It's time we circle the wagons around Coach Heupel

#78
#78
With all of the P4 musical chairs and coaching hires going on right now, for those opining that CHJ has topped out short of the mark at Tennessee, with whom would you replace him?

One caveat, it has to be someone available. No naming someone who just signed a contract elsewhere.

Honestly, at this juncture, I don’t think there’s a coaching upgrade available to UT.
 
#79
#79
DonDiego said:
All this drama over an 8-4 (possibly 9-4) season. First world problems.
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Ordinarily, I'd agree 100%, and in fact they've exceeded my expectations as I thought we'd be a 7 win season. Two things bother me. First, we just didn't get better. Not ignoring the lack of talent in some spots, but we just didn't get better as the season went along. Tackling, mistakes, penalties, etc. No team is perfect, but I have to wonder how you don't resolve some of the correctable issues as the season wears on? Then there's the second half of the Vandy game. Knew the replay would be a hard watch and bitter pill, but from the couch, I saw "quit" on that field. That, for me, is the most alarming thing. You can cope with a lack of talent, mistakes, inexperience, but not a lack of heart, desire, pride, and fight.

I'm a broken record about a team reflecting the coach so I have concerns here. Is it the coach? Poor evals? No playoffs so kids quit? Kids focused on the portal and money so they are avoiding contact and injury? Dunno the answer, but that's an ominous sign regardless. If this is the new college game, just make it a pure playoff sport and forget the bowl games altogether. Why would a fan bother if the team is just going to take the field and go through the motions? Pointless.
 
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#80
#80
Tin Man said:
With all of the P4 musical chairs and coaching hires going on right now, for those opining that CHJ has topped out short of the mark at Tennessee, with whom would you replace him?

One caveat, it has to be someone available. No naming someone who just signed a contract elsewhere.

Honestly, at this juncture, I don’t think there’s a coaching upgrade available to UT.
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Its no doubt a crap shoot with any coaching change, but Heupel needs to show a damned pulse and sense of urgency. At least TRY to improve your staff to shore up the glaring weaknesses. At least TRY to use the portal to upgrade your weak spots and establish depth at critical positions. Our team is Charmin soft. Injuries are as predictable as me calling for a loss. This notion that you can't upset kids on the roster by bringing on competition is silly. If that scares 'em off, they don't want to compete and in the second half of the vandy game, we saw that what happens when you have a bunch of those guys on your roster. If Heupel won't do what needs doing, he can portal out with the others. The Vandy game was disgusting.
 
#81
#81
BigOrangeTrain said:
What does this have to do with anything?
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We are who we are. With the exception of 4 seasons in the 90’s and then a couple in early 2000’s, we are a 8-9 win team.

There are definitely improvements that could be made. But this idea that we should be a yearly 10-11 win team competing for national championships just isn’t who Tennessee is historically.
 
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#82
#82
VolForLife83 said:
I don't want him fired, but he needs a major staff overhaul. There's plenty of other coaches who could win here, but this ain't the year to go looking. It's year 5, we know exactly what we got, what works, and what dosen't. Offense could use some more variations and defensive staff needs a complete overhaul minus Garner.
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I don’t get why Garner is sacrosanct on this forum after his unit has underperformed 2 years in a row. Couldn’t finish on the qb last year and couldn’t defend the run this year. His defensive tackles this season were undersized and soft. If his name weren’t Garner, any fanbase would see the issues.
 
#83
#83
barney said:
I don’t get why Garner is sacrosanct on this forum after his unit has underperformed 2 years in a row. Couldn’t finish on the qb last year and couldn’t defend the run this year. His defensive tackles this season were undersized and soft. If his name weren’t Garner, any fanbase would see the issues.
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That's partiality part of the problem is them being undersized, but i think that's becoming the trend. They weren't the best, but they were good enough and still the only bright spot as a unit imo. Always room for improvement, but not as BIG a concern as the other units. LBs have been sorry, as well as safety and corner. Defense has never covered well, but the d line has attacked/ pressured the qb pretty consistently, but it drives me crazy how many ultimately get away.
 
#84
#84
AdoptedVOL said:
He needs to resolve that. Leaders must know how to effectively resolve conflict and change.

I have no clue why Josh hesitates.

Navigating work relationships can be difficult. Managing personal relationships can be difficult. Coaches and staff can become family during long hours of a season. It’s. Not easy firing family. The key… keep it biz.
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Agree. It’s hard to be an effective manager in any business if you aren’t willing to fire poorly performing employees. Comes back to haunt you sooner or later.
 
#86
#86
KittenVol said:
Well, I was happy he was gone at the time. Two five win seasons in four years is pretty bad for a program with our tradition. I don’t think winning a title ten years previously should have bought him unlimited time to right the ship.
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Yep. Nothing like shanking your 2nd best coach in history only to bring in 4 successive coaches that struggled to break .500, if they even did that. Hey you've had two bad seasons in 16. Get the eff out of here. Sure, he had two losing seasons in his last 4. Also, the other two were 9 and 10 win seasons. But, according to VN those aren't good enough either.
 
#88
#88
UT Hill Man said:
When I first read that I thought you were taking a shot at Fulmer for what did to Johnny Majors.
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No. Majors is far from the 2nd best coach in UT history. He's merely #6. Didn't win but 64% of his games. Based on everyone's expectations on VN, Fulmer did us favor, right?
 
#89
#89
newyorkvol said:
We are who we are. With the exception of 4 seasons in the 90’s and then a couple in early 2000’s, we are a 8-9 win team.

There are definitely improvements that could be made. But this idea that we should be a yearly 10-11 win team competing for national championships just isn’t who Tennessee is historically.
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Exactly. Just be a fan if your gonna be one, right? UT don't owe me squat as a fan. I'm just one because I am.
 
#90
#90
I agree , but it’s also time for Heupel and staff to embrace the fans passion and develop a killer instinct and to take teams out instead of letting them hang around. This team seemed a little too casual at times. Focus and playing smart are important but fire and passion and want too motivation is equally important. Playing to win instead of playing not to lose is important as well. Our fans have seen enough of playing not to lose to last a lifetime. Majors bless him did this way too much and Phil often did it too. Heupel can be a great coach if he is willing to self evaluate and correct weaknesses. All coaches have them, the great ones adjust. The hard headed never learn. I am fully behind Heupel and want him to succeed and believe he can. I really hope and believe next year could be the beginning of an exciting chapter in Tennessee football. I have to believe if Heupel is honest with himself he will see the areas that he and staff as well as players need to work on. Nothing wrong with being a players coach but you’re still the coach and you still have to demand full commitment and you have to put in the hard work and physical contact. There is no short cutting it! GBO
 
#92
#92
GVF said:
Does anyone actually know the long tradition of UT football ??!!

We've never had one single coach, not even Neyland himself, that has ever, ever averaged 9 wins or more over their tenure. Not one.

When it comes to average wins per season:

Fulmer - 8.88
CJH - 8.83
Bill Battle - 8.43
Neyland - 8.24

Those are the only 4 UT coaches EVER to clear an 8 game average wins per season over the course of their UT HC career.

Lighten up all you Nancies. Your current coach is #2 all-time thus far by the one SINGLE METRIC any of you care about.
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Now show the average regular season games played per season for each of those coaches.
 
#94
#94
newyorkvol said:
We are who we are. With the exception of 4 seasons in the 90’s and then a couple in early 2000’s, we are a 8-9 win team.

There are definitely improvements that could be made. But this idea that we should be a yearly 10-11 win team competing for national championships just isn’t who Tennessee is historically.
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Then we should just sign Heupel to a lifetime contract. No point in trying to punch above our historical average. 8-4 is good enough.
 
#100
#100
I like Heupel. As a person, I like him. I like how he leads the team. I’m sure he’ll get the message about the defense needing some improvement in the tackling area. But I hope he’s here a long time.
 
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