How does the Tennessee Job Rank?

[perico]

Florida had to settle for Ron Zook, and Bama hired Dennis Franchione and then Mike Shula - those are phases, each program goes through them and it's not really indicative of how good the job is or can be.

Don't forget about Mike Price

 

[UNAVol89]

a lot of coaches ran from the job several years ago cause they knew the roster was in very bad shape and the patience wasn't very long from a fan base. Also, competing with florida, Georgia and Alabama every year scares a lot of them off.

Times have changed in the last 5 yrs. Nashville is a hot town and 615 produces a lot of talent now with more to come. Middle Tennessee expected to add 500,000+ people in 10 yrs.

Biggest negative going for Tennessee now is baffoons like Cheek, hart, etc.

Biggest negative for Tennessee is buffoons like our fans

 

[jakez4ut]

By definition, that's the problem with every Tier 1 job. Name one school on that list where this isn't the case? If anything, UT fans tend to be more patient than a lot of other fan bases for the Tier 1 schools.

Remember, Florida fired Zook after 3 seasons and Muschamp after 4. A "Fire Ron Zook" website was created almost the very day Zook was hired. Michigan fired RichRod after only 3 seasons and he's turned out to be pretty good at Arizona. The Texas fan base is already restless in Year 2 of the Charlie Strong era. Alabama had 4 different coaches from 2000 - 2007 and fired Mike Shula after one injury-plagued 6-6 season (remember he went 10-2 the year before). About 50% of Georgia fans want Mark Richt fired even though he's 140-50 and easily the 2nd best coach in the school's entire history (if not for Herschel Walker, Richt would be THE best coach in UGA history.)



Wrong. Tennessee has routinely been in the top 10 under its good coaches. This has been the biggest BS argument against Tennessee. It's less than 200 miles away from Atlanta, one of the top recruiting markets in the nation, and it has several other significant recruiting markets within a 500 mile radius; not to mention a national profile.



Once again, have you actually checked out the recruiting ranking over the past few years? Or how about during the Fulmer years? Recruiting only sucked here with Dooley. It's never been "tough" with any other coach. I'm not saying we have the natural advantages that Florida, Georgia, Texas, and USC have. But the idea that it's so horribly difficult to recruit at UT is nonsense. Notre Dame and Oklahoma have similar situations.




Maybe. But this sounds like wishing on your part. Certainly some programs have declined over time (see Colorado). Tennessee is certainly one of the most attractive jobs in the country, particularly now that it's been built back up from the Dooley years.



Once again, silly arguments. If this were the case, then Florida would've never landed Urban Meyer. Aside from possibly Auburn, I can't think of any school with a greater reputation for impatience than Florida. The truth of the matter is that every major program in the country is impatient and has made a few questionable hires in the past few decades (with the exception of Ohio State, Florida State, and Penn State).

well done. took a lot of the words right out of my mouth.

 

[KBVol]

Biggest negative for Tennessee is buffoons like our fans

What kind of stupid ish is this statement? You mean the same fanbase that continually fills Neyland stadium year after year, game after blown game.....awful coach after awful coach? The same fanbase that buys more team gear than nearly every other fanbase in the country? The same fanbase that takes 45k to an irrelevant bowl game in Florida or that shows up 65k strong for an intrasquad game....after winning fewer games than Vsndy since 2008?? GTFO with that mess

 

[xpsyclonex2002]

Our facilities, resources, boosters (ok Texas is in a league of their own) and yes, our fans are second to none. The only thing that holds us back is in-state recruits. That is getting better by the year. The Rutherford County and Nashville area is only getting better. With the growth projections for Middle Tennessee, 5 years from now there is going to be a lot of talent moving in. We will never be a FL or CA or LA, but we will have a lot of SEC talent. Plus, job appeal is also linked to winning. In 1997-1998, no way Alabama was considered a better job.

The good news is, we don't have to have the volume of talent that they have. We are the only top shelf team in our state. Besides GA, there isn't a power school that can compete with us within a 5 hr drive of Knoxville. If you look North, East, and West of Tennessee, Where is the nearest legit competition? FL recruits have 3 in state programs to choose from, along with all of the other schools in the nation calling them. CA has the same issue. UCLA, USC, Stanford, along with the rest of the country picking their bones clean. GA has GT to compete with and is sitting square in the middle of SEC country. FL AL, UT, Carolina, all surround them and are every bit the powerhouse programs that GA is. UT only really has to worry about AL and ole Miss. Kentucky, AR, NC, VT, and Mizzou aren't going to poach our talent and we aren't deep enough for out of stater's to come in and hit 2 dozen recruits in a week with visits like in FL. They are making a special trip to Tennessee if they come here. We just have to build our fence around the state, and rob GA, FL, SC and the rest of the Nation.

 

[jakez4ut]

What kind of stupid ish is this statement? You mean the same fanbase that continually fills Neyland stadium year after year, game after blown game.....awful coach after awful coach? The same fanbase that buys more team gear than nearly every other fanbase in the country? The same fanbase that takes 45k to an irrelevant bowl game in Florida or that shows up 65k strong for an intrasquad game....after winning fewer games than Vsndy since 2008?? GTFO with that mess

you know what's funny...is all the uproar about Volnation being bad, or good for that matter, for the perception of the program.

Volnation has, what, 63000 members (nicely done btw)?

i think it's silly for people to think this message board is the end all be all for TN fan perception when if every member showed up for a game, we'd barely get it over half full, 1 time in a give season.

at best this is a single digit % of the entirety of the fan base....

 

[pimo1]

By definition, that's the problem with every Tier 1 job. Name one school on that list where this isn't the case? If anything, UT fans tend to be more patient than a lot of other fan bases for the Tier 1 schools.

Remember, Florida fired Zook after 3 seasons and Muschamp after 4. A "Fire Ron Zook" website was created almost the very day Zook was hired. Michigan fired RichRod after only 3 seasons and he's turned out to be pretty good at Arizona. The Texas fan base is already restless in Year 2 of the Charlie Strong era. Alabama had 4 different coaches from 2000 - 2007 and fired Mike Shula after one injury-plagued 6-6 season (remember he went 10-2 the year before). About 50% of Georgia fans want Mark Richt fired even though he's 140-50 and easily the 2nd best coach in the school's entire history (if not for Herschel Walker, Richt would be THE best coach in UGA history.)



Wrong. Tennessee has routinely been in the top 10 under its good coaches. This has been the biggest BS argument against Tennessee. It's less than 200 miles away from Atlanta, one of the top recruiting markets in the nation, and it has several other significant recruiting markets within a 500 mile radius; not to mention a national profile.



Once again, have you actually checked out the recruiting ranking over the past few years? Or how about during the Fulmer years? Recruiting only sucked here with Dooley. It's never been "tough" with any other coach. I'm not saying we have the natural advantages that Florida, Georgia, Texas, and USC have. But the idea that it's so horribly difficult to recruit at UT is nonsense. Notre Dame and Oklahoma have similar situations.




Maybe. But this sounds like wishing on your part. Certainly some programs have declined over time (see Colorado). Tennessee is certainly one of the most attractive jobs in the country, particularly now that it's been built back up from the Dooley years.



Once again, silly arguments. If this were the case, then Florida would've never landed Urban Meyer. Aside from possibly Auburn, I can't think of any school with a greater reputation for impatience than Florida. The truth of the matter is that every major program in the country is impatient and has made a few questionable hires in the past few decades (with the exception of Ohio State, Florida State, and Penn State).

puff puf pass.... PASS MAN!!!! what are you smoking PASS me some.

 

[HardKnoxVol]

Yeah, we kinda messed up on hiring Dooley....lol

Timing was key there. We rushed to hire someone because we were like 3 weeks out from signing day. If we had shown patience, we could have hired a very solid coach. Would've enjoyed having Lovie Smith walk the sidelines.

 

[KBVol]

you know what's funny...is all the uproar about Volnation being bad, or good for that matter, for the perception of the program.

Volnation has, what, 63000 members (nicely done btw)?

i think it's silly for people to think this message board is the end all be all for TN fan perception when if every member showed up for a game, we'd barely get it over half full, 1 time in a give season.

at best this is a single digit % of the entirety of the fan base....

This fanbase is utterly amazing in its totality....especially with what it's been put through by the AD and University "leadership" the past decade or so.....and we're still here, more passionate than ever! Some are louder and more critical than others....some are more passive and forgiving than others, but so what?? We're here, living and dying with the recruiting, the practices, the interviews, the games, year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation. If someone wants to take issue with something I say or something someone else says on a message board, then go ahead, have at it. But to paint with a broad brush and just say they the whole lot of us are an embarrassment and the worst part of the program? That's a whole bunch of bull ish.

 

[jakez4ut]

This fanbase is utterly amazing in its totality....especially with what it's been put through by the AD and University "leadership" the past decade or so.....and we're still here, more passionate than ever! Some are louder and more critical than others....some are more passive and forgiving than others, but so what?? We're here, living and dying with the recruiting, the practices, the interviews, the games, year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation. If someone wants to take issue with something I say or something someone else says on a message board, then go ahead, have at it. But to paint with a broad brush and just say they the whole lot of us are an embarrassment and the worst part of the program? That's a whole bunch of bull ish.

:good!:

 

[ReaderVol]

The Dooley and Butch Jones hires would indicate it's not all that attractive at this time. That could change in the future though.

We didn't have to take Dooley. Hamilton chose Dooley.

 

[Franklin51]

Should be considered a top 10 to 15 job in the nation.

 

[DC_Vol]

The problem with the Tennessee job:

Demands and Expectations

Fan demands are extremely high. If you do not compete for the conference title fairly quickly, they have no patience for you and examine and criticize everything you do.

versus

Reality

1) The natural recruiting geography is challenging.

2) Your competition in recruiting (other SEC schools) have some institutional advantage that will be hard to overcome. It will take at least a long while to make significant inroads in their natural territory. Even harder to sustain that.

3) Immediate past history of mistakes by administration, i.e. bad judgment on prior hires, has a lot of folks questioning whether return to traditional level is achievable any time soon. See demands and expectations above.

Its a vicious cycle. The more the demands force people out before the can achieve something, the harder it is for the next guy ... to meet demands.

Captain Obvious has arrived.

 

[SaintLouieVol]

500k in mid tenn in 10 yrs
1M in Nashville over 25 years.
Wonder how many in mid tenn over 25 yrs? I'm astonished.

Nashville area continues to get chosen as one of best areas of country to retire. Therefore, many in this growth prediction will be over the age of 60. I am 59 and my wife and I are considering retiring to that area in a few years. May have to rethink it if growth projections are accurate due to increased traffic, cost of housing, etc. Also, this demographic will not bring in HS athletes, so may not improve recruiting pool.

 

[szevan]

Agree with every team on the list except Penn State. They are not an elite program IMO.

Agreed. They are losing games as well as recruits to the likes of Temple these days.

 

[Gandalf]

All you hand wringers jabbering about Butch leaving please note that V-tech is a 3rd tier program

 

[thebjd]

Nashville area continues to get chosen as one of best areas of country to retire. Therefore, many in this growth prediction will be over the age of 60. I am 59 and my wife and I are considering retiring to that area in a few years. May have to rethink it if growth projections are accurate due to increased traffic, cost of housing, etc. Also, this demographic will not bring in HS athletes, so may not improve recruiting pool.

I don't see it growing at the current rate for 25 years. 600K to 1.6 million people is a big jump. The math depends on 6% growth every year. Some of the suburbs in Nashville will likely slow the growth in order to maintain the community(Franklin is an example). I can see Nashville passing Memphis in size pretty soon.

 

[UTRavens]

Reality

1) The natural recruiting geography is challenging.

2) Your competition in recruiting (other SEC schools) have some institutional advantage that will be hard to overcome. It will take at least a long while to make significant inroads in their natural territory. Even harder to sustain that.

Yet despite the geographical disadvantage, Tennessee still recruits just as well as other SEC powers year in and year out. Why? Because we have the single highest recruiting budget in the nation year in and year out.

As long as that sustains itself, I don't see Tennessee's overall recruiting situation being a problem compared to other SEC teams. It certainly hasn't in the past.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

IMO the top 5-6 jobs are:

Texas
Southern Cal
Florida/Florida State
Georgia
LSU

Why? Main school in the 5 most bountiful states for recruits.

After that the next 5-6 are the schools with the best combination of historical prestige, proximity to recruits, stadium, facilities, and money.

Ohio State
Alabama
Michigan
Notre Dame
Tennessee
Oklahoma

Those are IMO the 12 elite programs in college football.

 

[thebjd]

How does the job rank? It is the Highlander of coaching jobs. It won an award for greatest job ever.

 

[smokey0625]

a lot of coaches ran from the job several years ago cause they knew the roster was in very bad shape and the patience wasn't very long from a fan base. Also, competing with florida, Georgia and Alabama every year scares a lot of them off.

Times have changed in the last 5 yrs. Nashville is a hot town and 615 produces a lot of talent now with more to come. Middle Tennessee expected to add 500,000+ people in 10 yrs.

Biggest negative going for Tennessee now is baffoons like Cheek, hart, etc.

And there were a lot of administrative issues.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Tennessee should be #1 IMO.....................

Yep, and we are. All tier 1 are co-equal in that thread, they're just listed alphabetically.

Anyone notice that the top three jobs are our three biggest rivals that we play every year!

Well, that's just the alphabet at work. But we do share Tier 1 with our 3 top competitors, that's true!

I hate Penn State, but they are the only program in the northeast, they have the largest stadium in football, Heisman trophies (which we don't have), huge fanbase, tradition, etc - they are an elite program.

Syracuse, Rutgers, and Boston College say hello. I know, none of them are "national powers" today, but each has had their time in the sun...just like Penn State.

As for largest stadium, doesn't that distinction go to Michigan?

I agree with others who have said that they were Tier 1 prior to Sandusky, but took a big hit; they're now Tier 2 trying to return to the top.

but you gotta think we go into Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and pretty much anywhere almost automatically #2 to the home state teams. Of course we pull a decent number because UTs awesome, but its pretty tough I'd bet going against UGA, Florida, etc. Maybe he meant the geography is challenging because you have cover so much distance recruiting, can't get everything it needs just in state.

Well, but that's a false argument, to an extent. There are two parts to it: distance, and loyalties.

You knew that Knoxville is only a few hours from Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, and other huge talent markets. Longest drive to any of them is 230 miles.

But did you know that Gainesville is further than that away from West Palm Beach (270 miles) ... Atlanta (335 miles) ... Miami (336 miles) ... Pensacola (347 miles) ... and Charlotte (452 miles). Three of those destinations are in their own state! They don't have a distance advantage, at all, once you start measuring.

And loyalties...Florida has the advantage in some communities, and a big disadvantage in others. Where the FSU love is strong, Florida has a bigger disadvantage than Tennessee or Georgia. We may not be the favorite team, but we're not reviled, either. In-state rivalries give you that kind of problem, which we never have (except among the 30 or so "Vandy families" in the state, hehe). So FSU and Miami make the state of Florida a bit of a catch 22 for the Gators. Don't want to overstate this, there is a big pro-Gator population down there, a big swath of the state who cheer them on. But it's not all cream and roses as the Gator fans would have you believe.

In fact, divided loyalties may be the answer to the question someone else posed about why North Carolina isn't a bigger power. Folks who have lived there know, the state is roughly equally divided FOUR ways for loyalty: UNC, NC State, Duke, and Wake Forest are roughly co-equals. The entire state's map is a splotchy pattern of divided and shifting fan bases. Not sure that's part of the reason North Carolina never became as prominent as, say, FSU, but it seems likely to hae contributed.

...

Bottom line: I liked the article, think it was very well researched and thought out. Pretty much all made sense, everything seemed to fit where it belonged.

Go Vols!

 

[DaddyChad]

Texas A&M is probably right there at tier 1 if not in it. Best facilities in the SEC because they are the newest in the arms race, great stadium, tradition, fans, great instate recruiting base. I would rank them right there at tier 1. JMO.

 

[UT_King]

Biggest recruiting budget helps negate the geographic disadvantages. Not to mention the rapid growth of instate talent. Coming off several 5-7 seasons and getting back to back top 5 classes show UT's potential.

 

[UT_King]

Texas A&M is probably right there at tier 1 if not in it. Best facilities in the SEC because they are the newest in the arms race, great stadium, tradition, fans, great instate recruiting base. I would rank them right there at tier 1. JMO.

If your looking at current program status i agree, but i think the author included historical value which is where A&M is behind.