Lest we forget...the 70s

#1
E

EZE

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#1
Our current state is not so different than the late 70s.

Battle's last two teams in 75 and 76 went 7-5 and 6-5.

He was replaced by a national championship coach in Majors. Here is how Johnny's rebuilding went:

4-7 in 77
5-5-1 in 78
7-5 in 79
5-6 in 80

The rest of the 80s were a mixed bag, with a huge Sugar Bowl win over Miami but some near.500 records too.

The point is this. Our program was left in shambles after Kiffin and Dooley. Sometimes there is no quick fix. You have to recruit better talent, BUT then those young pups have to mature.

I have news for you who wet the bed after every bad loss, next year will be rough, too. It is just the way the roster was left by Dooley. We were set up to have O line problems this year and then a new QB next. 2016 is the year we should get back.
 
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#3
#3
Agree with everything you said. But prepare yourself. Rebuilding is no longer tolerated it seems. If a coach cannot transform a program very quickly then that means he is a bad coach and deserves to be fired.
 
#4
#4
As I said befour as good of a coach Johnny Majors was, in today's world he would of been fired 3 to 4 years in . It takes time. Hang in there people.
 
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#5
#5
kentucky sucks said:
What does all of that have to do with the read option?
Click to expand...

Our problems have less to do with scheme and more to do with an O line that cannot block anything. That is more Dooley's fault than anybody else. I don't care what scheme you run or plays you call. It isn't going to succeed if you don't block the defense.
 
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#6
#6
If the truth were known, I dare say most of those complaining did not exist in the '70s.
 
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#7
#7
It seems like some people were expecting this to be a quick turn around and to be at 9 or 10 wins this year. We quite possibly had the worst roster in the SEC when Butch took over, and the one strength we had (our O-line) graduated and left after year one. This a situation that would even take some of the greatest coaches in the history of college football 3 years or more to get back to winning ways. We were never going to the Sugar bowl this year, we were never going to contend for the east this year. But we will soon under Butch because he's proven at other schools he can win when he has talent, and he's still bringing in that talent. He just doesn't have enough of it yet to win in the SEC. It's gonna happen, just wait.
 
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#8
#8
EZE said:
Our current state is not so different than the late 70s.

Battle's last two teams in 75 and 76 went 7-5 and 6-5.

He was replaced by a national championship coach in Majors. Here is how Johnny's rebuilding went:

4-7 in 77
5-5-1 in 78
7-5 in 79
5-6 in 80

The rest of the 80s were a mixed bag, with a huge Sugar Bowl win over Miami but some near.500 records too.

The point is this. Our program was left in shambles after Kiffin and Dooley. Sometimes there is no quick fix. You have to recruit better talent, BUT then those young pups have to mature.

I have news for you who wet the bed after every bad loss, next year will be rough, too. It is just the way the roster was left by Dooley. We were set up to have O line problems this year and then a new QB next. 2016 is the year we should get back.
Click to expand...

Exactly. For those of us over 50 we remember. I was in school for the Johnny Majors Rollercoaster. Better days were ahead, but it took time. Johnny changed assistants like underwear and that led to great and terrible seasons. That.is why the stability of Phil's staff was so welcome to fans and promoted to recruits. Phil with Cut and Chief were collectively pretty formidable in an era when the current West powers were down and Georgia and SC were open borders for recruiting.
 
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#9
#9
dbowen said:
Exactly. For those of us over 50 we remember. I was in school for the Johnny Majors Rollercoaster. Better days were ahead, but it took time. Johnny changed assistants like underwear and that led to great and terrible seasons. That.is why the stability of Phil's staff was so welcome to fans and promoted to recruits. Phil with Cut and Chief were collectively pretty formidable in an era when the current West powers were down and Georgia and SC were open borders for recruiting.
Click to expand...

But Johnny got us an A+ roster in time, and that led to the glory of the 90s.
 
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#10
#10
EZE said:
Our current state is not so different than the late 70s.

Battle's last two teams in 75 and 76 went 7-5 and 6-5.

He was replaced by a national championship coach in Majors. Here is how Johnny's rebuilding went:

4-7 in 77
5-5-1 in 78
7-5 in 79
5-6 in 80

The rest of the 80s were a mixed bag, with a huge Sugar Bowl win over Miami but some near.500 records too.

The point is this. Our program was left in shambles after Kiffin and Dooley. Sometimes there is no quick fix. You have to recruit better talent, BUT then those young pups have to mature.

I have news for you who wet the bed after every bad loss, next year will be rough, too. It is just the way the roster was left by Dooley. We were set up to have O line problems this year and then a new QB next. 2016 is the year we should get back.
Click to expand...

I concur with the above and I have said this before in other posts, referencing this exact time period, 1977 - 1981 and on into the rest of the 1980's. A lot of people forget that after the great 1985 season, where we stomped Miami in the 1986 Sugar Bowl, we had a down year in 1986 and went 5-6 that year, then a good year in 1987 with a 10-2 record, etc.. I am as frustrated as everyone else and I admit I was not happy with some of the offensive play calling but I'm just too much of a Tennessee fan to ever quit on the Vols. Life is full of challenges and tests your character, it is how you respond to failure and those challenges, that define you as a person, etc.. Anyway, great post and GBO!
 
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#11
#11
Speaking of the kids maturing... their experiences now are going to greatly help that.

Coach Jones has spoken several times about mental thoughness.. he'll be able to use this season to his advantage.
 
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#13
#13
MedicT said:
If the truth were known, I dare say most of those complaining did not exist in the '70s.
Click to expand...

Ugghghh, those were the days a young me was attending UT and going to games. Remember the guy in Nashville who lived on a billboard as we lost 6 in a row?? good times....
 
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#15
#15
ncvol17 said:
Ugghghh, those were the days a young me was attending UT and going to games. Remember the guy in Nashville who lived on a billboard as we lost 6 in a row?? good times....
Click to expand...

I was a bit younger than you if you were in college then, but I absolutely remember the guy living on the billboard!!!!

I also remember Johnny having health issues and Fulmer taking over and winning the last 5 that year. The rest is history.

AV
 
#16
#16
ncvol17 said:
Ugghghh, those were the days a young me was attending UT and going to games. Remember the guy in Nashville who lived on a billboard as we lost 6 in a row?? good times....
Click to expand...


Yep, I remember sitting in the North end zone bleachers (how many remember those) listening to a rousing chorus of "Johnny Comes Marching Home" and waiting 3 years for a winning season and by winning I think we went 7-5 in '80 then dropped back the next year with a losing season.
 
#17
#17
MedicT said:
If the truth were known, I dare say most of those complaining did not exist in the '70s.
Click to expand...

Exactly what i was thinking. Not only that, but in this age of instant gratification (microwaves, instant info on the cell phone, etc) no one wants to wait for success. They have no ability to understand the old saying "good things come to those who wait"
 
#18
#18
This was exactly what I remember going through (I'm archaic) when the screams of Fire Fulmer during the early 00s and through the decade. The two five win seasons sealed his fate, but I was struck by the lack of historical perspective by fans who expected 10-11 wins per year, due to a decade of prominence. Hopefully the fanbase sees that 10 win seasons don't just come because we have a big orange T on our helmets. It's hard.
 
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#19
#19
EZE said:
Our current state is not so different than the late 70s.

Battle's last two teams in 75 and 76 went 7-5 and 6-5.

He was replaced by a national championship coach in Majors. Here is how Johnny's rebuilding went:

4-7 in 77
5-5-1 in 78
7-5 in 79
5-6 in 80

The rest of the 80s were a mixed bag, with a huge Sugar Bowl win over Miami but some near.500 records too.

The point is this. Our program was left in shambles after Kiffin and Dooley. Sometimes there is no quick fix. You have to recruit better talent, BUT then those young pups have to mature.

I have news for you who wet the bed after every bad loss, next year will be rough, too. It is just the way the roster was left by Dooley. We were set up to have O line problems this year and then a new QB next. 2016 is the year we should get back.
Click to expand...

Battle's recruiting was as bad, if not worse, than Dooley's.
 
#21
#21
MedicT said:
Yep, I remember sitting in the North end zone bleachers (how many remember those) listening to a rousing chorus of "Johnny Comes Marching Home" and waiting 3 years for a winning season and by winning I think we went 7-5 in '80 then dropped back the next year with a losing season.
Click to expand...

I sat in those bleachers during a UT v Vandy game one year. Never have I been so cold. Nothing to block the wind blowing right up your pants
 
#22
#22
I am as disappointed as the next guy to lose a game like we did in the 4th quarter. On the other side, I am also a realist. I also do know from sitting in Neyland Stadium for more than 30 years that the fan base has a big part in the games also. If we go south now on our support of the team, coaches, etc. then we are also to blame. I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN WIN! Give it some time.
 
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