Josh Pate on Josh Heupel

#29
#29
It took Dabo 7 full seasons to really breakthrough. And he didn’t have an AP top 10 finish until his 5th full season. Years 7-12 he had the second best program behind Alabama but went toe to toe with them and won 2 out of 4 championship appearances in that time period. Not saying we will win a championship in the next few years but things are trending towards that direction if we allow Heupel to run his operation.
Dabo Recruited as good as Alabama did during alot of that stretch. Our recruiting hasnt really picked up steam. Top 10 nationally is ok, but we are still middle of the road in the SEC.
 
#30
#30
I agree Heupel has shown to be a builder of teams at Tenn. The question is (and I’m willing to wait and see)whether he can take the next step and turn that good team into a very, very good team. Going from crappy to good is the easier part. Teams make big steps at first. But continued elevating is now done in smaller steps. Upgrading coaches and particular positions are part of that growth. Based on 4 years, I definitely do not think we have the best assistant coaches for where the program now stands and there are a few position groups that need upgrades. The question is whether CJH is willing to upgrade coaches and have the skill to balance the roster to upgrade positions without spending all his money to just stay the status quo.
I agree with a lot of what you said, but I think Florida and Auburn might disagree with the bolded part . Heupel had us one win away from the 4 team CFP in his second year. And despite what some 2025 Way too early top 25 rankings are saying, it feels pretty far away for those schools.
 
#32
#32
I agree Heupel has shown to be a builder of teams at Tenn. The question is (and I’m willing to wait and see)whether he can take the next step and turn that good team into a very, very good team. Going from crappy to good is the easier part. Teams make big steps at first. But continued elevating is now done in smaller steps. Upgrading coaches and particular positions are part of that growth. Based on 4 years, I definitely do not think we have the best assistant coaches for where the program now stands and there are a few position groups that need upgrades. The question is whether CJH is willing to upgrade coaches and have the skill to balance the roster to upgrade positions without spending all his money to just stay the status quo.
He has already surpassed good and is at very good.
 
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#33
#33
Dabo Recruited as good as Alabama did during alot of that stretch. Our recruiting hasnt really picked up steam. Top 10 nationally is ok, but we are still middle of the road in the SEC.
People must misremember that time period because Clemson had very similarly ranked classes to Tennessee most years. The only year they were in the same ballpark as Alabama in recruiting was 2020, after their championship stretch. Other than that they have been at the tail end of the top 10.

Clemson Team Rankings according to 247Sports:

2010: 27th
2011: 10th
2012: 20th
2013: 15th
2014: 16th
2015: 9th
2016: 11th
2017: 16th
2018: 7th
2019: 10th
2020: 3rd
2021: 5th
2022: 10th
2023: 11th
2024: 11th
2025: 27th
 
#36
#36
Don't get me wrong, I bring up criticism and others do as well. It is good to be critical but as I pointed out in AP Final Ranking thread:

Prior to Heupel, Tennessee had not had an AP Top 10 finish since 2001. We have 2 AP Top 10 finishes in 4 seasons with Heupel so far and have finished ranked in AP Poll every year with Heupel other than his first season.

Definitely an upgrade for our program with Heupel and Company.
 
#38
#38
People must misremember that time period because Clemson had very similarly ranked classes to Tennessee most years. The only year they were in the same ballpark as Alabama in recruiting was 2020, after their championship stretch. Other than that they have been at the tail end of the top 10.

Clemson Team Rankings according to 247Sports:

2010: 27th
2011: 10th
2012: 20th
2013: 15th
2014: 16th
2015: 9th
2016: 11th
2017: 16th
2018: 7th
2019: 10th
2020: 3rd
2021: 5th
2022: 10th
2023: 11th
2024: 11th
2025: 27th
I was just about to post something very similar to this. Dabo took over at Clemson in 2009. Since 2010, here is the yearly breakdown for Alabama, Clemson and Tennessee according to 247:
2010-Bama 4, Clemson 27, UT 7
2011-Bama 1, Clemson 10, UT 14
2012-Bama 1, Clemson 20, UT 19
2013-Bama 1, Clemson 15, UT 25
2014-Bama 1, Clemson 16, UT 7
2015-Bama 1, Clemson 9, UT 4
2016-Bama 1, Clemson 11, UT 14
2017-Bama 1, Clemson 7 UT 21
2018-Bama 5, Clemson 7, UT 21
2019-Bama 1, Clemson 10, UT 13
2020-Bama 2, Clemson 3, UT 11
2021-Bama 1, Clemson 5, UT 22
2022-Bama 2, Clemson 10, UT 17
2023-Bama 1, Clemson 11, UT 10
2024-Bama 2, Clemson 11, UT 14
At no point during has time has Dabo recruited as well as Saban at Bama. 2018, 2020 and 2021 were the only times he has been relatively close. For the vast majority of his tenure, his recruiting has been much closer to ours than Bama's.
 
#40
#40
Not disagreeing but times are different now have the portal that makes easier
I don't think anything is easier with the portal or the NIL. It does seem like it has opened up the ability for some non blue blood teams to have a decent run. I don't know how sustainable it is for a non blue blood to play with the big boys yearly though. I just don't think the donors are ready to make that kind of contribution yearly.
 
#41
#41
Don't get me wrong, I bring up criticism and others do as well. It is good to be critical but as I pointed out in AP Final Ranking thread:

Prior to Heupel, Tennessee had not had an AP Top 10 finish since 2001. We have 2 AP Top 10 finishes in 4 seasons with Heupel so far and have finished ranked in AP Poll every year with Heupel other than his first season.

Definitely an upgrade for our program with Heupel and Company.

I love what Heupel has done, although I don’t like him continually promoting assistant coaches from within. The program can stand on its own now, and I would like him to make hires with proven experienced resumes. The program has reached a top 12 status, but to move forward, it will require upgrades at the weaker areas (I’m talking OL and WR). Every aspect of the program now needs to be looked at for improvement to move into that top 4-8 then 1-4.
Everyone is ecstatic about a top 10 finish “Now” but a few years of 1 and done, or worse, being considered the 13th best team, and the natives ALWAYS get restless. It happens with Barnes every year, and happens at every campus in every sport.
 
#43
#43
People must misremember that time period because Clemson had very similarly ranked classes to Tennessee most years. The only year they were in the same ballpark as Alabama in recruiting was 2020, after their championship stretch. Other than that they have been at the tail end of the top 10.

Clemson Team Rankings according to 247Sports:

2010: 27th
2011: 10th
2012: 20th
2013: 15th
2014: 16th
2015: 9th
2016: 11th
2017: 16th
2018: 7th
2019: 10th
2020: 3rd
2021: 5th
2022: 10th
2023: 11th
2024: 11th
2025: 27th

Clemson had the softer ACC schedule to go through and give them confidence. I think that plays dividends because once you develop a winning rhythm, it erases some of that talent gap because players are executing and playing at a high level.
 
#44
#44
Clemson had the softer ACC schedule to go through and give them confidence. I think that plays dividends because once you develop a winning rhythm, it erases some of that talent gap because players are executing and playing at a high level.
I’m not about to diss them one bit with that stretch. You go to the national championship game 4 out of 5 years and beat Alabama 2 out of 3 years during that era, that’s about as impressive as it gets. One of those wins was a flat out smackdown of Alabama. One of their championship losses was to that 2019 LSU squad who happens to be the best offensive college football team of all-time. And the other loss was by 5 points to Alabama.
 
#45
#45
I love what Heupel has done, although I don’t like him continually promoting assistant coaches from within. The program can stand on its own now, and I would like him to make hires with proven experienced resumes. The program has reached a top 12 status, but to move forward, it will require upgrades at the weaker areas (I’m talking OL and WR). Every aspect of the program now needs to be looked at for improvement to move into that top 4-8 then 1-4.
Everyone is ecstatic about a top 10 finish “Now” but a few years of 1 and done, or worse, being considered the 13th best team, and the natives ALWAYS get restless. It happens with Barnes every year, and happens at every campus in every sport.
Continually promoting assistants from within? Exactly how many have been promoted from within?
 
#46
#46
It is beyond what you guys are thinking actually.

CJH came in January (after recruiting season) to inherit the actual WORST UT TEAM IN 100 YEARS. Note that 6 of the 17 worst teams in all of UT history were in the past few years.
That means nearly HALF of the years from 2008-2020 were in this worst of all time category.

Add to that, we had gotten the death penalty from the NCAA, that we still have to shoulder AND it was a completely new era with the NIL that could have buried us for good if we didnt respond.

To turn that around and after the first year's (covid), to go 11-2, 9-4, 10-3 with a final #6 and #10 and a spot in the playoffs is nothing short of amazing really.

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#48
#48
Continually promoting assistants from within? Exactly how many have been promoted from within?
Continually is not the word I should have used. Promoting the OC / QB coaches within, and holding pat with his OL coach, and keeping a WR coach that has not shown an ability to teach basic finding open space is what I should have said. Sorry
 
#49
#49
Continually is not the word I should have used. Promoting the OC / QB coaches within, and holding pat with his OL coach, and keeping a WR coach that has not shown an ability to teach basic finding open space is what I should have said. Sorry
Have you attended practices and seen the lack of "teaching" in them? There are videos available showing all the receivers on passing plays. Watch some of them
 
#50
#50
It is beyond what you guys are thinking actually.

CJH came in January (after recruiting season) to inherit the actual WORST UT TEAM IN 100 YEARS. Note that 6 of the 17 worst teams in all of UT history were in the past few years.
That means nearly HALF of the years from 2008-2020 were in this worst of all time category.

Add to that, we had gotten the death penalty from the NCAA, that we still have to shoulder AND it was a completely new era with the NIL that could have buried us for good if we didnt respond.

To turn that around and after the first year's (covid), to go 11-2, 9-4, 10-3 with a final #6 and #10 and a spot in the playoffs is nothing short of amazing really.

View attachment 716529

Talent-wise, the 2010 and 2014 teams were worse IMO.
 

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