I don't see 2011 being our Championship year

#51
#51
AFL2008 said:
7-5 I think will be another good year for Tennessee considering the youth and the lack of depth on the offensive lines and the interior of the defensive line.

Oregon, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, LSU and Georgia are all in a better position on the depth chart. It would take superior coaching and execution to win those games, which is certainly possible, but I wouldn't bet on it today. Also you have games like Kentucky and Mississippi, which while certainly Tennessee should be favored, aren't auto wins.

If UT gets slammed with injuries like last year, especially on the offensive line, then UT would be lucky to get back to 6-6 and a bowl game.

You guys have to remember, Saban had better players and a SUPER easy schedule in his 2nd year. The toughest games on the schedule were 10-3 UGA, 8-4 Mississippi, and 8-5 LSU in the regular season. Not exactly a gauntlet.

UT draws the Pac 10 champ, SEC east champ, National champ, UGA on the road, LSU on the road, and the SEC east darkhorse on the road. Not favorable.
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Bama also opened up against top 10 ranked teams both years. Set the bar high from the first game.
 
#52
#52
utgibbs said:
I started this thread before the Kiffin departure. Although it was couched in trying to be positive, the fact is, Kiffin is no Saban. In fact, he wasn't much different than Phil-in-Decline.
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That just isn't true.
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#53
#53
utgibbs said:
I don't expect us to win the SEC in 2011, much less the NC. We still seem a long way from that calibre and consistency.
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I'm not sure how long it will take, but if one can win the SEC championship, the NC is not far away. In fact, the SEC Champion has never lost the BCS NC game. So, the notion that the SEC championship is somehow a long way from the NC is baffling.

Having said that, there is virtually no chance that UT wins a championship (even if we counted the SEC East) in 2011.

I'd say we're another HFC hiring decision plus a minimum of 3 years after that from a championship. My guess is 5-10 years for the SEC or national championship.

I also think the Vols are much closer to a NC in men's basketball than in football.
 
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#54
#54
Guys our main problem the past ten years has been consistent recruiting. We haven't had two top 4 classes in the SEC back to back since 03-04. The past two years were better reeling in the 5th class in 09 and 4th best class this year. If we can land a top 3 SEC class next year then we won't be that far off talent wise, we would be a little young but we would have a very solid foundation. Think of the young offensive talent.

QB
Tyler Bray
RB
Brown, Oku, Poole, Williams, Neal
FB
Fugate, Johnson
WR
Teauge, Rogers, Milton, Meline, Hunter, Z. Rogers, WILKES
TE
Rivera
Oline
James, Fulton, Hood, Revis, Schofield, Stone, Douglas, Pair, ect.


That will be a young but VERY talented Offense.

Then on D
DL
Walls, Hughes, Brown, Miller, Smith, Jeffery (need a bunch more in next years class)
LB
Askew, King, Nelson, Mitchell-Thorton, Thompson, Lathers, Crump, Propst
DB
Gordon, Jackson, Myles Jr., Loften, Clark, Dixon, Meline, ect

The D has some work to do but if we land a Stacked Defensive class next year I could see alot of that young talent being plugged in and making us a very dangerous team in 2011.

Then when you look at that above roster and realize that about 2 of those players are Seniors you have to get even more excited about 2012!!!
 
#55
#55
Dooley won't last two years with all these expectations thrown on him...Not many coaches can do what Saban did in 3 years at Alabama...If you honestly believe thats what Dooley has to do then your going to be sadly disappointed...I think he will do a great job for us but damn don't make him out to be a miracle worker.
 
#56
#56
utgibbs said:
It took Saban three years to win the NC. I know he went 6-6 in Year One, but hellfire, he had an undefeated regular season in Year Two. What Vol fan wouldn't be thrilled with that? Usually, we know we aren't going undefeated before the end of September.

I don't expect us to win the SEC in 2011, much less the NC. We still seem a long way from that calibre and consistency.

In fact, I fear we may not be 0.500 next year. We lose a lot of key performers which enabled this 7 - 5 (6) season.

Is Saban just that much better than everybody else? Is TN really that threadbare? What are the expectation for CLK Year Two? Thoughts?

(Shameless Bump Edit): Fulmer would have been 7-5 with this team too. Kiffin's recruiting class isn't going to have us undefeated next season (and looks more and more like a bust class), and now the program has suffered a major blow. Supported Kiffin while he was here, but the subtext to all my posts were clear.....

The only good part of the Kiffin "era" will be he did stick behind Jonathan Crompton, and at least that young man will leave not as one of the most reviled Vols of all time.
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1. Saban inherited a lot of talent at Alabama, much better than what we have now. Mike Shula's problem wasn't recruiting, it was that he made Ron Zook look like a coaching genius.

2. If we go undefeated in Dooley's second year, he should get a lifetime contract, at whatever salary he asks for. Because if he does, the man would have to be the greatest coach who ever lived.

3. We have a decent shot at a .500 season next year, maybe one game better. But if people get hurt, all bets are off. We're going to be awfully thin and inexperienced.

4. Saban's that good with championship talent. With a mediocre team, he's nothing special, doing stuff like losing to UAB and ULM. I think he's more motivated when he knows he has a shot at a title.

5. Tennessee is threadbare right now.

6. Ask about Dooley's second season after he finishes his first.

7. Fulmer would have been at least 7-5 with last year's team. I think he would have beaten either Auburn or UCLA, too. But I also think we would have been destroyed by both Florida and Alabama, rather than be competitive. And we would be looking at more of the same for years to come.

8. Fulmer would have stuck with Crompton, too. He's Fulmer. He never fires or gives up on anybody, unless you force him to. How well Crompton would have done in 2009 would have depended on how well the team adjusted to Dave Clawson in his second season. Clawson has a history of teams needing a year to pick up his system--although Bowling Green seems to have done it in half a season.
 
#57
#57
Tough 10-11 schedules, Depth concerns on both lines, Quarterback concerns, new schemes for players to learn and new coaches who knows what 10-11 seasons will bring. I can say with confidence no NC for awhile.
 
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#58
#58
orangepeel said:
I didn't know how T Martin was going to perform,but outside of that we had a lot talent on that team.Just to name a few:

Peerless Price
Deon Grant
Tee Martin
Dwayne Goodrich
Cosey Coleman
Jamal Lewis
Shaun Ellis
Shawn Bryson
Travis Henry
Raynoch Thompson
Billy Ratliff
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First of all- how dare you leave off Al Wilson. (The rod wilks of 98)

But back then, nobody knew how good all of those guys were going to be. Maybe this can be our current situation- superstars in development.

Also, I have to wonder about LK. What if he improved Stevens instead of crompton. Would have paid off in 2010
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#60
#60
jsc1973 said:
1. Saban inherited a lot of talent at Alabama, much better than what we have now. Mike Shula's problem wasn't recruiting, it was that he made Ron Zook look like a coaching genius.

3. We have a decent shot at a .500 season next year, maybe one game better. But if people get hurt, all bets are off. We're going to be awfully thin and inexperienced.

4. Saban's that good with championship talent. With a mediocre team, he's nothing special, doing stuff like losing to UAB and ULM. I think he's more motivated when he knows he has a shot at a title.

5. Tennessee is threadbare right now.

7. Fulmer would have been at least 7-5 with last year's team. I think he would have beaten either Auburn or UCLA, too. But I also think we would have been destroyed by both Florida and Alabama, rather than be competitive. And we would be looking at more of the same for years to come.

8. Fulmer would have stuck with Crompton, too. He's Fulmer. He never fires or gives up on anybody, unless you force him to. How well Crompton would have done in 2009 would have depended on how well the team adjusted to Dave Clawson in his second season. Clawson has a history of teams needing a year to pick up his system--although Bowling Green seems to have done it in half a season.
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I would love to see the numbers on Shula's recruiting at Bama. I think, at worst, Kiffin inherited Shula's Bama talent here. I would bet he inherited better.

I think Clawson has JC ready by UCLA. It would have been a 8-4 or 9-3 season then, maybe better still.

What it really boils down to (and I don't think this will happen) is that if Dooley busts, then the Kiffin experiment was a disaster for this program, and we would have been far, far better off with Fulmer at the helm and hoping he found renewed energy / let Clawson work.
 
#61
#61
VOLnMiami said:
Dooley won't last two years with all these expectations thrown on him...Not many coaches can do what Saban did in 3 years at Alabama...If you honestly believe thats what Dooley has to do then your going to be sadly disappointed...I think he will do a great job for us but damn don't make him out to be a miracle worker.
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That was my assumption with the lower end prediction for a championship team (5 years... 2 more Dooley, 3 more with a proven coach).

It's equally as ikely that Dooley will lead us back up to mediocrity and could last up to 6 or 7 years meaning that it will take ten years to win a championship.

But anyone expecting Dooley to win a championship is being unrealistic. There's absolutely no reason to believe that would ever happen. :p
 
#64
#64
utgibbs said:
I would love to see the numbers on Shula's recruiting at Bama. I think, at worst, Kiffin inherited Shula's Bama talent here. I would bet he inherited better.
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2003-49th (but I doubt he had anything to do with this class, considering all that happened)
2004-15th
2005-18th
2006-11th
2007-10th (Saban would have finished this class)

Overall, probably about an equal haul to Fulmer's hot-and-cold recruiting in those years, but it sure seemed like they got better talent in those classes.
 
#66
#66
jsc1973 said:
2003-49th (but I doubt he had anything to do with this class, considering all that happened)
2004-15th
2005-18th
2006-11th
2007-10th (Saban would have finished this class)

Overall, probably about an equal haul to Fulmer's hot-and-cold recruiting in those years, but it sure seemed like they got better talent in those classes.
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Okay, it looks like to me, at worst Kiffin inherited the same talent as Saban.

So, does this tell us more about Saban or Kiffin?

At the end of the day, I think Fulmer goes bowling if he doesn't get fired, and he probably has a better year than Kiffin did last year. IF Dooley is the real deal (and I think he just might be) then it's all a wash. If not, then the Kiffin experiment was a disaster for UT; a whomping big disaster, and only the haters and the younglings would suggest we would still be better off without Fulmer.
 
#67
#67
We will be in the SEC Championship game next year. '98, '01, '04, '07....

"Numbers never lie"
 
#70
#70
remember one other thing.

tennessee being good won't make everyone else bad.

steve spurrier was the coach at florida from 1990 through 2001.

florida state finished in the top 5 every year until 2001.

florida becoming good didn't make florida state bad.

i don't think tennessee becoming good will make the other teams in the SEC weaker. tennessee would just be joining everyone else.
 
#71
#71
99gator said:
remember one other thing.

tennessee being good won't make everyone else bad.

steve spurrier was the coach at florida from 1990 through 2001.

florida state finished in the top 5 every year until 2001.

florida becoming good didn't make florida state bad.

i don't think tennessee becoming good will make the other teams in the SEC weaker. tennessee would just be joining everyone else.
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I absolutely HATE this guy. FLORIDA finally came around and joined everybody else. If you are going to be here acting like you know everything, you had better recognize. Florida took decades to get where Tennessee has been. Yes they are down now, but Tennessee isnt "joining" anybody. Other than Bama, Tennessee has the most storied history in the SEC. Florida isnt even an HBO mini-series when it comes to a storied history. Joining everyone else...you get dumber the longer you are here.
 
#74
#74
Fightmaker said:
I absolutely HATE this guy. FLORIDA finally came around and joined everybody else. If you are going to be here acting like you know everything, you had better recognize. Florida took decades to get where Tennessee has been. Yes they are down now, but Tennessee isnt "joining" anybody. Other than Bama, Tennessee has the most storied history in the SEC. Florida isnt even an HBO mini-series when it comes to a storied history. Joining everyone else...you get dumber the longer you are here.
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you have one of those barbed wire tattoos on your arms don't you?

switch to decaf.

what i wrote was about the present, not the past. i highlighted part of your post, which clearly says the same thing. tennessee ain't where it used to be.

tennessee's past is better than florida's. there's no doubt about that.
 
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#75
#75
wcm100690 said:
So your saying were not going to beat UT Martin,UAB,UGA,S.Caolina,Memphis,Miss,Vandy and Kentucky? That's 8 wins right there.
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Have you a clue about our roster? We would gladly trade oline and dline with Kentucky. That's Kentucky I said. We never win games "because we are Tennessee". We win them because of the players and on the lines we don't have them. A good rotation of dtackles is six. We don't even have that many on the roster. So yes, on paper where we are now, no we won't.
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