I Don't Want to Look Past this Season, but it's Not a Bad Look

#27
#27
ftsandersvol said:
From what I've been reading on Fingers posts, our QB room is in really good shape. Regardless of who is named the starter, it is good to hear we have the depth of three quality QBs that could lead the team if needed.
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We will see about that. If Heupel can't get the QB play back up to Hooker levels then 2022 Bama will be his high water mark.
 
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#28
#28
VolPack22 said:
Technically, every program is always building in this current landscape with the revolving door that is the transfer portal. You used to have guys in the system building chemistry with each other for 3+ years with grad transfers and maybe a few other transfers sprinkled in to fill needs but now the team chemistry changes literally on an annual basis. So it doesn’t matter what year you are in now, you are always building.
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...which puts an extra premium* on recruiting guys from the transfer portal who reflect your team's culture and values.

Think of "continuity" as a glue which holds a team together under challenging circumstances. You used to get continuity from years spent together. In the increased absence** of that, continuity of values becomes more critical.
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* approved by the Department of Redundancy Department
** approved by the Department of Oxymoronic Disapproval
 
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#30
#30
CAVPUT said:
Heupel has completely flipped this roster. No more Pruitt holdovers. This is his roster 100%. This is year 5 and he's still "building"? Still searching for his QB? Maybe he should give Butch a call and get some tips on laying brick? Let's get real. This is the portal era. No one needs 5-6 years to "build a roster".
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By your logic, we should just scrap recruiting entirely and go all transfers. The portal is why we have done as well as we have… and some luck. It is also why we have struggled. Not many people started where Heupel started. You still have to get your staple down with blue chipppers who know your system, and use the transfer portal when you get hurt by someone transferring out. That’s what OSU, BAMA, LSU, Georgia all do. None of them rely on the portal. They simply use it. And when you are in a league with those four and others, it takes more time when you come from the depths of hell. I will agree that it has taken too long to build an OL. That has been my concern for 3 years now. And I do think that has a lot to do with why we lost Nico.

Like it or not, next year looks to be the first year where we won’t have questions there. Unless we completely suck again this year at that position.
 
#33
#33
PEPPERJAX said:
Heupel has clearly built a roster that is in the upper tier of the SEC. It’s kind of hard to not see that after winning 30 games over three seasons. The NEXT step is to have enough talent to compete with the best teams in the playoffs and to make the playoffs on a regular basis. We don’t have a roster like UGA or OSU but I believe JH is bringing this program closer to clubs like those.
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To make that next step CJH needs 2 things...keep winning 10 games a year and being in the hunt (not necessarily always making) the playoffs and getting to that next tier of NIL money. Guys will take a little less money to play for a winner and that works when competing against the ACC and lower 2/3 of the Big Ten. But when we really want a guy that Georgia or Bama or Ohio State wants, we gotta win a few of those bidding wars.
 
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#34
#34
Should be a pretty exciting QB again next year. But, one thing that has shredded the ability to really have a valuable discussion about "next year" 13 months out is the Xfer Portal. It will carve up our roster again after this season most likely. This makes it almost pointless to talk about dept and development like we used to do. We will lose a bunch and replace them back from elsewhere. The good nes is that CJH and company have been masters of the portal in building this program. We definitely have been a Net + on that front since 2021.
 
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#35
#35
Unconditional Surrender said:
We will see about that. If Heupel can't get the QB play back up to Hooker levels then 2022 Bama will be his high water mark.
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If you game plan correctly you can win a lot of games without a QB of Hooker’s stature. All you need is for him to deliver the ball to your playmakers in space. Does Stetson Bennett come to mind?
 
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#36
#36
Sarms58 said:
About half our roster are freshman/redshirt freshman (55/111). I’m not sure what the mix is supposed to be but it does look like we could being really strong in 2026 - especially if (as you suggested) the OL cones together this year. It’s looking like we are going to have two juniors, one sophomore and two freshman starting and at least two other freshman and a sophomore in the two deep. We’ve already got three OL commitments in the 2026 class and one of those is a 4/5 star - getting Gray would make a perfect OL class.

13 seniors, 26 juniors, 17 sophomores, 25 redshirt freshman and 30 freshman
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Thank you for making my long story short and adding some meat to it. I wasn't aware we had 3 in this class. But I agree, a blue chipper would be icing on the cake.
 
#37
#37
ftsandersvol said:
If you game plan correctly you can win a lot of games without a QB of Hooker’s stature. All you need is for him to deliver the ball to your playmakers in space. Does Stetson Bennett come to mind?
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This is true, but the problem is we don't really know who our playmakers are on offense yet.
 
#38
#38
livefaith said:
Should be a pretty exciting QB again next year. But, one thing that has shredded the ability to really have a valuable discussion about "next year" 13 months out is the Xfer Portal. It will carve up our roster again after this season most likely. This makes it almost pointless to talk about dept and development like we used to do. We will lose a bunch and replace them back from elsewhere. The good nes is that CJH and company have been masters of the portal in building this program. We definitely have been a Net + on that front since 2021.
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How many transfers occurred this year?
 
#40
#40
BruisedOrange said:
...which puts an extra premium* on recruiting guys from the transfer portal who reflect your team's culture and values.

Think of "continuity" as a glue which holds a team together under challenging circumstances. You used to get continuity from years spent together. In the increased absence** of that, continuity of values becomes more critical.
-------------
* approved by the Department of Redundancy Department
** approved by the Department of Oxymoronic Disapproval
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Exactly. We lose some guys, sure, but way more stay than leave. That is how it works at Bama, Georgia, FL, LSU, etc. We have had a little bit of a trend of losing some starters though whereas they usually lose guys that want to see more PT that are 4 and 5 stars.
 
#41
#41
vegasvolfan said:
Even if Aguilar gets the nod as starter this year, this next year should surely put one of the other two QBs in good position to run this offense a year down the road. Pendleton is apparently looking serviceable at Center already, and we might keep our entire OL for 2 straight years AFTER THIS YEAR while others develop. Hopefully we can pick up another blue chip OL guy this year. Could we get on Gray's radar even further? I believe if our OL showed great improvements this year at that position, we might flip some guys. We could use one or two more young, highly rated OLs to develop over the next couple of years.

We should be deep everywhere else. We need some WR talent to shine and let's see what the RBs can do, but I have found absolute confidence in our D.

This all makes me a bit more excited about this season. I'm never NOT excited, but I have prepared myself pretty well for down seasons since Heupel took the helm. Tempering expectations left me pleasantly surprised in '23 and with how we faired through some very rough performances on O last year. No way did I think we were making the playoffs after that Arkansas loss.

So, not only do we have POTENTIAL this year, I believe the fact that we might lose very few players (and none that are key positions) the year after gives us a lot to watch for in the area of development. The losses of Kits, West, Bailey, Eason, and Turrentine will probably be felt the most. Other than those guys, no-one HAS TO go from an eligibility perspective that is likely to be a real contributor this year. Yes, there is that transfer portal. Depending on that and early departures, we may have the deepest roster we have seen during the Heupel area in 2026.

By the way, Star Thomas... any word on him so far in camp? He had some decent numbers at Duke last year. He could surprise, but I think we are good with Bishop, West and whoever else--especially after this year.

Pardon any redundancy. It's late.

2025 Football Roster - University of Tennessee Athletics

The official 2025 Football Roster for the University of Tennessee Volunteers
utsports.com utsports.com
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Agree with pretty much all of this. Star Thomas has looked really good including today in the scrimmage. Turrentine IS our only veteran at Safety...BUT he lead the team missed tackles last season with 12 axcording to PFF. When Safeties miss tackles BAD things happen. Hopefully he is much better this year or he gets replaced by one of the new guys. Looks like Farooq is gonna start at the other Safety spot.

These 2025 and 26 classes are LOADED. The 25 kids are already catching praise and look the part at Dline, RB, WR, CB, LB, and QB. Standout freshmen at all those positions...several at Dline and 2 at LB. While the 25 class is making early impacts especially on defense, the 26 class is even better IMO (with or without Hiter,Keys etc) especially on offense. The 26 class is absolutely LOADED on offense and if we land Hiter OR Keys will be Legendary. 26 has:

Best QB in nation
2 Olinemen rated 5* by 1 or more service
3 insane WRs even better than 3 WRs 25
* possibly best RB in nation in Hiter
2 LBs ranked in top 75 composite
Total of 10 Bluechips and the guys who arent are big, fast, and coveted by other SEC programs as well but chose UT.

CJH and staff have done an amazing job since getting here. The 23 and 24 classes were good. The 25 and 26 classes are a different level though. The 4* kids in these 2 classes are HIGH 4* kids that we beat out UGA, Bama, and OSU for...not Vandy and ACC schools like many from the past. They are a different caliber of athlete IMO...the ones we havent landed many of since Fulmer. The 25 and 26 classes are made up mostly of 5* and bluechip 4* kids and are the best classes in the last 20 years at UT. Also each class has been better than the ones before it which is exactly the trend we need for championships. We are looking at a 9-3 type season for 2025 but we are set up for playoff runs in 26-28 and I am very excited too. GBO
 
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#42
#42
marcusluvsvols said:
Agree with pretty much all of this. Star Thomas has looked really good including today in the scrimmage. Turrentine IS our only veteran at Safety...BUT he lead the team missed tackles last season with 12 axcording to PFF. When Safeties miss tackles BAD things happen. Hopefully he is much better this year or he gets replaced by one of the new guys. Looks like Farooq is gonna start at the other Safety spot.

These 2025 and 26 classes are LOADED. The 25 kids are already catching praise and look the part at Dline, RB, WR, CB, LB, and QB. Standout freshmen at all those positions...several at Dline and 2 at LB. While the 25 class is making early impacts especially on defense, the 26 class is even better IMO (with or without Hiter,Keys etc) especially on offense. The 26 class is absolutely LOADED on offense and if we land Hiter OR Keys will be Legendary. 26 has:

Best QB in nation
2 Olinemen rated 5* by 1 or more service
3 insane WRs even better than 3 WRs 25
* possibly best RB in nation in Hiter
2 LBs ranked in top 75 composite
Total of 10 Bluechips and the guys who arent are big, fast, and coveted by other SEC programs as well but chose UT.

CJH and staff have done an amazing job since getting here. The 23 and 24 classes were good. The 25 and 26 classes are a different level though. The 4* kids in these 2 classes are HIGH 4* kids that we beat out UGA, Bama, and OSU for...not Vandy and ACC schools like many from the past. They are a different caliber of athlete IMO...the ones we havent landed many of since Fulmer. The 25 and 26 classes are made up mostly of 5* and bluechip 4* kids and are the best classes in the last 20 years at UT. Also each class has been better than the ones before it which is exactly the trend we need for championships. We are looking at a 9-3 type season for 2025 but we are set up for playoff runs in 26-28 and I am very excited too. GBO
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That's all super exciting. Still, this year... 8-4 I think. We better figure out that QB situation soon. Wish Mac would have done the work to put on serious weight this summer, because Merk and Aguilar sound pretty bad.
 
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#43
#43
vegasvolfan said:
That's all super exciting. Still, this year... 8-4 I think. We better figure out that QB situation soon. Wish Mac would have done the work to put on serious weight this summer, because Merk and Aguilar sound pretty bad.
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8-4 is very possible and even likely. Vegas has us at 8.5wins to make people choose between 8 or fewer wins OR 9 or more wins. I say 9-3 this year just being optimistic but thats the same record I had WITH Nico at QB. I didnt change my projection because QB wasnt an issue and never has been under CJH. Our issues IMO are:

1. WR inexperience
2. QB no SEC experience
3. Safety no experience but Turrentine

I believe the Oline will be better this year than last (low bar at 105th in FBS) its amazing we led the SEC in rushing again last year but still finished 105th at Oline...tells you how bad pass protection was especially vs UGA, OSU, and Ark. Abysmal in all 3 games. Both starting OTackles were badly injured though. We should be average to good this season and good next year on the Oline. We are VERY talented at WR also. All 7 scholarship WRs were Bluechips. They jist have almost zero experience. They should be really good next year also and the 3 freshmen in 26 are freaks. We are LOADED at TE this year and will be for years to come as well as long as both freshmen stay here. It will be a bumpy ride this year at 8 or 9 wins but you're right...we are set up for a great future.
 
#44
#44
CAVPUT said:
Heupel has completely flipped this roster. No more Pruitt holdovers. This is his roster 100%. This is year 5 and he's still "building"? Still searching for his QB? Maybe he should give Butch a call and get some tips on laying brick? Let's get real. This is the portal era. No one needs 5-6 years to "build a roster".
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Yes, we are presently searching for this year's qb. That can't be a mystery to you. The returning starter dipped out. We are scrambling to replace him.


In Tennessee's case, we have to go from rock bottom to being able to beat a team that finishes @ the top of the recruiting rankings every year. That will take time.

We've certainly benefited from the portal. Some of our best players have been transfers. But I'm sure that you've noticed that the SEC & national champions recruit the best classes and sprinkle in portal guys.

That's where the time comes in. We continue to rise up the recruiting rankings. But we aren't there yet. We did need 5-6 years to put down a base level foundation. We did not have one. Now we do.
 
#45
#45
Bigorangefan 98 said:
We just need to start building some talented depth at the WR position.
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Really, we need to recruit super talent @ of the spots. Anything is possible, but I feel like we need to look like the LSU '19 team or Clemson when they won it all. Super at quarterback and premier talent across the board. No real weak links anywhere.
 
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