1TheCoach1
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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.
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
Weird when it happened inder CBJ it was the same narrative at first.....meh, nevermind, im sure its completely different this time.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.
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.
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?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.
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.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?
Alot of dissension among fans in this room.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.
Any play would work if executed. It was three yards and they were running with success.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.
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.
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.
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.