Reports of Locker Room Dissension

#101
#101
volfannbama said:
Sounds like a stabilizing program. Exciting
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Exactly and the names you read leaving are the ones you can pin the label "locker room nightmare" on. Need to clean up the house to move forward. We should probably expect at least 10 more to do the same thing.
 
#104
#104
How does this affect Scholarships if several more transfer? Are we still limited to 25 or does that increase?
 
#105
#105
DiderotsGhost said:
Let's go back to 2017 and remind ourselves that Jauan Jennings was kicked off the team for being angry about losing and venting about it. Yes, some have said "there's more to the story", but there's also less to it. The fact that very few players seemed to care about the struggles in 2017 (with guys like Jennings and Bituli being the exceptions) said a lot about the attitude of the team.

I don't think Butch ever dug too deep when recruiting players. He took a bunch of athletic prospects and hoped some of them worked out. This was a methodology that worked pretty well back in the 1970s when you could recruit 85 players in a single class (as Johnny Majors did at Pitt). Not so much in this era of 25 recruits. You can't have a 30% success rate in 2019 like you could in 1972. And it's worse today than it was in 2013 and 2014 when Butch took 30+ recruits in those first few classes.

Pruitt is ahead of the curve on this and Butch was behind it. Butch built a team of guys with athletic talent and sometimes they were great (Dobbs, Barnett, Kamara) and sometimes they completely lacked inner drive. Pruitt has been looking for guys with passion and determination who play hard. It's a culture clash. Albeit, there are some of the Butch recruits that fit into the Pruitt culture (Jennings, Bituli, D-Taylor, a few others), but you can definitely see a difference on the field.

Though, let's just be honest ... the QB situation was bound to cause controversy. We win that BYU game if JG plays like an average QB. We don't win Florida without a great QB, but we also don't get blown out by 31 points; that should've been a much closer game. Meanwhile, on the other sideline, say what you will about the Shark-Humper (i.e. Jim McElwain), but his staff found the #124 rated QB in the 2016 class and he looks like one of the best QBs in the SEC right now. Butch found a bunch of paper 4 stars that don't look so great when you dig beneath the surface.

I don't know if Pruitt will get it done or not, but I think people are deluding themselves if they think he was dealt great cards these first 2 years.
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Great post! I am tired of all the ones bashing Pruitt and saying he has the players to win lots of games. I don't care how talented a player is in HS. If the player doesn't have the work ethic and determination to DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO BE A GREAT SEC PLAYER, then he doesn't belong on UT's roster! There are many on the roster now Pruitt is having to play because he is behind the 8 ball and not enough sophomores and freshman have developed enough to have all spots filled by them!!! JG is the main one!!! JG won't be the starting QB within the next month!!!!
 
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#107
#107
hog88 said:
I believe we are still limited to 25 signers.
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If we are allowed 85 scholarships and only have 73 scholarship players and attrition takes 5-6 and seniors leave 10 - 12 graduate depart then 58 on roster. 85 - 58= 27. Just an example but you get the point
 
#108
#108
Sudden Impact said:
If we are allowed 85 scholarships and only have 73 scholarship players and attrition takes 5-6 and seniors leave 10 - 12 graduate depart then 58 on roster. 85 - 58= 27. Just an example but you get the point
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I understand, someone broke it down teh other day and basically regardless of how many scholarships you have available you can still only take 25 guys.
 
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#109
#109
1TheCoach1 said:
Exactly and the names you read leaving are the ones you can pin the label "locker room nightmare" on. Need to clean up the house to move forward. We should probably expect at least 10 more to do the same thing.
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Weird when it happened inder CBJ it was the same narrative at first.....meh, nevermind, im sure its completely different this time.
 
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#110
#110
jimed1 said:
I think one of the problems the team has is not having a strong leader in the locker room like an Al Wilson Type. The QB, whoever it is, needs to take control and lead as well.
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That has been a problem since Al Wilson went pro; Not enough Alpha Dogs. During the tenures of Dickey, Battle, and Majors when wins were scarce, there was always certain players who lead. You could tell it by the way they interacted on the sidelines and on the field. But when Fulmer came along and discipline pretty much got took out with the trash during his later years, there have been fewer Alpha Dogs on the field.

The year the most Alpha dogs were on the field was 98. Not only Al Wilson, but Raynoch Thompson, Billy Ratliff, Shaun Ellis, Corey Terry, Deon Grant and Fred White just on defense. On offense, you had Tee Martin, Shawn Bryson, Jamal Lewis until he got hurt, replaced by Travis Henry and Travis Stephens as Alpha Dogs, Spencer Riley, Cosey Coleman, Mercedes Hamilton, Chad Clifton, even a couple of Alpha Dog receivers in Peerless Price and Jermaine Copeland. And I may be leaving someone out! No, I am not listing guys who were just great players, I am listing guys who lead the rest of that team in one way or another throughout the season. For some reason, players are either not developing into leaders or are not allowed to. It is not a talent you are born with, it is one you learn. And you can't teach it in a classroom or seminar. It develops among the players when they interact together without the noise of coaches, media, social media, fans, or family. And it is not obtained by bullying or fighting. It begins with a genuine respect and brotherly love for one another, and grows through competition and support. They learn it from each other. Without Alpha Dog leaders staring down their teammates and willing them to greatness, you don't have 5 stars who play like seasoned professionals. 4 stars who play like 5 stars, 3 stars who play like 4 stars, or walk-ons who play huge on special teams.

You have players who can't reach their true potential. You still have good players hungering for greatness, but you end up with a mediocre program like a ship at sea and no compass to guide the way through the storm.. Discipline builds leaders. And when I say discipline, I don't mean running wind sprints or stadium steps for misbehavior. I mean having disciplined leaders throughout the athletic department who show these young men leadership by example, By how they conduct their lives. Not by whatever flows from their mouths.

Until whoever within the program or athletic department that is impeding the development of true leadership amongst the players leaves because they are not providing the best example or learns to get the Hell out of the way because they can't stop meddling, this football team with continue to be mediocre. Because the Alpha dogs can't lead, and the dogs who follow don't have them to inspire them. The first mistake in the game will just lead to more. Desperation will set in, and leads to chaos.

We have been looking for clues at the scene of the crime, but never finding the true cause of the problems within this football program. If you want the true cause, it all points back to that.
 
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#112
#112
They have been fighting for 3 weeks, i have heard of 4 actual break it up fist fights. I was pumped when i first heard this and thought it a good sign but now its just finger pointing. The defense and offense blame each other and now the offense is splitting on the QB situation.
 
#114
#114
The Original Fade said:
I don’t think the defense is getting better. Receivers were wide open in the middle of the field routinely against UF, continual problems getting lined up correctly, blown coverages, etc. JG has clearly regressed. Seems like JJ is the only legit target, but maybe that’s more on JJ. Most clearly though, our record has regressed. On field preparedness and intensity has regressed.
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Chaney is the problem. Look at the goal line situation where he throws the ball. We were getting push in the run and he calls that BS?
 
#115
#115
Roustabout said:
Chaney is the problem. Look at the goal line situation where he throws the ball. We were getting push in the run and he calls that BS?
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He called two plays that would have worked if properly executed. JG threw the first one into a defender. The second one was a 5 yard bullet... that still should have been caught.

I'm not sure how you blame the play caller for either of those calls. They weren't bad calls regardless of the "push". Running what is expected against a good SEC D is seldom a good idea.
 
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#116
#116
Sara Clark said:
The Tennessee Vols’ 2019 season is off to a disastrous start.

Tennessee should be a 3-1 right now. Instead, the Vols are 1-3 and there’s a good chance they’ll soon be 1-6, with tough matchups against Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama coming up in October.

Losing is never easy. I don’t know many ultra-competitive people that taking losing well.

So when a report of tension in the Vols’ locker room surfaces, it’s not exactly shocking.

On Monday, The Athletic reported that there was “a lot of tension” in the Tennessee locker room after the Vols’ loss to the Florida Gators.


According to the report, there were “multiple, loud disputes” after the game that centered around who deserved the blame for “several mistakes throughout the game”. The Athletic also noted that UT’s quarterback situation has “increased tensions”.



Dissension in the locker room is obviously never a good thing.

But I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. And I really don’t think it should bother Vol fans.

Losing isn’t fun. Tennessee’s players should be pissed off they’re losing. And they should be searching for answers. Pretending everything is great won’t solve anything.

This is a completely normal response to a 1-3 start. We’re talking about a locker room full of 18-22 year olds and their coaches. That’s a lot of people. Not everyone is going to see eye to eye. It’s just life. And adversity can bring out the best and the worst in people.

Maybe this means some of UT’s players leave the program. It’s certainly possible that some of the tension is between “Butch Jones recruited players” and “Jeremy Pruitt recruited players”.

Will some of the “Butch players” leave the program in the coming weeks?

I’d say there’s a good chance that happens.

And maybe it’s what needs to happen.

If there are players who aren’t all in at Tennessee, then it’s probably best that the program and those players part ways.

By the way, I don’t think The Athletic is trying to stoke the fire by reporting on the state of Tennessee’s locker room. I think this is just what journalists are supposed to do. And The Athletic provides quality journalism. It’s not their job to make everything appear perfect. It’s their job to inform.

But at the same time, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Locker room disputes happen. Most of the time we never hear a word about them. Only when a team is losing does it become a major story.

If Tennessee starts winning, it won’t matter who yelled at who.
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Alot of dissension among fans in this room.
 
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#117
#117
BM is a true freshman, so for sure he has room for improvement. The best way too see if you can get it done is too play, him and Shrout deserve the chance. GBO!
 
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#118
#118
sjt18 said:
He called two plays that would have worked if properly executed. JG threw the first one into a defender. The second one was a 5 yard bullet... that still should have been caught.

I'm not sure how you blame the play caller for either of those calls. They weren't bad calls regardless of the "push". Running what is expected against a good SEC D is seldom a good idea.
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Any play would work if executed. It was three yards and they were running with success.
 
#120
#120
Fayettvol said:
They have been fighting for 3 weeks, i have heard of 4 actual break it up fist fights. I was pumped when i first heard this and thought it a good sign but now its just finger pointing. The defense and offense blame each other and now the offense is splitting on the QB situation.
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Pumped? Never be pumped about that. That is no way to correct the problems.
 
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#121
#121
DiderotsGhost said:
Yep. And at least 10 of the points the D gave up came off turnovers. 130 of those yards came in the 4th Quarter when the D was clearly exhausted from being on the field too long.

Change that and the D gives up maybe 17 points, which is reasonable against a top 10 team.

You can't turn the ball over 4 times and expect the D to bail you out every time. Every D in the nation (except maybe Bama, which has 3rd stringers who are 5 stars) is going to look bad in those circumstances.

It's easy to think everyone is playing poorly when one part of the team is essentially sabotaging everything else. But I've seen a much improved defense these past 3 games playing mostly Freshmen and Sophomores.
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Go look at the scores for last years season and this years season so far.

Tell me how many times Tennessee has been blown out.

You’re welcome.

Our defense sucks almost as bad as when Butch was here. It’s improved a little. But not a bunch. Still can’t even get lined up right. I mean good lord.
 
#124
#124
Booker512 said:
Go look at the scores for last years season and this years season so far.

Tell me how many times Tennessee has been blown out.

You’re welcome.

Our defense sucks almost as bad as when Butch was here. It’s improved a little. But not a bunch. Still can’t even get lined up right. I mean good lord.
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How is that these players cannot line up right?
 
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