I have a sinking feeling......

[Orange Death]

I have a sinking feeling we are about to lose 7 games in a row. Anybody got words of encouragement? Really concerned about QB position which is key. Another 17 year old QB recruit is not going to be the answer IMO.

I think Heupel will get the job done in the long run, but I think this is going to be the worst year of his tenure. I expect the rest of the year to go poorly due to things he can’t necessarily control but we’ll be ultimately happy about the future under him.

Pruitt was learning on the job. Jones/Dooley were stooges from Day 1. Kiffy is/was a gimmick like Leach. He can beat you any given day but not consistently because he gets bored.

Huepel seems like he has more than a clue and knows what’s up.

 

[Vfl2407]

Hamilton removed the root problem that had the program off the rails. Kiffin bolting and the overreaction by the BoT to go uber vanilla and hire Dooley was an avalanche that buried the program the rest of the way. The return of Phil and his behind the scenes manipulation to try and regain power put us where we are now.

In order of blame for our current status imo,

1) Phil. He tanked the program as coach and again as AD.
2) Dooley. He collapsed our recruiting and was an all-time incompetent on the sidelines
3) Kiffin. His one year exit late in the process to go and fail at USC was all about his ego and stroking it. Without this, no Dooley making us into a joke.
4) Hamilton. He didn't make a bad hire in Kiffin on paper. But he didn't listen to Al Davis about Kiffin being immature and egotistical, Al had just made the Kiffin mistake himself. Passing on Patterson really sucked.
5) Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt was just a completely incompetent boob, who was Phil's hand puppet. He will move up this list if the NCAA comes down hard on us, probably to #2.

There are other behinds the scenes people who also deserve to be on that list too, from big boosters to BoT members/admin. Butch Jones would be up there too, he was much more competent than Dooley or Pruitt but that is a low low low bar.

you have pretty well summed it up.
poor General Neyland has been turning over in his grave for about 15-20 years now. Sigh.

 

[UTK]

I have a sinking feeling we are about to lose 7 games in a row. Anybody got words of encouragement? Really concerned about QB position which is key. Another 17 year old QB recruit is not going to be the answer IMO.

We'd beat South Carolina playing all backups. That's all I got though lol

 

[FranklinVFL]

You may be right. But if we lose 7 straight, and look bad doing it, things will start heating up again in Knoxville. I, however, think it is highly unlikely we drop 7 straight.

Things should not get heated up this year no matter what. What can we expect with only 71 scholarship players? We are going to drop a lot this year. Possibly next year as well. However, we should hold off on any judgement on Huepel until he has a full allotment of scholarship players

 

[TNnative]

I have a sinking feeling we are about to lose 7 games in a row. Anybody got words of encouragement? Really concerned about QB position which is key. Another 17 year old QB recruit is not going to be the answer IMO.

Stop worrying about 7 games. Just worry about the next one. Real simple.

 

[tennesseeduke]

I have a sinking feeling we are about to lose 7 games in a row. Anybody got words of encouragement? Really concerned about QB position which is key. Another 17 year old QB recruit is not going to be the answer IMO.

Then don’t watch

 

[tennesseeduke]

You may be right. But if we lose 7 straight, and look bad doing it, things will start heating up again in Knoxville. I, however, think it is highly unlikely we drop 7 straight.

Nothing is heating up in year 1 with the dumpster fire he inherited! We already look better in most positions than we did a year ago with a less talented team! Good grief people!

 

[OLEVOLFAN]

Nothing is heating up in year 1 with the dumpster fire he inherited! We already look better in most positions than we did a year ago with a less talented team! Good grief people!

Some people will never get it, Most of Our Fanbase is Just Stupid as He!!

 

[VOLnMiami]

This forum is like a mental hospital...we are gonna go 7-5 or 6-6 to losing 7 straight to firing our new coach to..Ahh hell nevermind.

 

[VOLnMiami]

You may be right. But if we lose 7 straight, and look bad doing it, things will start heating up again in Knoxville. I, however, think it is highly unlikely we drop 7 straight.

Nothing is going to get heated up in Knoxville...Not for about 5 years minimum...CJH inherited a crappy team with crappy players and he is making the most of it with what he's got.

 

[HoopCreekVol]

You’re right about it being a QB driven league.

I expect the Vols to improve each week. Mostly thru becoming more consistent. There are flashes of really good to great football and then the ditch. Once expected improvement occurs the poor performance won’t be so bad and not as often.

When it comes to Mo, SC, OM and Ky, it’s not how good they are that’s the issue, it’s our inconsistent play that will determine the outcome of those games. Or unfortunate turnovers.

I agree with you. These guys are not Bama. It comes down to us having our game plan tight and executing without dumb penalties. It's not going to be the refs or anything of that nature. It will be catching balls that should be caught and catching those that would have been dropped a few games before. It's doing those extra things that make for highlight reels.

Runs for 4+ yards help a great deal too.

But going backward will not get you any wins. Taking sacks and allowing momentum to swing the other way will not beat any of those teams anytime.

Special teams can mean the world to us this year. Anything they can do to disrupt the opponent can be a gamechanger.

 

[TJVol95]

I have a sinking feeling we are about to lose 7 games in a row. Anybody got words of encouragement? Really concerned about QB position which is key. Another 17 year old QB recruit is not going to be the answer IMO.

Don’t look good this week.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Hamilton removed the root problem that had the program off the rails. Kiffin bolting and the overreaction by the BoT to go uber vanilla and hire Dooley was an avalanche that buried the program the rest of the way. The return of Phil and his behind the scenes manipulation to try and regain power put us where we are now.

In order of blame for our current status imo,

1) Phil. He tanked the program as coach and again as AD.
2) Dooley. He collapsed our recruiting and was an all-time incompetent on the sidelines
3) Kiffin. His one year exit late in the process to go and fail at USC was all about his ego and stroking it. Without this, no Dooley making us into a joke.
4) Hamilton. He didn't make a bad hire in Kiffin on paper. But he didn't listen to Al Davis about Kiffin being immature and egotistical, Al had just made the Kiffin mistake himself. Passing on Patterson really sucked.
5) Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt was just a completely incompetent boob, who was Phil's hand puppet. He will move up this list if the NCAA comes down hard on us, probably to #2.

There are other behinds the scenes people who also deserve to be on that list too, from big boosters to BoT members/admin. Butch Jones would be up there too, he was much more competent than Dooley or Pruitt but that is a low low low bar.

Stop. Mike Hamilton ran off Gary Patterson and likely any other head coach we wanted. Fulmer didn’t tank the program as a coach. You cannot tell me in 2009 that a man who never coached a down in college football was the best we could do. That’s BS.

Mike Hamilton screwed this program over and we are still feeling the effects of it. No Mike Hamilton and we likely get Patterson. And that likely means no Currie, Butch, Dooley, Fulmer or Pruitt.

 

[chuck0303]

I would focus on special teams and defense.

Both appear better than what was expected so far and will be key in knocking anyone off in an upset.

SC and KY appear to be the more promising winnable games In the next 7 IMO.

I dont hold out much hope against MO on the road. Almost always seem to have trouble against them as well.

I'm encouraged by the overall improvement of play & glad some other players got some live game experience, we need all of the depth we can develop.

 

[golfballs]

People are reading too much into KY/UTC final score. KY and OM have the personnel to straight up beat Vols and those game will depend on them no making mistakes. Mizzou I have not watched much but assume will be a toss up. SC and Vandy should be wins but both are playing hard and not giving up when down. There is only one more gimmie game on the schedule.

People are definitely not reading too much into the KY score. That’s who UK is. Doesn’t mean we can’t or won’t lose to them, but that is a winnable game.

 

[wmcovol]

If this team shows no improvement, it could happen. They play with good effort thou and I’m hopeful improvement will come. It does when you apply yourself & these kids are doing that. Definitely need to win a couple at least

 

[chuck0303]

Stop. Mike Hamilton ran off Gary Patterson and likely any other head coach we wanted. Fulmer didn’t tank the program as a coach. You cannot tell me in 2009 that a man who never coached a down in college football was the best we could do. That’s BS.

Mike Hamilton screwed this program over and we are still feeling the effects of it. No Mike Hamilton and we likely get Patterson. And that likely means no Currie, Butch, Dooley, Fulmer or Pruitt.

Fulmer didn't tank the program? You definitely haven't followed this program. That's where it ALL started. Fulmer became complacent & drove the program into the ground, hence his FIRING! Now, you can't blame him for what followed. We all have had high hopes and it hasn't worked out. There's plenty of others to place blame, but blaming people at this late date doesn't get us one more W. We need to support the coaches & players we have--period dot!

 

[10MTNBIGORANGE]

I think if Heupel keeps going with Bombadeer Milton instead of sticking with Hooker we are screwed

 

[IndianaVol]

I am in the 7 or 8 loss camp myself.

The game yesterday didn't inspire me offensively despite scoring 56 points.

3rd down was a problem and they couldn't get consistent push in the running game against a completely overmatched team.

My thoughts exactly...there were at least three opportunities where our WR was behind them and the ball was overthrown or off target. Score should have been 77.

With our decimated and thin OLine we are going to have a hard time running the ball against anyone in the SEC.

 

[1truevol]

I have a sinking feeling we are about to lose 7 games in a row. Anybody got words of encouragement? Really concerned about QB position which is key. Another 17 year old QB recruit is not going to be the answer IMO.

Did you really expect anything different...I mean really? This is the SEC man...no gimmees...no cupcakes except Vandy (and prob us). It's time Vol fans be realistic! 3 years guys...3 years before we're relevant. Fact!

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Fulmer didn't tank the program? You definitely haven't followed this program. That's where it ALL started. Fulmer became complacent & drove the program into the ground, hence his FIRING! Now, you can't blame him for what followed. We all have had high hopes and it hasn't worked out. There's plenty of others to place blame, but blaming people at this late date doesn't get us one more W. We need to support the coaches & players we have--period dot!

Yeah 2 losing seasons is really ranking the program huh? Fulmer didn’t keep getting worse year after year before getting fired. Did he deserve to get fired? Imo no he didn’t.

The bottom line is looking back at it firing Fulmer the way we did was the worst decision TN has made in a long time. Stats prove that. And for that, I blame Mike Hamilton.

I support this staff and players. But Heupel has the biggest mountain of any coach in modern TN history to climb. It’s gonna take quite a bit of time and patience for him to be successful. But the problem is this fan base likely won’t give him the time needed. Watch next year, there will be calls for Heupel to be fired on here and social media.

 

[JarrettClass79]

We should win USC, S Alabama, and Vandy and can beat Mizzo and UK. I afraid our QB is going to get hurt because he does not protect himself.

 

[Elhanan]

Wait… people are expecting better than 4-8?

The UT admin has hired one moron after another just to save money. They don’t give a rats ass about football.

We can hope those morons stumbled into a good hire with this one but expectations need to be severely lowered. Bowl eligibility is the dream/goal until we’re consistently beating everyone but the big 3.

“If you lower your expectations you’ll never be disappointed.”

 

[pharmDvol11]

I have a sinking feeling we are about to lose 7 games in a row. Anybody got words of encouragement? Really concerned about QB position which is key. Another 17 year old QB recruit is not going to be the answer IMO.

Enjoy one more week of .500?

 

[cobbwebb0710]

That has NOTHING to do with the coach we have now.

You’re right, but it has EVERYTHING to do with the program we are now.
GBO??