Looking back at the Mike DeBord era

#26
#26
Orange&White said:
It is also interesting to quote our offense's numbers and pat DeBord on the back, but what did we accomplish? No SEC championships, no SEC East championships, and no Sugar Bowl. I know we went from 5-7 to 7-5 and now back to back 9-4 seasons. We have been to three bowl games in a row for the first time in a while. And we have a Battle at Bristol trophy. I appreciate what the coaching staff has done, but it is time for Tennessee to take the next step towards real championships. I am tired of Tennessee underachieving and being a joke across the country. I love this University and team, I will not settle for anything short of the best.
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The subject is DeBord. Loses were not on him. Dobbs had his worst game of the season at SC and threw the interception in OT. Defense lost Vandy game and gave up yards as if they were free the last 4 games. Injuries influenced games 2 thru 12 DeBord did a very good jobs his two years at Tennessee.
 
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#27
#27
Special Ed said:
Era or Error?
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Ed gets it. OC do not have eras. I am beginning to see why people think we have a dumb fan base. We just have dumb journalists leading the way. Kinda like Honey Boo Boo being on the learning channel.
 
#28
#28
VOLINVONORE said:
The subject is DeBord. Loses were not on him. Dobbs had his worst game of the season at SC and threw the interception in OT. Defense lost Vandy game and gave up yards as if they were free the last 4 games. Injuries influenced games 2 thru 12 DeBord did a very good jobs his two years at Tennessee.
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I'm not putting all of the loses on him, but I am not going to be jolly and happy with having great offensive numbers if we did not accomplish anything. Also, how many games did it take the offense 2 quarters to even get any rhythm?

Again, I know DeBord's offense put up a lot of yards and points. However, in the USC game why did he go away from running the ball with Kelly? In the Vandy game why did he stop spreading the field with Dobbs? Our offense was not very consistent. Also, I am not going to just ignore the fact that we added a lot of points and yards in the last few games of the season against weak opponents, only to still lose a Sugar Bowl bid to Vandy. I know in the Texas A&M game our players had so many turnovers, but my issue was how stagnate we were at times throughout the season and how our players were not put in the best position to succeed.

I should also say that I am unaware of how much influence Butch actually has on the offense. Butch may be more of the problem than DeBord. For one thing I hated how we kept running plays so quick when we had a thin defense due to all of the injuries. It resulted in a lot of quick three-and-outs.
 
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#30
#30
VOLINVONORE said:
The subject is DeBord. Loses were not on him. Dobbs had his worst game of the season at SC and threw the interception in OT. Defense lost Vandy game and gave up yards as if they were free the last 4 games. Injuries influenced games 2 thru 12 DeBord did a very good jobs his two years at Tennessee.
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Boom!

Lots of sense in this post.
 
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#31
#31
Orange&White said:
I'm not putting all of the loses on him, but I am not going to be jolly and happy with having great offensive numbers if we did not accomplish AS MYCH AS WE WANTED.Also, how many games did it take the offense 2 quarters to even get any rhythm?

Again, I know DeBord's offense put up a lot of yards and points. However, in the USC game why did he go away from running the ball with Kelly? In the Vandy game why did he stop spreading the field with Dobbs? Our offense was not very consistent. Also, I am not going to just ignore the fact that we added a lot of points and yards in the last few games of the season against weak opponents, only to still lose a Sugar Bowl bid to Vandy. I know in the Texas A&M game our players had so many turnovers, but my issue was how stagnate we were at times throughout the season and how our players were not put in the best position to succeed.

I should also say that I am unaware of how much influence Butch actually has on the offense. Butch may be more of the problem than DeBord. For one thing I hated how we kept running plays so quick when we had a thin defense due to all of the injuries. It resulted in a lot of quick three-and-outs.
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Boom!

That's fair.

I did change a little. It is Butch's offense, so there ya go.
 
#34
#34
Iam4utalways said:
Boom!

That's fair.

I did change a little. It is Butch's offense, so there ya go.
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Haha thanks. I know I am being very difficult. I do not think DeBord was terrible and I do agree he did a good job at Tennessee. Also, I believe the players really liked him. There are just certain areas of our offense that still need a lot of work. He was too vanilla and predictable for me. We lacked consistency and came out flat a lot of games. And why was Hurd ever starting over AK in this offense? We need to upgrade if we want to seriously start competing for championships.

The thing that frustrates me the most is I truly believe we have had the talent on the field to win more than we have and coaching decisions have significantly limited us. I do not believe some members of our coaching staff belong in the SEC nor can they compete at this level. I am afraid we have missed our window to succeed under Butch. I know we have struggled with depth and coaching changes, but when are we finally going to be battling the elites of college football toe to toe again? Tennessee belongs at the TOP!

I'm just wanting to point the finger, but it seems it always comes back to Butch Jones.
 
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#35
#35
Orange&White said:
Haha thanks. I know I am being very difficult. I do not think DeBord was terrible and I do agree he did a good job at Tennessee. Also, I believe the players really liked him. There are just certain areas of our offense that still need a lot of work. He was too vanilla and predictable for me. We lacked consistency and came out flat a lot of games. And why was Hurd ever starting over AK in this offense? We need to upgrade if we want to seriously start competing for championships.

The thing that frustrates me the most is I truly believe we have had the talent on the field to win more than we have and coaching decisions have significantly limited us. I do not believe some members of our coaching staff belong in the SEC nor can they compete at this level. I am afraid we have missed our window to succeed under Butch. I know we have struggled with depth and coaching changes, but when are we finally going to be battling the elites of college football toe to toe again? Tennessee belongs at the TOP!

I'm just wanting to point the finger, but it seems it always comes back to Butch Jones.
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Hurd is a beast what happened with that is a travesty.

The talent was there. Our starters were all ballers. We didn't have injury depth and we we not a very disciplined team. Not having a "Ball Buster" as a S&C coach was an error.

The thing is we are still a stacked team, just not as much high level experience.

I'm sold on Butch. If he can get past this year without blowing a game or 2, we will springboard into 2018. 2015 and 16 were missed opportunities. But he has at least one more chance in 2017, I would like to see him win it all. Not for him, for me.

Release the Beast!
 
#36
#36
Best pH and clarity in the league.

Good friends with Jones until he started talking to Helfrich.

Shockingly didn't call a draw or 3 yard curl against UGA at the end of the game this season.

Kept Kamara under wraps most of his brief career at UT.

Managed 3 points in a half against Vandy and 21 points in a game against SC.

I dont know about anyone else but I sure have Green Day's Time of Your Life running through my head as I type.
 
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#39
#39
JonGrudensAgent said:
Best pH and clarity in the league.

Good friends with Jones until he started talking to Helfrich.

Shockingly didn't call a draw or 3 yard curl against UGA at the end of the game this season.

Kept Kamara under wraps most of his brief career at UT.

Managed 3 points in a half against Vandy and 21 points in a game against SC.

I dont know about anyone else but I sure have Green Day's Time of Your Life running through my head as I type.
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Dang, when you put it like that, it's a wonder we scored any points.
 
#42
#42
VolFootballIsLife said:
That "vanilla" offense sure put on one of the best halves of college football I ever witnessed against Florida.
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Thirty minutes of a sixty minute game. You seriously pick the 30 minutes of the entire season the offense looked its best. What about App State, Ohio, UGA, Alabama, USC, and Vandy?! Again, the offense scored points and put up yards, but not consistently when it mattered most. I didn't hate DeBord. It's easy to look back and be critical of him, especially when I have no idea of what's going on behind the scenes. I know he did not get any help from the defense. All I am implying is our offense was too predictable and inconsistent throughout the season.

I'd just like us to be able to keep our rhythm as a unit for an entire game for the entire season. I'd like us to mold our offense to the players we have on the field, not Butch's system. I want our best players on the field and the ball in their hands. I'd like an OC who can make in-game adjustments when the opposing defense has figured out our game plan and punish them. The offense improved as the season went on, but why was that? We started letting Dobbs use his legs, we took chances passing the ball to Malone and Jennings, and utilizing AK and Kelly. We underutilized Malone and AK all season. Is that what we get for paying an OC $500,000/yr?

Also, I am playing devils advocate, but I completely agree that defense is the main concern for Tennessee right now.
 
#43
#43
Its amazing how at Tennessee good football players is only reason a coach is successful. Point swap QB's in National Championship game and nobody is talking about Dabo and his first NC.
 
#45
#45
Orange&White said:
Thirty minutes of a sixty minute game. You seriously pick the 30 minutes of the entire season the offense looked its best. What about App State, Ohio, UGA, Alabama, USC, and Vandy?! Again, the offense scored points and put up yards, but not consistently when it mattered most. I didn't hate DeBord. It's easy to look back and be critical of him, especially when I have no idea of what's going on behind the scenes. I know he did not get any help from the defense. All I am implying is our offense was too predictable and inconsistent throughout the season.

I'd just like us to be able to keep our rhythm as a unit for an entire game for the entire season. I'd like us to mold our offense to the players we have on the field, not Butch's system. I want our best players on the field and the ball in their hands. I'd like an OC who can make in-game adjustments when the opposing defense has figured out our game plan and punish them. The offense improved as the season went on, but why was that? We started letting Dobbs use his legs, we took chances passing the ball to Malone and Jennings, and utilizing AK and Kelly. We underutilized Malone and AK all season. Is that what we get for paying an OC $500,000/yr?

Also, I am playing devils advocate, but I completely agree that defense is the main concern for Tennessee right now.
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man i sure hope butch calls you before he make a decision on oc. could really use your keen insight
 
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