Forde Bashes Vols

#1
Neyland Law Vol

Neyland Law Vol

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#1
In its first season under Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee will be 2-6 entering November. The Volunteers were atrocious last year, going 4-8 and winless in the Southeastern Conference. The victories: Southern Mississippi, Massachusetts, Indiana State and Georgia Tech by a point in double overtime when the Yellow Jackets fumbled away a 14-point fourth-quarter lead. So you start with a general lack of talent and proven winners, add an unproven head coach, sprinkle in an uninspiring quarterback situation, then top it off with a barbaric schedule. The only wins in the first two months will be over East Tennessee State and UTEP. Maybe athletic director Phil Fulmer will appoint himself Head Offensive Assistant Coach by November.
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6 college football teams that need to temper their expectations this season

It will be sweet if Pruitt can prove all the national doubters wrong. He gets to start this Saturday as none of them give us a chance against WVU.
 
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#2
#2
Hey Forde...
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#7
#7
I'm surprised people are still "surprised" by Forde's Tennessee takes. This dude has disliked the Volunteers since he became a sportswriter. The year we started out 5-0 (and proceeded to collapse) he continuously knocked us week after week saying the fantasy was going to end at some point. He may have been right in the long run, but he had no intentions of writing a good word about those five wins while it was occurring. We could win the national title this year and Pat Forde would find a way to see a disappointment in our program.
 
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#8
#8
TAF said:
Not much you can argue with here. Just have to be proven right or wrong on the field.
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My only argument would be with the "general lack of talent." The roster has talent, and actual coaching is now there to exploit each player's strengths and not shove that square peg into a round hole.

Also, I don't think the QB situation is as "uninspiring" as some people think. Pruitt probably has had his guy for a while now. I'm no professional scout but I don't really get a whole lot out of 8 second clips of the QB's throwing a pass in camp like I throw in the back yard.
edit: round/square
 
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#11
#11
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#14
#14
I am sure the coaches and payers are so tired of hearing how they suck....
that was last year...
I do not think you base anything this year off last year..
I think these players and coaches will be out to prove everyone wrong..
I believe we will see a team that shows pride and heart for the POWER T....
WGTFA
GBO
 
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#15
#15
Volatility said:
This is a pretty lazy take. Even by Forde’s standards.
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He's right about everything except the "general lack of talent" part. I've seen multiple national pundits say that over the last few months, so hopefully that means we are underestimated.

Also, he says we need temper our expectations...what expectations? Most everyone here I think would be happy with a bowl but understands why we might miss one. A bowl is entirely possible even with a 2-6 start, which I think is likely.
 
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#16
#16
TAF said:
Not much you can argue with here. Just have to be proven right or wrong on the field.
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Hmm. You and I may not have read the same paragraph. Because there's a lot I can argue with. For example:

"...Tennessee will be 2-6 entering November." -- if he'd said "could," this wouldn't be a big point of contention. Since he said "will," it is infinitely arguable.

"...you start with a general lack of talent...." -- wrong. The consensus from places like ESPN and 247 and Rivals and others is that there's a significant amount of talent on Tennessee's roster. It simply hasn't (previously) been used well. And you couldn't find anything to argue with here?

"...an unproven head coach...." -- Okay, if he'd said "a championship-winning coordinator who hasn't yet been proven as a head coach," there would be no room for argument. By making our coach sound like a guy found on a street corner, just some joe, he makes this point--again--infinitely arguable.

"...an uninspiring quarterback situation...." -- I'll bet Guarantano's high school coaches, as well as Chryst's, would love to argue this point with him. So would a lot of Vols fans.

"...a barbaric schedule...." -- No, not at all. Our October stretch is a real gauntlet, but our schedule in general is no harder than a couple of dozen others among the Power 5 programs. Infinitely arguable.

"...Maybe athletic director Phil Fulmer will appoint himself Head Offensive Assistant Coach by November." -- Ludicrous.

So TAF, maybe you couldn't find much to argue with here, but I sure found plenty. It was an idiotic article written by a has-been with an axe to grind and a need for clicks.
 
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#22
#22
05_never_again said:
According to Wiki, originally from Colorado, Mizzou grad, lives in Louisville. Don't think there would be any particular Tennessee animus from that.
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I don't think it's specific to Tennessee. He's just incredibly biased in general; comes out strongly positive about a few teams, and really negative toward all the rest. Not a very good human being behind the pen.
 
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#23
#23
VFL-82-JP said:
"...Tennessee will be 2-6 entering November." -- if he'd said "could," this wouldn't be a big point of contention. Since he said "will," it is infinitely arguable.

"...you start with a general lack of talent...." -- wrong. The consensus from places like ESPN and 247 and Rivals and others is that there's a significant amount of talent on Tennessee's roster. It simply hasn't (previously) been used well. And you couldn't find anything to argue with here?

"...an unproven head coach...." -- Okay, if he'd said "a championship-winning coordinator who hasn't yet been proven as a head coach," there would be no room for argument. By making our coach sound like a guy found on a street corner, just some joe, he makes this point--again--infinitely arguable.

"...an uninspiring quarterback situation...." -- I'll bet Guarantano's high school coaches, as well as Chryst's, would love to argue this point with him. So would a lot of Vols fans.

"...a barbaric schedule...." -- No, not at all. Our October stretch is a real gauntlet, but our schedule in general is no harder than a couple of dozen others among the Power 5 programs. Infinitely arguable.

"...Maybe athletic director Phil Fulmer will appoint himself Head Offensive Assistant Coach by November." -- Ludicrous.
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All great points. It's par for the course that almost every national media analyst has recycled the same lazy talking points regarding our program this off-season and done very little research. I understand there are a lot of teams to cover, but any self-respecting journalist would take the time to dive into rosters and recruiting rankings before spouting off "general lack of talent." I also have a problem with the "barbaric schedule" comment that he, among many others are using. We have three sure-fire elite teams on our schedule (Georgia, Auburn, Alabama). No one argues that those are three likely losses. But after that, our schedule really isn't an insurmountable force. We have 3 FCS level opponents, 3 mediocre teams (Missouri, Kentucky, Vanderbilt), and three over-hyped matchups against teams who will be favored (WVU, Florida, South Carolina).

I'm not shouting out that this team will win 9 games, but outside of Georgia/Alabama/Auburn none of the remaining teams on our schedule are leagues better than us. WVU is arguably the toughest out of those three teams. Florida is coming off a 4-win season, has a brand-new coach, a mediocre QB, and yet pundits are already counting that game which takes place in Neyland as a loss. I don't see a formidable gap between us and Florida. If anything the teams are evenly matched and it should be a pick'em if not UT -1.5 (the normal line for a home team in a toss-up). And as for South Carolina, this is a team who had exceeded expectations at 9-3 last year and was one play away from losing to the worst Tennessee team in program history. If that team isn't beatable than I'm not sure who is.
 
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