Have the last 10 years removed us from being a 'blue blood'

#1

PhoenixAZVol

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#1
Maybe we never were a blue blood football program. I was just reading one of the basektball threads questioning whether or not the Bball progam could be a blue blood program after 20 years of great success (not likely). How about football? Were we ever a blue blood program? Folks like to think that we were at one time. Perhaps in the Neyland years? The late 80's to early 00's was probably the closest we came in the modern era but have the last 10-15 years completely destroyed our legacy? If I'm honest, I'm not sure we ever were a real blue blood program. Perhaps we were a tier below Bama, Ohio State, USC, Notre Dame etc. What think you all? With our facilities, resources, fanbase, money spent, etc., you would think we should be but over time the results just haven't been there.
 
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#10
#10
Recently... no doubt. Historically? no. But we are teetering on full blown irrelevance. 15 years of **** will do that to a program. We are Colorado and Nebraska now.
If he was to ask the question in say 2007 I guarantee the majority of the public would consider Tennessee as a blue-blood all time historically. Unfortunately the last 15 years have put a dent in that notion...but to answers OP question, yes IMO we are.
 
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#11
#11
In the top 10 of all time wins, yeppers a BLUE BLOOD

Exactly this. Still second most SEC titles as well. It's been a rough decade for sure. But it would take another decade of suck to remove that blue blood status from us imo
 
#13
#13
We had a great 1990's...and the title in '98 carried us through till Fulmer's last year I'd say. After '98 we still had very good top 5 teams....blowing the big ones in 2001 for example...but our reputation having the recent title in '98 and other great teams carried us as a national power. The Neyland years..and having that heritage of that is still valuable. The Chicago Bears for example are considered by some to be a "storied" franchise becuz of their success way back when. George Halas...Red Grange ..."Monsters of the Midway" etc. ..But the last decade or so for the Vols? Yeah. Hurts any "blueblood" status we may have enjoyed. But still...UT remains a national story and maintains high interest and respect. Look how many games are prime time national games Sat afternoon on CBS. If not there we're on ESPN...or worst SEC Netowork. If we play ETSU or Charlotte it's not gonna be national....but either is a Bama game vs. Louisiana Lafayette. We get TONS of national coverage every year...even through these hard times. That's a great recruiting tool that i'm sure our coaches use. "Play for the Vols...and you WILL be seen and have a better chance than most to show what you've got". Think of it. How many college teams get more national air time than we do? Vol Nation is a national force...or these networks wouldn't be wasting their time with us. Believe me....even though we may not be a true "blueblood" right now. But that can change.
 
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#14
#14
Historically, yes. We are like Nebraska, a storied program that has hit hard times. Think Bama in the late 90s early 2000s. Still a storied program that hit hard times.

Now, if we stay where we are we may end up a Minnesota - a once highly respected program that slid into permanent mediocrity.

It’s gonna be interesting. And realistically, this may be our last shot over the next 5-7 years. We stay here, then hello Minnesota.
 
#15
#15
Yes we were a blue blood.
Yes, we were a team once feared.
Yes, we have fallen hard.

But historically we are in the Ohio state, Michigan, bama, usc groups when u look at all time NC titles and bowl wins.

You don’t have a stadium like neyland and not be a blueblood. It was built that big for a reason....we have been around a long time and won a lot of games and hsve a lot of fans.

The ad just took us for granted the last decade and it appears that may have finally chdnged thank God!
 
#16
#16
We are turning Blue due to all the Blood we've drained out over the past decade. So in light of that, probably.
 
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#17
#17
Maybe we never were a blue blood football program. I was just reading one of the basektball threads questioning whether or not the Bball progam could be a blue blood program after 20 years of great success (not likely). How about football? Were we ever a blue blood program? Folks like to think that we were at one time. Perhaps in the Neyland years? The late 80's to early 00's was probably the closest we came in the modern era but have the last 10-15 years completely destroyed our legacy? If I'm honest, I'm not sure we ever were a real blue blood program. Perhaps we were a tier below Bama, Ohio State, USC, Notre Dame etc. What think you all? With our facilities, resources, fanbase, money spent, etc., you would think we should be but over time the results just haven't been there.
Though we've got historical relevance, we're kinda like UCLA in bball...just struggling to find the least bit of program momentum. I'd put us more in the USCjr realm right now...first, we need to worry about beating the historical door mats, which we've struggled to do in past 10 years. And, though I'm sure we were purposefully vanilla in our O/W game, I didn't gain a ton of confidence from that outing...biggest red flag, to me, was lack of rushing results against what is probably considered an average DL, at best. That being said, I've seen O/W games where we got all jazzed up, only to be disappointed during the season, so, maybe they'll continue to build. Bright spots, for me, were LB and DB's...and that's something solid to build upon that we've not been able to say in awhile.
 
#21
#21
in the General's years, on a national level, we absolutely were a BLUEBLOOD with several national championships! (*we wenrt a year or two withoue even being scored on without the eastern writers awarding a championship)

Those years took us to a level we are still srying to regain!

Bowden Wyatt got us close with his 160 pound tailback!

Doug Dickey also ot us close with Dewey Warren and then abandoned us for Florida!

Johnny came marching home and got us near the top and then Fulmer finished it with a Championship!

I think the Vols still are in the top five when you consider the whole picture.

So yes, TENNESSEE IS A BLUE BLOOD PROGRAM!
 
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#24
#24
You know how I can tell we ARE a blue blood. We can still pull in 5 ⭐️ recruits and beat out other top programs for recruits. A non blue blood can’t do that consistently.
 
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#25
#25
I don't know if Tennessee was ever a "blue blood." That term has a very specific meaning - it doesn't mean just "dominant program."

Tennessee is a historically dominant, traditional power program. Even with the last decade being a black hole. Since the SEC was founded, the only more successful program than Tennessee has been Alabama. That's pretty good.
 
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