Phil Steele: Tennessee is a National Title Contender

[KBVol]

Phil Steele: Tennessee is a national title contender | WNML-AF

College football writer Phil Steele joined Sports 180 on Monday to preview the upcoming season.

Steele believes Tennessee is the favorite to win the SEC Eastern Division thanks to an abundance of talent and experience returning from last year’s team, which finished the season with a 9-4 record. Steele believes the Vols have as much potential as any team in the country entering the 2016 season.

“They’re definitely a legitimate national title contender,” he said.

A lot of that is thanks to the 17 starters Tennessee has returning from last year’s team.

“They are the No. 1 most experienced Power 5 team,” Steele said. “We can’t hear Butch (Jones) say how young they are this year, because they’re not. … Tennessee has got good players at every single unit, every single position across the board.”

Steele pointed out Tennessee came close to winning the SEC East last year; the Vols lost three conference games by a combined 10 points. Being the favorite to win its division this year could help Tennessee make a run at the College Football Playoff.

“You look at the fact that if you win the SEC East, you find yourself in the SEC title game,” Steele said. “And if you win the title game, you’re basically one game away from being right there in the playoffs. I think Tennessee’s got a good shot, provided they don’t let those leads slip away and play up to their talent level.”

The full interview with Phil Steele – check out PhilSteele.com – is below. Hear more of his thoughts on Tennessee and the SEC as we approach the 2016 season.

 

[kunsanvol]

I still have to see UT beat Florida to believe it. The last decade has made me confident that UF could dress out 50 old women in UF uniforms and we would still find a way to lose.

 

[jakez4ut]

oh boy. we need the season to get here. quick.

all i'm thinking about right now is 2005.

interestingly, if you go back and check....Steele was the only one in all the pre season rankings that had us well outside the top 3, at 15th.....so he was sort of right back then (we finished 5-6).

i'd be good with him being right, again.

 

[hohenfelsvol]

Play level and coaching need to both at high levels. Need to get monkey off of our back first with Florida and off course don't mess up the Battle at Bristol right out of the gate.

 

[chargervol]

Good read.
Can't wait to see the bye week poll by the end of the day.

2 more months of articles, we'll have to add Super Bowl to the preseason prediction thread.

 

[jakez4ut]

this pre season is brutal. the level of hype is reaching 2005 levels. and we know how that turned out.

if they actually do the things they're been told they can do, i might be more impressed with that, than had they come out of no where to do it.

 

[TAF]

Is it September 1sr yet??!!

 

[hohenfelsvol]

Is it September 1sr yet??!!

Seems like time is standing still lately

 

[Volador]

I feel a little wind up my skirt

 

[chargervol]

I do believe we have a lot in our favor. I think other teams have got their own Pros.
What has surprised me, you usually only see this amount of hype if a team just finished a 10 or 11 win season. Not 8.
Not really a pessimist, but I will have to see the wins on the field before thinking about playoffs.

 

[Rifleman]

Vegas has us at 15 to 1 to win it all.

That feels right on to me.

Georgia is 33 to 1 and Florida is 50 to 1 and Vanderbilt . . .
can't find anyone willing to give odds on Vanderbilt.

Yeah, that seems about right.

 

[DL916]

How crazy is it that the hype last year might benefit us this year? The players gained experience in handling expectations, bouncing back after some heartbreaking losses, and getting withing a FG of making the SEC Championship game.

They're gonna be hungry this year, something to prove. Them dogs will hunt.

 

[jakez4ut]

How crazy is it that the hype last year might benefit us this year? The players gained experience in handling expectations, bouncing back after some heartbreaking losses, and getting withing a FG of making the SEC Championship game.

They're gonna be hungry this year, something to prove. Them dogs will hunt.

did they? i think this is still a big question mark.

here's the thing that kinda kills me about this team, this season...

this team is going to have to play every game from the top of the mountain, w/out ever having reached the top of the mountain.

i think single biggest negative factor facing this team is having to live up to the hype. we are front runners w/out ever having been in front, much less finishing up front.

i feel like we're getting jipped out of our "climb back up". and should we not ACTUALLY reach the top of the mountain, it will be viewed a failure.

anyway. love all the talk and excitement about the program right now. i am not entirely sure it's a huge benefit for a team that just hasn't proven itself in its biggest moments.

 

[TheMookieMonster]

All this hype....this seems so familiar and not in a good way. I truly do believe we should win the East, and that anything can happen in the SEC Title game. We are the most talented team in the East, and the most experienced.

But, until I see Butch and Team 120 close out big games, I am going to stay a little more reserved. I saw a lot of people on VN last year hyping up Team 119 and almost guaranteeing we go 10-2 and beat Florida. I just want to be more cautiously optimistic till it actually happens now.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

I still have to see UT beat Florida to believe it. The last decade has made me confident that UF could dress out 50 old women in UF uniforms and we would still find a way to lose.

In the last 2 years Florida has had 15 players drafted (tied for most in the SEC) while we've had ZERO.

This theory that they're winning with nobody is FALSE. They have consistently put more talent on the field than us the last 11 years.

This year will in fact be the first year in forever that our 4 year recruiting average will be higher than Florida.

So please drop this mythology that Florida is beating us with bums. They've been one of the most talented teams in college football for the last 11 years. Even in the last 2 they still put more guys into the NFL than almost every team in the SEC.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

All this hype....this seems so familiar and not in a good way. I truly do believe we should win the East, and that anything can happen in the SEC Title game. We are the most talented team in the East, and the most experienced.

But, until I see Butch and Team 120 close out big games, I am going to stay a little more reserved. I saw a lot of people on VN last year hyping up Team 119 and almost guaranteeing we go 10-2 and beat Florida. I just want to be more cautiously optimistic till it actually happens now.

They should have.

You expecting another year of epic collapses?

 

[Vol4Life2007]

I still have to see UT beat Florida to believe it. The last decade has made me confident that UF could dress out 50 old women in UF uniforms and we would still find a way to lose.

Well this goes without saying. Please don't immediately get negative on us now or anything, haha! Also que up your "pump the Brakes" macro for the next thread!

 

[orange parmejohn]

did they? i think this is still a big question mark.

here's the thing that kinda kills me about this team, this season...

this team is going to have to play every game from the top of the mountain, w/out ever having reached the top of the mountain.

i think single biggest negative factor facing this team is having to live up to the hype. we are front runners w/out ever having been in front, much less finishing up front.

i feel like we're getting jipped out of our "climb back up". and should we not ACTUALLY reach the top of the mountain, it will be viewed a failure.

anyway. love all the talk and excitement about the program right now. i am not entirely sure it's a huge benefit for a team that just hasn't proven itself in its biggest moments.

I'm not too worried about hype. This team is loaded with confident alpha dogs and has strong leadership in the locker room. The teams of years' past played better as underdogs but this roster is a horse that wants to run out front.

 

[jakez4ut]

In the last 2 years Florida has had 15 players drafted (tied for most in the SEC) while we've had ZERO.

This theory that they're winning with nobody is FALSE. They have consistently put more talent on the field than us the last 11 years.

This year will in fact be the first year in forever that our 4 year recruiting average will be higher than Florida.

So please drop this mythology that Florida is beating us with bums. They've been one of the most talented teams in college football for the last 11 years. Even in the last 2 they still put more guys into the NFL than almost every team in the SEC.

this theory has been debunked a hundred times.

if they were so bad ass why on earth were they in scraps with a such a crappy team such as us?

we had no business losing the last two games. there've been plenty of games in the last 11 where FL was waaaaay better than us.

that was not the case the last two years. period.

 

[jakez4ut]

They should have.

You expecting another year of epic collapses?

i don't think anyone is "expecting" a collapse.

no more than they're "expecting" a win.

but i can tell you this....i know which one they've actually seen.:thumbsup:

 

[jakez4ut]

I'm not too worried about hype. This team is loaded with confident alpha dogs and has strong leadership in the locker room. The teams of years' past played better as underdogs but this roster is a horse that wants to run out front.

i don't disagree. still doesn't change the fact that they've not, nor have they, been out front. been on top.

but they're going to have to play like that.

 

[orange parmejohn]

In the last 2 years Florida has had 15 players drafted (tied for most in the SEC) while we've had ZERO.

This theory that they're winning with nobody is FALSE. They have consistently put more talent on the field than us the last 11 years.

This year will in fact be the first year in forever that our 4 year recruiting average will be higher than Florida.

So please drop this mythology that Florida is beating us with bums. They've been one of the most talented teams in college football for the last 11 years. Even in the last 2 they still put more guys into the NFL than almost every team in the SEC.

These are valid points but talent or no, they have played bad football the last two years and we still found a way to lose to them.

 

[orange parmejohn]

this theory has been debunked a hundred times.

if they were so bad ass why on earth were they in scraps with a such a crappy team such as us?

we had no business losing the last two games. there've been plenty of games in the last 11 where FL was waaaaay better than us.

that was not the case the last two years. period.

Agreed.

 

[volboy81]

I read the other day that Butch Jones-coached teams always seem to meet or exceed preseason expectations. Hopefully that continues this year! 😃🏈

 

[TheMookieMonster]

They should have.

You expecting another year of epic collapses?

In retrospect yes they should have won. But nobody was talking "in retrospect" last summer before the game happened.

I'm not expecting a year of epic collapses again, but you sunshine pumpers need to take it down a level. If I'm not mistaken, I don't come here too often, but you are the poster who has us going 15-0 and winning a national title.

I'm sorry, but we need to take it one step at a time and win some big games first. Yes, we SHOULD have beaten Florida. But guess what? We didn't. So it goes without saying I still need to see it to believe it, and, yes, beating Florida is the next step in our resurgence as a program.