Some Bluebloods have returned...

#126
#126
Jaws said:
If Michigan is back, Florida must be, in the immortal words of Chris Berman, “back, back, back.”
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Read an ESPN article saying NFL teams were interested in several college head coaches, including Dan Mullen....interesting!
 
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#127
#127
ButchBettaBeGone said:
Read an ESPN article saying NFL teams were interested in several college head coaches, including Dan Mullen....interesting!
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Never fails when UF has a good coach. Same rumors for Spurrier, same rumors for Meyer. Nobody ever mentioned Zook or Mac or Mushchamp for pro jobs. For what it’s worth, Mullen said he’s not even remotely interested in the NFL.
 
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#128
#128
05_never_again said:
They are also just much better players than what Pruitt had/has, and Pruitt had a schedule where in the preseason you could reasonably mark 4 of the games as definite or highly probably losses (West Virginia, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama). He actually managed to win one of those games. We were only favored in 3 games this year if memory serves.
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Doesn't take good players to play hard, win or lose. Pruitt's players flat out quit in the one game that meant something (Vandy). That may be on the players, but it is also on the coaching staff. For a head coach making millions of dollars to blame it all on 18-21 year old kids is not only classless, it is also clueless. Again, anyone could win a bunch of games with Alabama's players - Pruitt ain't gonna get those players here unless and until he starts effectively coaching the players who are on his team.
 
#129
#129
CA_Vol said:
ND, Michigan, and Texas are all back to Top 10 programs. Obviously we aren’t even close, but it shows that with quality coaching and recruiting, traditional powerhouse programs can be restored. I hate that we are taking so long, but hopefully Pruitt can one day get us back into the national conversation (in a positive way).

The recruiting class is a start. Now he has to get this OC hire right. Next, he has to win some games that we aren’t supposed to win and win the games we are supposed to. That is the hallmark of a quality coaching staff and program.

Next year is important. We won’t contend for the East, but we should be at least competitive in every game and go to a bowl. Then maybe we can start expecting to be back amongst the bluebloods.
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ND and Michigan didn't look like top 10 programs to me. They looked like programs with easy schedules and faltered badly against the competition.

aTm, and perhaps Florida look like top 10 programs.

As far as blue bloods go: Nebraska can't win in perhaps the easiest division of the P5 conferences.

I really think we can win 8 or more games next year (barring major upheaval, 10 wins probably the ceiling and 7 wins the floor). The schedule, experience level, recruits all point to us being significantly better while most of our competitors have major head winds such as graduation levels, early NFL draft declarations (3 for Florida already), etc.

That's all the sunshine pumping I can muster up for now.
 
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#130
#130
State of the Vols said:
Doesn't take good players to play hard, win or lose. Pruitt's players flat out quit in the one game that meant something (Vandy). That may be on the players, but it is also on the coaching staff. For a head coach making millions of dollars to blame it all on 18-21 year old kids is not only classless, it is also clueless. Again, anyone could win a bunch of games with Alabama's players - Pruitt ain't gonna get those players here unless and until he starts effectively coaching the players who are on his team.
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Pruitt has done it at Alabama, Georgia, and Florida State. Not just Bama he is far more proven as a DC than Kirby Smart was considering Kirby always coached top notch players at Bama!

The players were even saying that the other Players gave up and that it wouldn't happen again when the "cancer was gone"! Butch left a horrible culture for Pruitt to have to fix, If the players quit I don't put it on Pruitt right now. Year 3 if the players are quitting I say there is a problem, But I don't see it happening! JMHO
 
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#131
#131
State of the Vols said:
Doesn't take good players to play hard, win or lose. Pruitt's players flat out quit in the one game that meant something (Vandy). That may be on the players, but it is also on the coaching staff. For a head coach making millions of dollars to blame it all on 18-21 year old kids is not only classless, it is also clueless. Again, anyone could win a bunch of games with Alabama's players - Pruitt ain't gonna get those players here unless and until he starts effectively coaching the players who are on his team.
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If this was year 3 or 4 of Pruitt, or even year 2, I'd agree with you.

It is very hard for a new head coach to come in and get 100% or even 75% buy-in from the juniors and seniors who are already there. Especially when said juniors and seniors experienced the worst season in school history the previous year and a disappointing/underachieving season the year before that. Now you've got this guy coaching you who didn't recruit you and does things in a way you aren't used to.

I'm not going to judge Pruitt's ability to motivate and coach players until he's coaching mostly guys he has recruited, who don't know anything other than Pruitt. If we had a much deeper roster than we did, I bet Pruitt would've cut a bunch of guys off of this team, but he simply couldn't afford to.
 
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#132
#132
State of the Vols said:
Doesn't take good players to play hard, win or lose. Pruitt's players flat out quit in the one game that meant something (Vandy). That may be on the players, but it is also on the coaching staff. For a head coach making millions of dollars to blame it all on 18-21 year old kids is not only classless, it is also clueless. Again, anyone could win a bunch of games with Alabama's players - Pruitt ain't gonna get those players here unless and until he starts effectively coaching the players who are on his team.
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Just out of curiosity, when is it the players' fault? Not much depth, and the ones that wanted to play were worn out by the end of the season. Sometimes it is the Jimmys and Joes on the bad side as well.
 
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#134
#134
State of the Vols said:
Doesn't take good players to play hard, win or lose. Pruitt's players flat out quit in the one game that meant something (Vandy). That may be on the players, but it is also on the coaching staff. For a head coach making millions of dollars to blame it all on 18-21 year old kids is not only classless, it is also clueless. Again, anyone could win a bunch of games with Alabama's players - Pruitt ain't gonna get those players here unless and until he starts effectively coaching the players who are on his team.
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Again, you act like CJP has been here for more than the 14 months total he has been here. The vast majority of players here were ruined by the previous regime, not by the current coaching staff.
 
#135
#135
I hope the UCF crowd will finally quieten down. You gotta be careful what you ask for. They couldn't beat the 4th best team in the SEC. And LSU got stomped by Bammer.
 
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#136
#136
Here is the problem with your logic. It is significantly more difficult for us to get back to "blueblood status" than it is for any of those teams (or most teams in general) because of the fact that, at minimum, we play 3 out of the top 10 programs in recruiting rankings every year, and some years 5 out of the top 10 programs. Consistent winning is directly related to recruiting rankings, so we are starting from behind before the first whistle is blown.
 
#137
#137
GregAmsler said:
Tennessee is hardly unique in experiencing a sustained drought. Alabama was down from about 97-07. Even had a 3-9 season in 2000. Oklahoma was awful for a decade before Stoops arrived. USC wasn't good before Carroll arrived and they're only average right now. As you mentioned, ND, Michigan, and Texas are all coming out of down turns. Penn State hit hard times between Paterno and Franklin. Nebraska has been pretty bad recently.

The hard thing for Tennessee is that it plays in the SEC. So righting the ship is tougher since there is more competition to keep its foot on your throat. Ohio State really has it the easiest, given that the Big 10 is never a great conference top to bottom and they have every resource imaginable. That's why they're the only traditional powerhouse that hasn't really seen an extended down cycle in the last 30 years.
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B10 brags about playing 9 conf games, but they always 4-5 teams that couldn't beat App State.
 
#138
#138
So many interesting thoughts ITT...great responses about the top 10 teams. Some of my amateur assessments:

Pruitt is at plus 2 in my book. Won 2 games against ranked SEC teams that we ahouldnt have -plus 2 points. For the negas he lost 2 inferior teams we should have beaTen, Candybuilt and Misery- minus 2 points...then hes dead even. However, when considering we are coming off the worst season in the HISTORY of UT ball last year under a sleazy used car salesman, pruitt gets Plus 1 for increasing the win total and beating 2 ranked teams, then gets Plus 1 point for developing a freshman ALL SEC cornerback (plus a future ALL SEC db that may be better than Bryce in Alontae, also a great punter, and signing an A class in 2018, and an A+ 2019 class including a dozen linemen, a 5* RB that ALL SEC at ILB, Memphis RB that broke state rushing yardage record all-time in TN, etc..
Oh, and nobody has been arrested under CJP (honestly that should probably be plus 1 considering how many weve lost in the past.)

- Harbaugh leaving Meatchickin would be the smartest move, so he probably will. Hes a sly guy. He is 2 and 6 against his 2 biggest rivals, the defense was supposed to be top of the big 10 this season, got 62 hung on em by Urban Cryer, then the gators hung half a hundred on them on Natl TV just what 3 weeks later? He can leave now with 9 and 3? Or so season average over his time there, nobody could ever call him a loser, and he avoids the inevitable firing next season when OSU waxes em again WITHOUT Urban Cryer...making him 0 for 4 against them? I bet he could last 4 seasons as an NFL OC... make another 8 million or so and retire...loser. Meatchikin fans will talk trash about him forever. Check out their boards . We are still picking over their recruiting class to see if we forgot anyone...WE beat them for 2 GREAT RBs* and got a 5* DT of theirs to transfer that could be the best Dlinemen weve had in a while.

-Texas is back. Biggest in state recruiting base in the USA. Herman is a good coach
Hate they did it so fast. Believe we will get there...also with IN STATE talent. The next cycle for the 2020 class has LOTS of players that will get offers from Clemsom, Bama, etc...if we keep them all home at UT we will have a top 10 class when added to the kids we are recruiting from elsewhere. Big year for Tennessee kids.

- Penn State and franklin are never going to the playoffs...he couldnt get there with a top 10 defense and a RB that put up Heisman numbers that is very good as an NFL rookie.
As far as each humiliating loss to top 10 teams..."couldnt happen to a nicer guy".

- I think Saban only sticks around for 1 or 2 more titles before he moves on. After they beat Clemson this weekend, he passes the Bear in all time Titles...probably gets 1 more then we hear about him "considering retiring".. Bama pays him 10 million to coach 1 more season, then he retires. Gumps will back a Brinks truck up to Dabos mansion down at Clemson. If he doesnt take the gig...obvious backup is down in Athens at UGA. Gumps will hire Sabans most successful offspring. Thankfully, while Pruitt will have us in bowl games, in 2021 both Dabo and UGA Coach Backup will have much better resumes than CJP. Later on, I believe we have a pretty great one in CJP.

- Defensive line will be our biggest weakness this coming season. We have 2 good to great freshmen coming in on the Oline, and get our veteran center back that transferred in to start at center last season before getting hurt by game 2. We lost our best DTs and some DE..and while we drafted several Dlinemen...maybe 1 in 100 (5*) defensive linemen can start as freshmen in the SEC. Even the rare ones that can get manhandled at times. We will be small, and super thin. Less depth than last season..and former walkon Paul Bain was a huge contributor LAST season. We are thinner on the Dline now than we were then.

- if we are lucky and our Dline and Oline avoid injuries and play well next season, CJP could have us at 8 and 4 next year. I dont see it, after almost zero bad injuries this year. I think the Dline holds us back and we go 7 and 5 headed to a bowl. Good job CJP. If he pulls off 8 and 4, he will be in the running for SEC coach of the year. Bowl win could make it a 9 win season...only 2 years removed from a 4 and 8 record campaign and a national "fiasco" of a coaching search where VOL fans rejected a loser who was documented to have ignored active child molestation at PSU. Google the court documents and you can read statements*

TL,DR... seemingly random views in response to various posts in this thread, regarding our team, and our rivals
 
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#142
#142
JonGrudensAgent said:
More like one step forward ( KY and Auburn) two steps back ( Missouri and Vandy) so far.
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How did you figure KY and Auburn were 1 step forward, but Vandy and Mizz were 2 steps backwards? Your opinion so it doesn't matter, I'm just curious.
 
#143
#143
JonGrudensAgent said:
More like one step forward ( KY and Auburn) two steps back ( Missouri and Vandy) so far.
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I don't get this... Missouri has yet to be a "give me" game since they joined the East.

2 steps back should be Vandy & USC, I would argue Missouri was a tougher game than Florida even. Considering Lock was the only QB going into the season from the SEC East with any sort of Heisman/NFL 1st rounder hype.
 
#144
#144
CA_Vol said:
ND, Michigan, and Texas are all back to Top 10 programs. Obviously we aren’t even close, but it shows that with quality coaching and recruiting, traditional powerhouse programs can be restored. I hate that we are taking so long, but hopefully Pruitt can one day get us back into the national conversation (in a positive way).

The recruiting class is a start. Now he has to get this OC hire right. Next, he has to win some games that we aren’t supposed to win and win the games we are supposed to. That is the hallmark of a quality coaching staff and program.

Next year is important. We won’t contend for the East, but we should be at least competitive in every game and go to a bowl. Then maybe we can start expecting to be back amongst the bluebloods.
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You can't really compare the UT program to theirs. They spent the money and got a proven commodity on the sidelines to solve the issue. We spent a lot of money for inexperience hoping to get lucky. IMO we basically went all in on Butch, UT reputation and recruiting prowess was still there on that hire, and the admins knew one more failure would end that. Now we are in a deep hole and it will be hard for an any inexperienced coach pull us out. Those teams are back competing for championships and we are just hoping to get back to a bowl, any bowl.
 
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#145
#145
MoCo_Vol said:
I don't get this... Missouri has yet to be a "give me" game since they joined the East.

2 steps back should be Vandy & USC, I would argue Missouri was a tougher game than Florida even. Considering Lock was the only QB going into the season from the SEC East with any sort of Heisman/NFL 1st rounder hype.
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No shame in losing to Missouri and Lock. Agree on Lock being the best QB in the SEC East.

Losing by 33 is the issue IMO.

At least they were competitive against SC.

And if you look at it in terms of scheduling, they were coming off the high of beating KY. The same KY that had already beaten Missouri earlier in the season and kept Lock to a near season low in passing.
 
#146
#146
Behr said:
How did you figure KY and Auburn were 1 step forward, but Vandy and Mizz were 2 steps backwards? Your opinion so it doesn't matter, I'm just curious.
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Looking at it in terms of the schedule more than anything.

Thought they may be turning a corner after the gauntlet of FL GA and Bama.

Sandwiched the Auburn upset in there and were at least competitive against SC in a game they should have won. They then get by Charlotte and handle KY.

Then face plant badly against Missouri and Vandy. Losing those games was one thing, getting outscored 88 to 30 was another.
 
#149
#149
JonGrudensAgent said:
No shame in losing to Missouri and Lock. Agree on Lock being the best QB in the SEC East.

Losing by 33 is the issue IMO.

At least they were competitive against SC.

And if you look at it in terms of scheduling, they were coming off the high of beating KY. The same KY that had already beaten Missouri earlier in the season and kept Lock to a near season low in passing.
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Right, but Lock once he & Dooley started to figure it out was a bad time. KY just caught them after their hardest stretch and took advantage of a worn down team.

All 4 teams that beat Missouri we're able to pressure AND cover, so Lock's completion percentage was garbage. He was 70% here. I agree losing by 33 was a bad look, but I can't exactly call it a negative. The team that played USC was dominating and suddenly it all fell apart.

21-9 and then to lose 27-24 was a bigger negative than Missouri clobbering us. They kind of did that to everyone except a few teams. Only Alabama & Kentucky held them under 28 points.
 
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