship team, but a good team. Making our way there. We have a great coach. We have a great staff. We have great lads. All regardless of what some are screaming on these boards.

To respond thread title by thread title:

Josh Heupel: 2-6 Vs. UF/Bama/UGA

Noone in their right mind give Josh any grief for the 2021 season. He done solid just getting us to a bowl after the post-Pruitt mass exodus.

So call it 2-3 instead, with a chance in a few weeks of getting to 3-3. Not likely, but possible.

Let that sink in: a chance to be 3-3 against our three top competitors. We've come a long way from the Dark Ages.

This is what happens when you stick with bad Qbs—Guarantano part 2

As far as I can remember, Guarantano never won the Orange Bowl for the Vols. He certainly wasn't part of an 11-2 season, or even--as this season is bound to be, if not better--an 8-4 result.

It's a ludicrous comparison.

Shouldn’t the special teams coach be getting criticized?

This is the mind set of part of our fan base: we exist to criticize our coaches. Not support them, not wish them the best, but wait for any mistake so we can belittle them.

Learn how to fan, fans.

Even SEC Shorts knows Alabama officiating is corrupt lol

Well, that's true. Totally true. This one gets a pass, it's on the money. Good job, Gandalf!

~ ~ ~

That's enough for this round.

We just need to settle in and realize, even with a very good team, things don't always go our way. There will be CHAMPIONSHIP seasons when everything doesn't go our way.

Go Vols!

All anyone has to do is ask themselves what our reg season record was against teams ranked by the end of the year across all previous coaches following Fulmer and I think Heupel may just have as many wins if not close. We beat 4 teams ranked in the top 25 by the end of last year. In fact, I checked and it’s dead even.

2008 - Fulmer - 0
2009 - Lane Kiffin - 0
2010 - Derek Dooley - 0
2011 - Derek Dooley - 0
2012 - Derek Dooley - 1
2013 - Jones - 1
2014 - Jones - 0
2015 - Jones - 1
2016 - Jones - 0
2017 - Jones - 0
2018 - Pruitt - 2
2019 - Pruitt - 0
2020 - Pruitt - 0
2021 - Heupel - 1
2022 - Huepel - 4

 

[Volstar65]

I sadly believe that a number of posters on here are not Vol fans. Just like to stir the pot IMO.

Sad to say but some of those who are Vol fans stir the pot. There are a lot of folks that will never be satisfied. They won’t have the patience to let a good coach build a program. They want it right now.

 

[CAVPUT]

My biggest disappointment hasn’t been the losing as much as the conservative play calling. I thought we were finally over the days of Johnny, Fulmer, Butch and friends playing not to lose only to lose after watching Heupel the last two years. He was always aggressive and never wasted even 10 seconds. This year it seems like we have just given up and submitted to losing. Don’t give me this it’s his QB stuff. Joe seems to even be better when the plays are faster and more aggressive. I don’t get it. I hate conservative game plans.

Conservative in this case is more likely a necessity due to our players ability or more accurately, inability to execute. They can only call what the players can run. Not sure what folks expect. If Milton can't make the reads/throws, linemen can't provide the time for the routes to develop and/or the WRs can't run the correct routes and make the reads or beat the coverage, what's the plan then? You dumb it down to calling what these guys can do.

 

[65YearsAVol]

Conservative in this case is more likely a necessity due to our players ability or more accurately, inability to execute. They can only call what the players can run. Not sure what folks expect. If Milton can't make the reads/throws, linemen can't provide the time for the routes to develop and/or the WRs can't run the correct routes and make the reads or beat the coverage, what's the plan then? You dumb it down to calling what these guys can do..

Consistency

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

What concerns me most is the short-lived intensity and focus this team displays that causes the team to come back flat in the second half. And that is all on the coaches. I think back to the UTSA game where those players came out second half with intense chanting and dancing. It was almost like the halftime break hadn't happened. I think taking the business man's approach to the emotional aspect of the game is a mistake. Unless, CJH just sucks at firing these guys up. And, I base this on my armchair observation, unencumbered by in depth knowledge of the game.

 

[OrangeTsar]

Every year I have been on VN (since 2009 I think) it had been “settle down”. We are always “almost there”. Sometime before they put me in that ole box in the ground I would like to be routinely beating Florida, Alabama, and Georgia again. Is that really too much to ask?

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Every year I have been on VN (since 2009 I think) it had been “settle down”. We are always “almost there”. Sometime before they put me in that ole box in the ground I would like to be routinely beating Florida, Alabama, and Georgia again. Is that really too much to ask?

Routinely beating the other best teams in the SEC? Yes. Kinda too much to ask. Nice to think about, but too much to expect.

Beating them some years and winning championships, losing to one or more of them other years and ending up in a nice NY6 bowl instead? No. That's not too much to ask. Ask for that.

We're probably never going to be ALONE at the top. Going to be crowded up there (currently with Bama and UGa, that will change over time), so we'll have to fight for each trip to Atlanta or the playoffs.

That's okay. We know how to fight. Tennesseans are known for fighting. Volunteers and all.

Go Vols!

 

[OrangeTsar]

Routinely beating the other best teams in the SEC? Yes. Kinda too much to ask. Nice to think about, but too much to expect.

Beating them some years and winning championships, losing to them other years and ending up in a nice NY6 bowl instead? No. That's not too much to ask. Ask for that.

We're probably never going to be ALONE at the top. Going to be crowded up there (currently with Bama and UGa, that will change over time), so we'll have to fight for each trip to Atlanta or the playoffs.

That's okay. We know how to fight. Tennesseans are known for fighting. Volunteers and all.

Go Vols!

I would say at least a winning record against the big three is the goal. 2 and 6 is not

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I would say at least a winning record against the big three is the goal. 2 and 6 is not

As I mentioned above, more like 2-3 if you take into account what 2021 really looked like for Josh Heupel. Don't hold 2021 against him, in any way. I don't.

Agree with you that a winning record against the big 3 is a good team goal. Of course, who the big 3 are will change, as divisions go away and Oklahoma/Texas join in. Will be an interesting dynamic to watch, who sorts out at the top. Really planning on us being one of the three or four elite teams when the dust settles.

Go Vols!

 

[Volbrando]

no worries we are hiring Gruden

 

[FloraVol]

This team can still win nine games and ten with a bowl victory.

I think you misspelled "ten" and "eleven", in that order.

 

[RockyTop140]

EDIT: I see what you meant now. Florida only beat one other SEC team, Vandy. True, but they did also beat Florida State.

So they kinda sucked. By all rights, given what we'd just been through, we should have sucked even worse. And yet we had a better SEC record than them. Lost to them head to head, but did better than them overall. With a roster full of holes, a brand new coaching staff, and a program in peril from the NCAA.

Meh, you see it your way, I'll see it mine. I'm not going to hold ANYTHING about 2021 against Josh & Crew.

Go Vols!

That game was also in the swamp, early in the season in heupels first year. I get the no excuses crowd, but if anyone really thinks that should be a strike on heupel for losing that one they’re being unrealistic. Florida always gives us their best and at that point their team was fired up.

 

[TNStudMuffin]

We're a good team. Not yet a championship team, but a good team. Making our way there. We have a great coach. We have a great staff. We have great lads. All regardless of what some are screaming on these boards.

To respond thread title by thread title:

Josh Heupel: 2-6 Vs. UF/Bama/UGA

No one in their right mind gives Josh any grief for the 2021 season. He did solid just getting us to a bowl after the post-Pruitt mass exodus.

So call it 2-3 instead, with a chance in a few weeks of getting to 3-3. Not likely, but possible.

Let that sink in: a chance to be 3-3 against our three top competitors. We've come a long way from the Dark Ages.

This is what happens when you stick with bad Qbs—Guarantano part 2

As far as I can remember, Guarantano never won the Orange Bowl for the Vols. He certainly wasn't part of an 11-2 season, or even--as this season is bound to be, if not better--an 8-4 result.

It's a ludicrous comparison.

Shouldn’t the special teams coach be getting criticized?

This is the mind set of part of our fan base: we exist to criticize our coaches. Not support them, not wish them the best, but wait for any mistake so we can belittle them.

Learn how to fan, fans.

Even SEC Shorts knows Alabama officiating is corrupt lol

Well, that's true. Totally true. This one gets a pass, it's on the money. Good job, Gandalf!

~ ~ ~

That's enough for this round.

We just need to settle in and realize, even with a very good team, things don't always go our way. There will be CHAMPIONSHIP seasons when everything doesn't go our way.

Go Vols!

1. Simply looking at the numbers against UF/Bama/UGA is handwaving. look at the games, and how they were lost. 2. Is Joe the exact same as Guarantano? No, but the situation is similar where the coach has no realistic choice but to play a very inconsistent QB that is a major contributor to losing games. 3. If all fans did was support the team, they could just be as bad as they wanted and never get fired.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

I agree with the sentiment and overall really pleased with the staff so far. I will say though that we've been saying "give it some time" for the better part of 15 years, so I understand if some fans are frustrated by that and want results now. The reality, however, is that Tennessee just isn't going to be alone at the top anytime soon and if you're looking for 11-1 or 12-0 type years consistently, you will be sorely disappointed. 9-10 win seasons though seem to be not only possible with this staff but something we can probably expect from them moving forward. I'd be OK with that as long as we're competitive against our top rivals year in and year out and we go 2-1 at least some of the time.

 

[DaddyChad]

I sadly believe that a number of posters on here are not Vol fans. Just like to stir the pot IMO.

What a sad crappy life that must be? Imagine not posting on your own board and pretending to not be a fan of the team you love. Of course not being a Vol fan would be bad enough.

 

[Rocky Top T]

Is Gaston Moore on scholarship ?
If so I wonder why.

No

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

That game was also in the swamp, early in the season in heupels first year. I get the no excuses crowd, but if anyone really thinks that should be a strike on heupel for losing that one they’re being unrealistic. Florida always gives us their best and at that point their team was fired up.

Nobody was giving Heupel hell about losing to Florida in 2021 ITT, that's not how the conversation started. It started with 82 positing that it shouldn't be counted as a loss. I don't think it follows that you don't count it as a loss because it was his first year when they were a 6-7 team and 2-6 in the SEC. It was a loss. Now Alabama and Georgia in 2021? Write that off all day long as a game he could not reasonably have been expected to win, they lost 1 game between them to someone other than each other.

 

[TNStudMuffin]

My biggest disappointment hasn’t been the losing as much as the conservative play calling. I thought we were finally over the days of Johnny, Fulmer, Butch and friends playing not to lose only to lose after watching Heupel the last two years. He was always aggressive and never wasted even 10 seconds. This year it seems like we have just given up and submitted to losing. Don’t give me this it’s his QB stuff. Joe seems to even be better when the plays are faster and more aggressive. I don’t get it. I hate conservative game plans.

Some would say a coach that rolls the dice on 4th down as much as Hueple is conservative is a bit crazy, that is completely opposite of conservative IMO.

Some would say that he is talking about the standard play calling.

 

[hatingbamaisawayoflife]

This team can still win nine games and ten with a bowl victory.

they wont win 9 or 10... that is reality

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

they wont win 9 or 10... that is reality

No, that is speculation. Seek a dictionary

 

[DaddyChad]

they wont win 9 or 10... that is reality

Reality is we lost to Bama in Tuscaloosa with a ton of ref help for them. This team can beat any team left on the schedule and will be favored in every game likely except for Georgia. Georgia should be the only game where the conference throws a screwing on this team.

 

[JohnWardForever]

I'll settle down for everything but what I saw from the refs in the second half. I'm not into trashing the team I saw on Saturday - they were out there giving their all to win that game.

The first half showed what we could be. The second half showed a team that was still trying really hard to win when most of the fans had resigned themselves to losing the game.

Sadly, the only way we have a chance with Bama and UGA is for us to be undefeated when we play them, otherwise we have to beat them and the "rules of the SEC" that says the teams with the best chance to be in the CPF should not be allowed to lose a game.

That said everyone needs to KEEP THEIR TICKETS to UGA and show up and be Neyland Loud. The refs can't control the noise and make us shut up and I know the noise at Neyland can be disruptive. We need to loud and angry.

AND BRING SOME CLUBS.........

 

[Dooley Noted]

Great post, OP!

 

[RDU VOL#14]

It was inexcusable to lose to Florida in 2021 and this year. We almost blew it last year. We need to hire a sports psychologist to get past this Florida mental problem.

I disagree that it was inexcusable to lose to Florida in 2021.Florida still had Dan Mullen and they were still playing for something . Florida lost by 2 to Bama the week before we played them. The same Bama team that would’ve won the title if they didn’t have 2 wideouts go down w/ ACLs. It was CJH’s 3rd or 4th game.