Offensive Progress in 2014

[JonGrudensAgent]

I am no Bajakian apologist and I do not think the total body of work was all that impressive but at times during this season you could see the true potential of this offense.

We have 3 critical factors for 2015 that hampered 2014.

Blair has to be ready to rock at OT
We must keep Dobbs healthy
Dobbs must improve his accuracy and consistency

I essentially agree with this but the entire key to the offense will be improvement from everyone on that O line not just Blair proving worthy of a scholarship.

It was bad on an epic scale this year.

Better o line play should make the entire offense click better.

 

[Carl Pickens]

You're wrong. I don't consider that an excuse. I consider it a falsehood.

In worse shape, how? Based on recruiting rankings, Ole Miss and Miss State had far less talent when Freeze and Mullen took over than what Butch inherited at UT. Both Freeze and Mullen took over programs that had a worse on field records the previous year. Both had smaller budgets for recruiting, facilities, and assistants when they started. And neither had anywhere near the fan attendance to their games...

...So with what actual unbiased, factual rationale can you possibly conclude that they took over better situations? There is none. It's just something you make up to absolve our head coach from ever being held accountable from producing results. "Oh our poor Butch just has it so much harder than anyone else." It's ridiculous, pathetic, and there are piles of actual documented facts that show otherwise.

The recruiting classes you speak of that butch inherited were blown up prior to his arrival. Can you not look at the roster and see it?

 

[oregonvol]

The recruiting classes you speak of that butch inherited were blown up prior to his arrival. Can you not look at the roster and see it?

Please read more carefully. I'm not referring to recruiting classes. I am referring to who was on the actual roster. There were alot more 4 star rated athletes on the roster when he got here than Freeze had at Ole Miss or Mullen at Miss State or Franklin at Vanderbilt.

 

[KBVol]

Freeze knocked off Alabama and got Ole Miss into the top 10 in year 3.

Mullen got Mississippi State to the pinnacle of their program's entire history.

If those guys are mediocre, what do you call Butch? He's never accomplished anything close to what they have.

.

 

[JC61]

Reckon that settles it then

 

[zidanefan]

It's got nothing to do with that.

At some point, you have to make more than the bare minimum progress. You have to do more than simply meeting expectations.

Let's say the offense makes the same "improvement" it did this year (going from 106 to 100) and goes from the 100th offense to the 94th offense and then again the next year, to the 88th offense, and so on...you still have a really bad offense for the next decade.

Expecting significant improvement isn't some matter of "we're Tennessee", like you suggest. It is simply acknowledging the reality that programs are rarely successfully rebuilt at such a snail's pace.

I actually agree with most of what 92volalum posted as the first response in this thread. I have serious doubts about the offense against the best competition in the league/country, and about Butch's playcalling. And, yes, the fact that Butch was Dooley's signature win still lurks in the back of my mind.

But holy crap, man... the reason people want to drop posters like you and SGM in the Silence of the Lambs lotion pit is because you're a broken record. Every positive thread devolves into the same argument. At least take some of Eric's stats and dispute them, or get creative and use them to show why we're regressing. Post a gif that makes people laugh... do something worthwhile, for God's sake.

 

[oregonvol]

I actually agree with most of what 92volalum posted as the first response in this thread. I have serious doubts about the offense against the best competition in the league/country, and about Butch's playcalling. And, yes, the fact that Butch was Dooley's signature win still lurks in the back of my mind.

But holy crap, man... the reason people want to drop posters like you and SGM in the Silence of the Lambs lotion pit and leave you there is because you're a broken record. Every positive thread devolves into the same argument. At least take some of Eric's stats and dispute them, or get creative and use them to show why we're regressing. Post a gif that makes people laugh... do something worthwhile, for God's sake.

I've posted plenty of stats over the past year. When I do, folks like you whine about them or ignore them. I posted that we went from the 106th ranked offense to the 100th ranked offense on the first page of this thread, but you ignored that because it didn't fit your narrative.

If you can't handle me pointing out that, statistically, Butch Jones has made less improvement record-wise over his predecessors than anyone who has successfully rebuilt a program in the SEC in the past two decades, then maybe you should use the ignore function. I'm not going to stop being critical just because you don't like facts.

 

[zidanefan]

I've posted plenty of stats over the past year. When I do, folks like you whine about them or ignore them. I posted that we went from the 106th ranked offense to the 100th ranked offense on the first page of this thread, but you ignored that because it didn't fit your narrative.

Actually, I originally had a response to that in my post. It was, "Technically, the bare minimum progress would be going from the 106th to the 105th ranked offense."

I removed it because I didn't think it was terribly productive, but since you brought it up, the only whining going on is someone nitpicking about going from 106 to 100. That is actual progress. Whether you deem it to be worthwhile is opinion, not fact. You then used that comment as a springboard to launch into the Freeze/Mullen/Jones debate.

If you can't handle me pointing out that, statistically, Butch Jones has made less improvement record-wise over his predecessors than anyone who has successfully rebuilt a program in the SEC in the past two decades, then maybe you should use the ignore function.

Can't handle it... just jumped out the window. Thankfully, I'm on the ground floor, so I'm back in at my computer now.

I'm not going to stop being critical just because you don't like facts.

That's noble work you're doing.

Cheers...

 

[emzeeee]

Actually, I originally had a response to that in my post. It was, "Technically, the bare minimum progress would be going from the 106th to the 105th ranked offense."

I removed it because I didn't think it was terribly productive, but since you brought it up, the only whining going on is someone nitpicking about going from 106 to 100. That is actual progress. Whether you deem it to be worthwhile is opinion, not fact. You then used that comment as a springboard to launch into the Freeze/Mullen/Jones debate.



Can't handle it... just jumped out the window. Thankfully, I'm on the ground floor, so I'm back in at my computer now.



That's noble work you're doing.

Cheers...

Don't bother. I spent a long time throwing facts at this argument in another thread and it all gets ignored by the :crazy:UT fans.

 

[zidanefan]

Don't bother. I spent a long time throwing facts at this argument in another thread and it all gets ignored by the :crazy:UT fans.

I know, but sometimes it's fun to have a go at the troglodytes.

 

[JMSqb11]

I love to lay out clearly defined progress and not get caught up in how something looks or what it seems like is happening. I like seeing numbers on paper and seeing if the numbers say it got better or worse.

The team had clear lines of progress this year.

-one more win
-a bowl appearance
-1 more SEC win
-2 Road SEC wins
Ect.


But many on here talk about how bad the offense was. How poor the OC is and that this side of the staff should be "in trouble".

Well the facts lay out in a very different way. We accomplished better numbers this year having to face the following adversities.

-Started 7 different Freshman
-44 total freshman starts JUST on O
-Replacing all 5 OL
-Many significant injuries to the WR unit
-Losing our starting QB and having to play with our 3rd string QB the last third of the season.

2014 Offensive Improvement Numbers**

-66 More Points in 2014
-100 More Plays
-76 More First Downs
-9 More Passing TD's
-4 Less INT's
-Redzone Efficiency up 15%

**These numbers from CMB press conference today**

Think about how much those numbers are going to go up next year with the following notes about what is coming back for this offense.

-Return our entire WR core
-Return our starting QB for the first time in years
-Return our entire OL 3 deep but 1 walk on with one ACL (Thank you Jacob Gilliam)
-Return one of the top freshman RB's in the country
-Another year to develop the OL after they've had a year of playing together adding talented freshman and getting Blair ready
-Add uber talented JUCO Kamara at RB and Williams at WR

I think a lot of people are down on the O for no reason, when you look at the circumstances and the results I think the offensive staff did a HELL of a coaching job in 2014.

Go Vols!

Yes. Our progress has been plenty offensive this year.

 

[Slingshot]

Bottom line: We replaced our entire offensive line.

One side of that line at one time this year was all true freshmen.

We replaced our entire defensive line.

And I don't even remember how many true freshmen played and started and all that this year.

And its the SEC these true freshmen played in.

The fact that we actually didn't take steps backward is impressive. Not to mention won 6 games and going to a bowl which is an improvement over the last 3 years?

 

[norrislakevol]

Folks, sacks are drive killers. How many sacks did our green offensive line give up this year? When you have freshmen playing on the lines you are going to get beat in this league.....I don't care which way you spin it. Our line will be better next year by default. They will have had a year in the weight room and another year to improve their technique. If you can give Dobbs another half second in the pocket, or make that crease another 12 inches wider for Hurd to run through, then who know what can happen? Patience.