Not much talk but how do we....

[LAVol1]

We are below average at every group except receivers and running backs who are just average IMO.

Hard to judge WRs and RBs when you have an awful OL. If JG had time to throw, and if the OL could make a little push at the LOS and keep our RB's from being hit consistently in the backfield, both RB and WR might be well above avg.

IMO, next year's success will depend entirely on the progress of OL and DL. We should be better at LB and CB due to another year of experience and better strength & conditioning. Peterson, Taylor, Bituli and Kirkland are good enough to perform well (s/b better than average SEC LB corps) provided the DL plays well. CB's will do well if we can get a pass rush. Warrior and Thompson should be a very good safety tandem. Depth at DL, CB, and S could also be an issue. However, I don't have much faith that our OL will show significant improvement because we did not improve over the course of the season. And, the DL will be highly suspect going into the season. All this equals low expectations.

 

[Orange defense]

Player development and getting his guys in here will get our defense going.

 

[CINCYVOL]

So, the average human starts to see results from consistent strength training in 4-8 weeks, but we shouldn't expect results from Fitzgerald's NFL/college S&C program in our sophomores, juniors, and seniors after 11 months in the program, which for the first time in their collegiate careers at UT, included in-season strength training?

The team looked weak in the spring, they looked weak at the beginning of the season, and they looked weak at the end of the season.

Do you work at Planet Fitness or something?

 

[TrueVolsGBOInsider]

improve our DEFENSE between now and next year? We've been as bad defensively the last 10 years as anyone in the SEC, and there have been lots of theories as to why. LINEBACKER PLAY has not been up to par! Last dominating MLB we had was AJ and we all know how that story goes, before him Wilson/Little and before that probably Hacksaw!! I know we've had some really good ones in the past, guys like Reeves-Maybin, Westmoreland but right now we are nowhere close to the elites at the lb position. We'll need big improvement out of Bituli and need JJ to be as good as advertised. I'm curious as to what our depth chart looks like next year at the LB position and look to see a few newcomers competing for time there.

We need some headknockers on defense! Big, mean, fast, strong and intimidating types like Reggie, Barnett, Wilson, Little, Jason Allen, Dale Carter, AJ and Berry!! Go find em coach!

This post is just my opinion, I did not use or source any famous ex VFL either living or dead whilst developing my own personal thoughts.

Jerod Mayo says what’s up..

 

[05_never_again]

If you are going to lay the problems of the 2018 team, at the feet of S&C, then Fitzgerald has to shoulder some of the blame. After 11 months in his program, other than a decrease in injuries resulting from swapping back to free-weight-based training, there were no significant on-the-field gains from the S&C program, and that has to fall on Fitz. You can't deflect from every single coach all the time, and spin excuse after excuse for coaches getting paid literal millions of dollars to do their jobs, just because you want to believe that they are doing a good job.

"what you put on the field as a coach is really who you are right now.”
- Jeremy Pruitt

I'm at a total loss trying to explain how Tennessee was beat at the LOS for extended periods of game time against teams like ETSU and UTEP, much less P5/SEC competition.

The only possible way any offensive line at a school like Tennessee gets beat by ETSU is if they are being bad intentionally, or they just don't really care. Even if you've been through a poor S&C program and are being coached poorly in terms of technique, a Tennessee offensive line should be able to eschew all of that and simply physically manhandle a FCS defensive front because of the size, natural strength, and natural athleticism advantage. I'm assuming ETSU's defensive front was made up of guys who didn't even have any FBS offers.

 

[DaddyChad]

Better players that fit the defensive scheme better.