IMO this is why it's such a uphill climb to the top

#26
#26
Nationdom said:
we are not behind in talent to beat everyone but the big 3.
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We have no pass rush, one LBer that’s even decent or would contribute at any SEC program, our DBs are atrocious. Our Oline is mediocre if I’m being generous. Oh yeah and our depth is terrible.
 
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#27
#27
Peyton Berry said:
Yes the gap is huge, especially with depth period, let alone quality depth. Staff continuity for the first 3/4 years is crucial in my opinion, for player trust, continuity of teaching, recruiting, etc.. If they leave on their on for somewhere we can’t help that, but I don’t think we should be canning anyone unless it’s something unforeseen.
Against Purdue we we’re having to play a former walk on at right tackle, guards that very average.. You seen who was playing in the secondary and getting torched, we just don’t have anyone better to turn to. After 3/4 years recruiting, hitting the portal, and building depth, we should have a much better idea of what all these coaches are made of. And if things go like they look like they’re going, we should be much much closer in talent and depth to everyone not named Georgia and Alabama in the SEC
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Sigh….here goes the 3 to 4 year talk again. It shouldn’t take that long. The transfer portal greatly shortens the time needed to close the talent gap.
 
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#29
#29
OrangeTsar said:
Sigh….here goes the 3 to 4 year talk again. It shouldn’t take that long. The transfer portal greatly shortens the time needed to close the talent gap.
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That is just an idea that you have that you treat like it is a fact. The portal has been active for one year, so you don’t have any examples of super quick rebuilds. Also you think we will be back to consistently competing for championships in less than 3-4 years? Or anyone could, during an NCAA investigation when you start with 70 scholarship players? Next year is year 2.
I think building elite offensive and defensive lines probably takes 3-4 years of guys in your system. And I don’t think many championships are won without those.
 
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#30
#30
Clad in Big Orange said:
We aren't reaching Alabama or even Georgia level success. At least not on our own. Those programs will have to fall back to earth due to mistakes in recruiting, coach hires, conduct, etc. Our goal for the future is to get back to beating Kentucky, SC, MO consistently and start beating Florida at least half the games over time.
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Mike Shula had the cupboard full for Saban. Alabama was not top tier in 2006, but the recruiting was solid and good enough to lift to the next level above the God-level recruiting beginning with the 08and09 classes. Our decline was a factor, but the internal situation was 10x more important for Bama. Our decline helped UGA much more, of course.

Heupel and staff can have us around that beginning level by the beginning of next season with portal success and great spring practice. This staff can shine with better players. Our DBs were below average. LBs far below average. DL played some good games. I expect the portal will be the key to building this for next season. We have a foundation and a proper culture in the locker room and fan culture too. It's Great to be a Tennessee VOL!
 
#32
#32
OrangeTsar said:
Sigh….here goes the 3 to 4 year talk again. It shouldn’t take that long. The transfer portal greatly shortens the time needed to close the talent gap.
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While that thinking is good in theory, it’s not as crystal clear. Guys go into the portal for a reason. Many times it’s because they can’t get in the field. It’s not like the portal is full of blue chip guys just waiting to be scooped up.
 
#33
#33
BigOrangeTrain said:
While that thinking is good in theory, it’s not as crystal clear. Guys go into the portal for a reason. Many times it’s because they can’t get in the field. It’s not like the portal is full of blue chip guys just waiting to be scooped up.
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The blue chip guys are waiting to get scooped up by:

1 Alabama 15 -1st round & 6 -2nd round= 21 total
2 Ohio State 7 -1st round & 7 -2nd round= 14 total
3 Clemson 5 -1st round & 5 -2nd round= 10 total
4 Georgia 5 -1st round & 3 -2nd round= 8 total
5 Oregon 4 -1st round & 6 -2nd round= 10 total
6. Tex A&M 5 -1st round & 0 -2nd round= 5 total
7. Oklahoma 4 -1st round & 3 -2nd round= 7 total
8. . LSU 2-1st round & 6 -2nd round= 8 total
 
#34
#34
Orangetoes said:
The blue chip guys are waiting to get scooped up by:

1 Alabama 15 -1st round & 6 -2nd round= 21 total
2 Ohio State 7 -1st round & 7 -2nd round= 14 total
3 Clemson 5 -1st round & 5 -2nd round= 10 total
4 Georgia 5 -1st round & 3 -2nd round= 8 total
5 Oregon 4 -1st round & 6 -2nd round= 10 total
6. Tex A&M 5 -1st round & 0 -2nd round= 5 total
7. Oklahoma 4 -1st round & 3 -2nd round= 7 total
8. . LSU 2-1st round & 6 -2nd round= 8 total
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How many blue chip guys are in the portal? Rattler was a huge blue chip and he went to South Carolina.
 
#35
#35
BigOrangeTrain said:
How many blue chip guys are in the portal? Rattler was a huge blue chip and he went to South Carolina.
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Good question - I'd assume not too many and I'd bet they don't last long. The blue chippers coming from perennial contenders that couldn't crack the two-deep is probably a good indicator of an issue. Going from Oklahoma to SC? A former starting QB? Yikes.
 
#36
#36
BigOrangeTrain said:
How many blue chip guys are in the portal? Rattler was a huge blue chip and he went to South Carolina.
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Bama pulled the top receiver and line backer in the portal last year. Us and other teams not near the top will get the crumbs just like in recruiting. Rich get richer. Portal is to plug holes not build an O or D line or secondary. Rattler was a good get for SC and he's familiar with beamer who desperately needed a QB so it makes sense.
 
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#37
#37
Mtnvol80 said:
Bama pulled the top receiver and line backer in the portal last year. Us and other teams not near the top will get the crumbs just like in recruiting. Rich get richer. Portal is to plug holes not build an O or D line or secondary. Rattler was a good get for SC and he's familiar with beamer who desperately needed a QB so it makes sense.
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That’s the point though. The really high end guys that enter the portal get scooped up quickly by the powerhouse programs. So saying that the portal is the key to fixing everything quicker, just doesn’t add up.
 
#38
#38
DaddyChad said:
Maybe, does seem like the rich are getting richer in talent though
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Really it's always been that way, it just seemed like less of a problem when we were one of the rich. At any given time in CFB history there's been at most a half a dozen elite teams, year to year. Breaking back into that group is easier if you've been there before but it's going to take some time even with the right coach.
 
#39
#39
Going to be a new team in the party soon with how A&M is stacking players. Tennessee will have to find some NIL money and maybe some boosters who actually give a crap.. It's a dirty business and the ones willing to play that way win the championships..
 
#40
#40
Clad in Big Orange said:
We aren't reaching Alabama or even Georgia level success. At least not on our own. Those programs will have to fall back to earth due to mistakes in recruiting, coach hires, conduct, etc. Our goal for the future is to get back to beating Kentucky, SC, MO consistently and start beating Florida at least half the games over time.
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No, that is the goal for those who are willing to accept mediocrity. The rest of us aren't going to be satisfied until we start winning championships again.
 
#41
#41
The "X-factor" that everyone tends to ignore is the state of other programs. It's not enough for your program to improve in order to become great. Other's have to decline. For as good as Fulmer and Spurrier were, don't pretend for a second that they didn't benefit from a weak SEC throughout the 90's. After Stallings, Bama wandered in the wilderness for several years. So did Georgia. So did LSU. When the likes of Saban, Richt, Meyer, Spurrier 2.0 at USC, etc got to the SEC it really exposed Fulmer. Likewise, schools have built their programs off the back of us while we have gone through our struggles. Clemson has been enjoying a similar run of success in the ACC. For years now it has been them and....not much else. If the likes of Miami, FSU, North Carolina, etc ever figure things out, they could erase Clemson's dominance VERY quickly. Ohio State has enjoyed a nice run of dominance in the Big 10 because it's overall a weak conference and it has taken Michigan so long to figure things out.

I say all this to say, the SEC is a totally different animal now than it was in the 90's. There are quality coaches up and down the lineup of universities. Heupel could actually do one hell of a job here and still not do any better than 9-3 or 8-4 every year. It's a tough, tough league to win in that's just going to get tougher with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas and we may have to settle for 8-4 or 9-3 for a while until other programs decline again (and they will eventually. It's all cyclical). If we're confident that Heupel is the guy, we just have to be patient, take our lumps, and wait it out a little while. I've mentioned it before but I think Michigan is a good model to look to. It's taken them 6 years to win the Big 10. I think we are realistically looking at a similar rebuild.
 
#42
#42
Rocky Top Raby said:
No, that is the goal for those who are willing to accept mediocrity. The rest of us aren't going to be satisfied until we start winning championships again.
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It's a necessary step to winning championships to first start consistently beating the teams we should, year in and year out, whether folks like it or not.
 
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#44
#44
Vol524 said:
I am hoping he was just drunk or stoned. If he wasn't, I am not sure how he crosses the street without getting hit by a bus. SMDH
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He is amazingly consistent though. No matter how many times he is hella wrong he always comes back with the same stuff.
 
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#46
#46
Florida will be in position to compete for East before Tennessee. Not sure they get high enough to knock out UGA but their talent base gets them there sooner.

I'm talking legit shot to knock off UGA without slipping against others in division.

UT primed to get in the 8 and 9 win category soon. Just far away from legit shot at UGA.
 
#47
#47
LWSVOL said:
Florida will be in position to compete for East before Tennessee. Not sure they get high enough to knock out UGA but their talent base gets them there sooner.

I'm talking legit shot to knock off UGA without slipping against others in division.

UT primed to get in the 8 and 9 win category soon. Just far away from legit shot at UGA.
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The unknown for Florida is the impact by Mario and recruiting South Florida and North up to Central Florida. How does Gus do in landing those 3-4 stars that Florida relied on in Central Florida. Napier will get kids, but the quantity just dropped with the emergence of Miami.

Hardest part for Tennessee has been addressed by CJH and that is showing the brand of football with less talent and that once better players are here it'll be a quick infusion of Wins.
 
#48
#48
Majors said:
The unknown for Florida is the impact by Mario and recruiting South Florida and North up to Central Florida. How does Gus do in landing those 3-4 stars that Florida relied on in Central Florida. Napier will get kids, but the quantity just dropped with the emergence of Miami.

Hardest part for Tennessee has been addressed by CJH and that is showing the brand of football with less talent and that once better players are here it'll be a quick infusion of Wins.
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there is enough talent in Florida to service all the upper tier schools, the big 3 plus UCF and USF. Plenty of talent.

I've always contended, the top 25 3 stars in Florida would be 4 star players in Tennessee. Coaches still have to develop them. You can't do what Tennessee has done the last 20 years which is recruit and fail to develop in general.
 
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#49
#49
LWSVOL said:
there is enough talent in Florida to service all the upper tier schools, the big 3 plus UCF and USF. Plenty of talent.

I've always contended, the top 25 3 stars in Florida would be 4 star players in Tennessee. Coaches still have to develop them. You can't do what Tennessee has done the last 20 years which is recruit and fail to develop in general.
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I don't disagree with that. But a down Florida has a harder time cycling up when Miami and now UCF plucking players that would have went to Florida. Plus everyone else taking a few here and there.
 
#50
#50
The more teams join the SEC, the more the equally the talent will be dispersed.
 
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