Official Summer 2016 Vols Season Prediction Thread

[ConMan]

Who you pick us to lose to in the regular season games? And, you say we are also losing our bowl game too right?

No bama and am and lose sec championship game. Bowl game yet to be determined till we know the opponent

 

[FïreBall]

9-3

We beat Fla.. I reserve the right to change to 11-1. Lol

 

[tonybologna]

No bama and am and lose sec championship game. Bowl game yet to be determined till we know the opponent

Gotcha.

 

[IluvdoubleD's]

Imma gonna have to go 11-1 on this one for the first time in a LOOOOOOONG time. I ain't worried about Floriduh, I ain't worried about dawgs, I sure as hell ain't worried about salami. I think maybe we lose one we shouldn't by over looking someone somewhere down the line. I gotta say though, if we lose early, this thing could come unhinged in a hurry! Here's to hope and optimism for the first time in a long time gang. have a great holiday!

 

[chargervol]

Your wish is my command, Charger. :good!:

That's because you are a damn good man JP, No matter all the names others call you :whistling:

Seriously though, after the "definitely 8-4"...,
"8-4? what a disappointment" ., from last year, I like having a reference. With all the waffling, this place reminds me a little too much of political races at times.

 

[chargervol]

The 4 game stretch of Florida, Georgia, TAM and Alabama is brutal for sure, so I get the timing of it. To be honest, I hadn't really considered thst aspect, was only thinking about the on-the-field circumstances. I will say this....they're awfully talented and you never know when things could come together for em. But right now, that just looks like a likely win to me.

The stretch is the only reason I'm having a hard time saying 11.
If you look at each game individually, they all seem winnable. The cumulation is where the expectations drop for me.

 

[chargervol]

You're probably right. The administration isn't committed to winning.

If they were he would be fired for failing to win the east with this team and this season.

While your newly found - 'slam the coach in every thread' is your latest flavor of the month ( I'm guessing it's your out if Dobbs doesn't win the Heisman), I'm going to point out a different trend.
Even 9-3, while a little disappointing, is still improvement.
I can find no precedent of firing coaches when the swing is upwards. Declines or even becoming stale (see Richt) seem to be the standard. To fire for improvement seems less of a realistic idea and more of a D4Hism. And I have learned those isms are seldom based in any reality.

 

[KBVol]

You're probably right. The administration isn't committed to winning.

If they were he would be fired for failing to win the east with this team and this season.

No. Once again showing your youth and inexperience.

To rebuild this program from the absolute grease fire that it was in every facet, to winning 9 regular season games with a chance to win a total of 10 games with the bowl and having an overall 4 year record of 30-20, there's just no way ANY administration would or should fire him....he gets year 5 no matter what.

Now, if he takes a significant step back record-wise and recruiting falls way off and he demonstrates a general mismanagement of the program....then you take a hard look a making a tough decision to move on from Jones AFTER year 5.

But the overall job he's done with this program has been borderline phenomenal outside of a handful of poor gameday decisions. 9 wins this year would be very disappointing but in no way would it rise to the level of a fireable offense.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

No. Once again showing your youth and inexperience.

To rebuild this program from the absolute grease fire that it was in every facet, to winning 9 regular season games with a chance to win a total of 10 games with the bowl and having an overall 4 year record of 30-20, there's just no way ANY administration would or should fire him....he gets year 5 no matter what.

Now, if he takes a significant step back record-wise and recruiting falls way off and he demonstrates a general mismanagement of the program....then you take a hard look a making a tough decision to move on from Jones AFTER year 5.

But the overall job he's done with this program has been borderline phenomenal outside of a handful of poor gameday decisions. 9 wins this year would be very disappointing but in no way would it rise to the level of a fireable offense.

Sigh.

I agree he's done a great job rebuilding this program from the dumpster fire it was.

HOWEVER....after the epic choke jobs against Florida and Oklahoma in 2015 (we shoulda been 10-2 or 11-1 last year not 8-4), going 9-3 in 2016 with a more talented team against a weaker schedule is the ultimate RED FLAG.

Sure it's not fireable offense given where this program was. But if we can't do better than 9-3 next year given decent health, then it should let everyone know BUTCH IS NOT THE ANSWER. He'll never win anything of note at Tennessee if he can't get it done next year with a team that is more talented than 11 of the 12 opponents on his schedule.

Butch needs to win big next year. PERIOD.

 

[pimo1]

I see it as 10-2 unless we break both streaks... the games that scare me the most are actually A&M and VT (trap game). I feel like this is the time for us to beat Bama and Florida but reality is those 2 and UGA are too talented for us to beat them all unless everything goes right and all hype is lived up to. I just see too much strength in our schedule to make it out unscathed with an unproven team.

I believe all the Hype UT gets is deserved but it's all based on potential and potential in a lot of places. we have proven commodities in the run game and 7/11 spots on defense. WR is all potential and little real proven production. One corner and one safety are both potential. One OL is 100% potential. Dobbs' arm and pass protection also potential. For us to win more than 10 most if not all that potential must be met or exceeded. winning 10 should be the expectation 9 should be acceptable given strength of schedule. People constantly underestimate the sheer amount of talent (mostly homegrown) that UGA, Bama and UF have on tap every year. Its not a jealousy thing or an inferiority complex thing its simple demographics. There is more football talent within 100 miles of either of those campuses than in the while stats of TN and that is a fact.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

I see it as 10-2 unless we break both streaks... the games that scare me the most are actually A&M and VT (trap game). I feel like this is the time for us to beat Bama and Florida but reality is those 2 and UGA are too talented for us to beat them all unless everything goes right and all hype is lived up to. I just see too much strength in our schedule to make it out unscathed with an unproven team.

I believe all the Hype UT gets is deserved but it's all based on potential and potential in a lot of places. we have proven commodities in the run game and 7/11 spots on defense. WR is all potential and little real proven production. One corner and one safety are both potential. One OL is 100% potential. Dobbs' arm and pass protection also potential. For us to win more than 10 most if not all that potential must be met or exceeded. winning 10 should be the expectation 9 should be acceptable given strength of schedule. People constantly underestimate the sheer amount of talent (mostly homegrown) that UGA, Bama and UF have on tap every year. Its not a jealousy thing or an inferiority complex thing its simple demographics. There is more football talent within 100 miles of either of those campuses than in the while stats of TN and that is a fact.

The schedule will never be easier than it is this year.

Va-Tech is a .500 team in the ACC. Florida and Alabama are at home. A rebuilding Georgia with potentially a true freshmen QB and an A&M that is in complete disarray are our toughest road games.

If 10-2 is satisfactory to you then you must be fine with NEVER winning the SEC title under Butch Jones. Because Butch will never have such a favorable schedule.

 

[VOL 4 Life 83]

You're probably right. The administration isn't committed to winning.

If they were he would be fired for failing to win the east with this team and this season.

Just to play devil's advocate here, but why can't coaches go through their lumps and learning experiences just like the players? Jones has done a phenomenal job, and before arriving at UT, was a proven head coach with a decent record.

With that said, Jones was never a coach in the SEC and never played against the level of talent week in and week out. Sure, he may have had some questionable coaching decisions last year, but maybe that was his learning experience?! He shouldn't have been fired last year with the record we ended up with, even with the losses we had. You forget we are still only 4 years removed from Dooley, with some of his players still on the team.

 

[Vfledits]

My predictions are 11-1 (loss to Bama) however we still make SEC championship against LSU and beat them for the payback we owe them for the last two times we have played we get put into the Final 4 because Bama still finishes top 10 despite loss to LSU. And I want to say we win out but I will have to wait to see our opponent