Rebuilding year

[BigOrangeTrain]

What was Indiana's nil budget last year? No more excuses. They didn't pay for a single big name but maybe Mendoza. And nobody even knew who he was kept year.

No excuses? lol. Indiana is the exception, not the rule. There will always be outliers.

 

[Orange931]

We haven’t been rebuilding since 2021.

It’s sarcasm…..

 

[Jaxon_Vol2017]

No excuses? lol. Indiana is the exception, not the rule. There will always be outliers.

Keep making excuses Bruin

 

[NIL>KidsCollegeFund]

These days, rebuild year just means you don’t spend enough money to truly care.

 

[Remy]

After a really good coach took Indiana from the bottom of college football using NIL and the portal to a national championship in two years, no more excuses for anybody showing up with subpar play on the field and glaring holes while paying millions out to a staff. Either get it done or get it gone,

 

[EastTNVol6240]

Every year is a potential rebuilding year now.

Let's say we agree this is a "building year" for the Faizon era and Knowles to get his D installed but after this year Faizon decides he'd like to go to Miami or Ohio State or wherever and a couple of Knowles chosen DBs decide they like it better elsewhere, then what? Does 2027 look good?

We're never going to have the money to throw around like TX oil billionaires or super rich in the Miami area or whatever.

Saying Danny should "loosen the purse strings" is laughable when we simply don't have the long list of wealthy donors TX schools can call on.

It is what it is in this era. We may get raided after this season.

No. Our recruiting classes and talent are behind some of those schools, but not THAT far behind. Either win or don’t. Everyone can make excuses. Every pumper on this board loves to find the next reason why we “should” lose 5 or 6 next season. The days of having a 3-4 year starting QB are over. If we tank due to QB play next year like some are already predicting, then that rests squarely on JH. With our resources, cash, and recent classes, there is no good excuse to not be top 10-15 year in and out. This is UT.

 

[volfan411]

The problem is that teams used to be able to know where the holes were going to be: Okay, Peyton is gone after this year, Tee needs to be ready, etc.

Now it's: Wait? G-Mac is leaving after this year? Well, Faizon is here and I hope he's..... Wait, he's leaving too? That can't happen??? Wait, no. Both cannot..... what do you mean Indiana offered Faizon $7M a year? G-Mac is getting $7M too from LSU? What????

It is the sad state of college football these days. I agree someone will throw a bag at either G-Mac or Faizon after this season and if they take it I do not blame them.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

No. Our recruiting classes and talent are behind some of those schools, but not THAT far behind. Either win or don’t. Everyone can make excuses. Every pumper on this board loves to find the next reason why we “should” lose 5 or 6 next season. The days of having a 3-4 year starting QB are over. If we tank due to QB play next year like some are already predicting, then that rests squarely on JH. With our resources, cash, and recent classes, there is no good excuse to not be top 10-15 year in and out. This is UT.

This is UT no longer means what it used to, unfortunately, as Indiana pushing Ohio State all over the field showed. We see teams that aren't storied programs rising up on the back of money. For instance, Oregon that has no "big football legacy" to tout becoming a power every year.

The days of "This is UT" will exist only if we have the NIL money to compete. It's about the money now and "This is UT" cannot help us as much as "This is 20 million dollars for the NIL fund."

"With our resources" being about #15 on the NIL list, then finishing in the top 10 is an iffy proposition. Resources = money now.

As with every year, coaching matters. We have a new DC because our D wasn't getting it done. Our QB situation is puzzling to me but Heupel is a better QB coach than me or you, so I hope he knows that he's doing.

I'm not absolving coaching but money drives the bus now, not legacy.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

It is the sad state of college football these days. I agree someone will throw a bag at either G-Mac or Faizon after this season and if they take it I do not blame them.

It is but we were dang happy when we threw a bag at Nico and Faizon had a million dollar NIL in HS last year. Coincidence? Doubtful.

I've not checked if Derrick Baker is getting a HS NIL but I'd not be surprised.

It's not a pretty business but it never was below the surface. We're seeing a little more of sausage factory now.

 

[EastTNVol6240]

This is UT no longer means what it used to, unfortunately, as Indiana pushing Ohio State all over the field showed. We see teams that aren't storied programs rising up on the back of money. For instance, Oregon that has no "big football legacy" to tout becoming a power every year.

The days of "This is UT" will exist only if we have the NIL money to compete. It's about the money now and "This is UT" cannot help us as much as "This is 20 million dollars for the NIL fund."

"With our resources" being about #15 on the NIL list, then finishing in the top 10 is an iffy proposition. Resources = money now.

As with every year, coaching matters. We have a new DC because our D wasn't getting it done. Our QB situation is puzzling to me but Heupel is a better QB coach than me or you, so I hope he knows that he's doing.

I'm not absolving coaching but money drives the bus now, not legacy.

I agree that the “UT” doesn’t hold what it once did. Money definitely drives the game now. No denying that. Do we have something concrete on where we stand in NIL? You may be correct, I just know those numbers are a bit hard to nail down/find.

My argument is that it holds more than some like to believe. We aren’t a bottom program that some like to chalk it up to when we lose games we shouldn’t. We are high on the list as far as talent goes when it comes to average class since JH has been here. We are bringing in a good amount of talent regardless of the dollars spent. Sure we don’t compete with the OSUs, but we also shouldn’t finish a season out of the top20…

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I agree that the “UT” doesn’t hold what it once did. Money definitely drives the game now. No denying that. Do we have something concrete on where we stand in NIL? You may be correct, I just know those numbers are a bit hard to nail down/find.

My argument is that it holds more than some like to believe. We aren’t a bottom program that some like to chalk it up to when we lose games we shouldn’t. We are high on the list as far as talent goes when it comes to average class since JH has been here. We are bringing in a good amount of talent regardless of the dollars spent. Sure we don’t compete with the OSUs, but we also shouldn’t finish a season out of the top20…

It's the trajectory of our NIL which was high when NIL first started but we can't compete with TX billionaires or if Phil Knight wants to fund Oregon until he's gone and beyond or Mark Cuban wants to roll money into Indiana. We just can't unless a billionaire or millionaire group wants to toss big money toward Knoxville.

That's the issue. Expecting us to maintain our results and even move up higher in the rankings isn't realistic without big money. Teams are coming out of the woodwork like TCU or Indiana that shouldn't hold a candle to UT but are being heavily funded and are having success.

It's the reality of our NIL trajectory that we aren't getting more money rapidly like some other programs and that will translate into their programs improving while we aren't.