zidanefan
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I'm seeing a lot of "Butch has lost the team" and "Butch can't motivate the team to play" posts. Three weeks ago it was, "I've never seen any team play harder for a UT coach."
So, let's take a step back and look this objectively.
The Good
Butch has proven to be a good recruiter. He has rebuilt UT and added talent all over the field, including some All-American talent at certain positions.
Butch seems to be a good/great talent evaluator. Sutton and Hall are good examples.
Butch can clearly motivate his teams, and his players love playing for him. I don't think anyone can argue with this, although (as addressed below) this is only part of the winning equation.
Butch has given us some memorable wins. FL and GA this year, beating Spurrier, etc...
The Bad
We hired a coach who was the signature win of our former coach, Dooley, who is widely considered the worst UT coach in history, maybe one of the worst HC's in college football history. Before you dismiss this statement, let's take a look at an alarming revelation on this subject.
A few weeks back, Daniel Hood revealed on Pennington's Sunday show that, when Butch arrived, he had to be shown why UT knew every offensive play whether they would run or pass. There was a flaw in his offensive system that none of his staff had picked up on to that point. That's downright disturbing, and none of you who get up in arms about people criticizing Butch can overlook this.
Bizarre in-game decisions and clock mismanagement have plagued Butch his entire career. Everyone has pointed this out, from posters on VN to talking heads on TV and sports radio. We heard about it from Cinci fans upon his arrival on the The Hill. We've had to endure it the last few years against OK, FL, etc...
Where does that leave us?
These bad traits are not the hallmarks of a championship level coach... sorry, VN.
Many on here cheered and laughed when Muschamp got hired at SC. I asked why, given that Muschamp has beaten Butch both times they've faced one another. Many of us got ridiculed for suggesting that Muschamp has Butch's number.
Well, Butch got out-coached yesterday by Muschamp, whose team has vastly inferior talent. Butch had an extra week of preparation to boot.
The deficiency of the offensive scheme has taken its toll. Winning the games based on the players' iron will, determination, and sheer talent could only take us so far. Abernathy's phenomenal rundown in the A&M game was an excellent microcosm of the first half of the season. Sadly, his hamstring pull-up in the AL game may be the same for the second half of the season.
There's a fine line between realism and pessimism. Some here labeled "negavols" are simply miserable schmucks who only complain and come post when UT loses. Others, however, simply see what we have in our head coach: a great recruiter and motivational speaker, by all accounts a really great man, but a mid-major tier coach, at best.
When Butch was hired, the "Dooley's signature win" concern was blaring in my head. I think I even made a post to that effect. But, I'm the type who makes the best of things... realistically optimistic.
What could make this interesting is if Butch were to dump his O scheme, turn Shoop loose on the D scheme, and hire someone like Kiffin (he's a tool, yes, but he's a genius of an OC) to just install/completely control the O. Butch would then recruit and CEO the operation.
Of course, that won't happen. He has made it abundantly clear that he believes in his system, and if he loses another game this year he won't have that kind of time anyway.
I've been excited for each of the last few seasons under Butch. I've been thrilled with the recruiting. I've cheered and celebrated and always want to see the Vols win. But, I'm not blindly optimistic.
So, my question for all of those who will undoubtedly call my post idiotic, moronic, devoid of logic, negavolic, etc... is this:
What evidence do you have from Butch's coaching - I mean on-the-field results - that he is an elite coach, capable of winning SEC championships and competing for National Championships?
So, let's take a step back and look this objectively.
The Good
Butch has proven to be a good recruiter. He has rebuilt UT and added talent all over the field, including some All-American talent at certain positions.
Butch seems to be a good/great talent evaluator. Sutton and Hall are good examples.
Butch can clearly motivate his teams, and his players love playing for him. I don't think anyone can argue with this, although (as addressed below) this is only part of the winning equation.
Butch has given us some memorable wins. FL and GA this year, beating Spurrier, etc...
The Bad
We hired a coach who was the signature win of our former coach, Dooley, who is widely considered the worst UT coach in history, maybe one of the worst HC's in college football history. Before you dismiss this statement, let's take a look at an alarming revelation on this subject.
A few weeks back, Daniel Hood revealed on Pennington's Sunday show that, when Butch arrived, he had to be shown why UT knew every offensive play whether they would run or pass. There was a flaw in his offensive system that none of his staff had picked up on to that point. That's downright disturbing, and none of you who get up in arms about people criticizing Butch can overlook this.
Bizarre in-game decisions and clock mismanagement have plagued Butch his entire career. Everyone has pointed this out, from posters on VN to talking heads on TV and sports radio. We heard about it from Cinci fans upon his arrival on the The Hill. We've had to endure it the last few years against OK, FL, etc...
Where does that leave us?
These bad traits are not the hallmarks of a championship level coach... sorry, VN.
Many on here cheered and laughed when Muschamp got hired at SC. I asked why, given that Muschamp has beaten Butch both times they've faced one another. Many of us got ridiculed for suggesting that Muschamp has Butch's number.
Well, Butch got out-coached yesterday by Muschamp, whose team has vastly inferior talent. Butch had an extra week of preparation to boot.
The deficiency of the offensive scheme has taken its toll. Winning the games based on the players' iron will, determination, and sheer talent could only take us so far. Abernathy's phenomenal rundown in the A&M game was an excellent microcosm of the first half of the season. Sadly, his hamstring pull-up in the AL game may be the same for the second half of the season.
There's a fine line between realism and pessimism. Some here labeled "negavols" are simply miserable schmucks who only complain and come post when UT loses. Others, however, simply see what we have in our head coach: a great recruiter and motivational speaker, by all accounts a really great man, but a mid-major tier coach, at best.
When Butch was hired, the "Dooley's signature win" concern was blaring in my head. I think I even made a post to that effect. But, I'm the type who makes the best of things... realistically optimistic.
What could make this interesting is if Butch were to dump his O scheme, turn Shoop loose on the D scheme, and hire someone like Kiffin (he's a tool, yes, but he's a genius of an OC) to just install/completely control the O. Butch would then recruit and CEO the operation.
Of course, that won't happen. He has made it abundantly clear that he believes in his system, and if he loses another game this year he won't have that kind of time anyway.
I've been excited for each of the last few seasons under Butch. I've been thrilled with the recruiting. I've cheered and celebrated and always want to see the Vols win. But, I'm not blindly optimistic.
So, my question for all of those who will undoubtedly call my post idiotic, moronic, devoid of logic, negavolic, etc... is this:
What evidence do you have from Butch's coaching - I mean on-the-field results - that he is an elite coach, capable of winning SEC championships and competing for National Championships?
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