Visiting Dawg
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We just don't have the talent right now. Especially not at critical positions like CB and Oline.
Qb- C
RB- B
WR-C
OL- F
DL-C+
LB-C+ with Kirkland
CB-F
Safeties-B- with TK
As fun as that night and the shell shocked looks afterwards were. This isnt even close to the same thing.
For one, Auburn, Bama, Georgia and most of the rest of the SEC arent Hillary Clinton. They are going to be fierce and ready.
That just isn't true. On 247 alone over a third of our scholarship players are 4* or 5*. If you combine the ones who were 3* on 247 but were 4* on either Rivals or ESPN it's very close to half. There's 30 on 247 alone then throw in the 3* guys who were 4* on atleast one of the others it's over 40. Those aren't the star rating's of a team that has no talent.The last 4 recruiting classes, not counting the current one only 3 teams on next year's schedule had a higher 4 year recruiting ranking. Ala, AU and GA. That includes Florida who we had a higher 4 year average than. That's 2 different valid arguments against the having no talent.We have 2 *4 QB's and one was the #1 DT QB in his class. Our OLine has 5 guys who were 4* or 5* players.Our LB's had 5 guys who were 4* and above including our leading tackler Bituli and Sapp who was another one of our leading tacklers. Including Kirkland that's 3 *4 LB's alone.Our DLine has Johnson and Tuttle who were 4* as were Taylor, Kongbo,Phillips, Crosby just on 247 alone. Our CB's have 4 *4 just on 247 and 3 *4 or *5 at safety.WR has a couple highly rated guys and Brandon Johnson was our best WR last year and was a *3. We definitely need to upgrade at WR, especially depth and playmakers. Our OLine has had injury and depth problems. Trey was a *5, Ryan Johnson a 4*, Richmond 4* so we definitely have to make numerous upgrades there. Those numbers don't lie and point to coaching and inability to develop players as the much bigger issue. No we don't have enough Championship type players or depth yet but we have more talent than 9 of our 12 opponent's next year. Then add to that what players we get in this class. The cupboard is far from empty but still got a little ways to go to compete for Championships. I'm betting this staff proves we have more than enough talent to get atleast 7 or 8 wins this year. Also betting we find out early on the players are getting a whole new different level type of coaching. The SEC is no longer the best top to bottom conference in football right now. Because of that We should not finish below 3 this year in the East.I just continue to see the no talent on the roster debate and the recruiting numbers and rankings 100% disprove that. It's not based off opinion but factual numbers.When 40+ of our returning roster were 4* or 5* on atleast one of the 3 services it completely backs up the argument against there being no talent on this roster. There is nothing to back up the argument of not having talent. Not enough depth and needing more championship type players at a few positions is a completely different story. Those numbers also completely validate that as well.
So your first thought is going to be to call me an idiot, so let me clarify. I am not saying UT "will" win the east, and I'm not even saying there is a great probability that they will. I am saying they "can" win the east. Lets break down the division by team:
- Florida: Tennessee broke the streak in 2016 and in 2017 1 play made the difference in possibly winning. 1 play where Florida committed multiple fouls that were not called. Let me re-state this; the WORST UT TEAM EVER could have beat florida last year if not for 1 play. Yes I know they have a new coach, but I don't expect Mullen to have the success in year 1 that he had at MSST after several years. And lets remember he was not their first choice so the fan base will turn on him quickly if things don't start great. The type of player that chooses UF (entitled) is not the same personality who chooses MSST (something to prove) and I don't think he has the personality to handle them.
- Georgia: When I look at Kirby Smart I see a coach like Phil Fulmer; a good coach who will succeed on how good a staff he has. Georgia was very lucky this year, they only had 1 starter injured (Eason) and had a very capable backup, and in that offense until the last game he really was a game manager. Their 2 graduating RB's carried the load. Auburn showed the blueprint to beat them, but we all know it's tough to beat the same team twice in a season. Georgia loses 31 seniors plus any juniors who go to the NFL. Yes they have a good class coming in but this could certainly be a rebuilding year for them. Georgia ran over the worst SEC East in history; I don't expect that will continue.
- South Carolina: I think Muschamp has learned a lot from his time at Florida, but the only reason he won over UT last year is because he had Butch's number. 15-9, does that really sound like a juggernaut? Tennessee still has more talent than SCAR, and they barely won last year. Beating SCAR gave Tennessee a resurgence a few years ago and can do so again in 2018.
- Mizzou: I don't really know what to make of Mizzou. If you look at talent they simply don't have the atheletes to hang with UT or Georgia or Florida. But they did last year beating UT and UF and hanging with UGA. Their players fit their mold much like GT has players that fit what they do even if they aren' 5 stars. Mizzou loses Heupel and his high powered offense and with the talent differential, UT should win this game most of the time.
- Kentucky: Once again UT should always out-talent the cats. I don't make much of Mark Stoops, he is a decent coach but I don't think he will out-scheme Pruitt. This is a game the players should be up for and I expect big things.
- Vandy: This may be the biggest shocker of all. Vandy and UT battled for worst in the East last year, and vandy looked head-and-shoulders above the Vols. Yes, there was an interim coach involved but the year prior Tennessee was embarrassed by vandy and you can't blame that on an interim. Injuries and this game being the end of the season have been contributors to the last 2 losses, but simply put, for Tennessee to get where they want to get they have to consistently win this game.
- BONUS - Auburn: Last time Gus got a big contract extension was after the 2013 BCS loss. HE followed that with a 8-5 season. He got a big contract after the bama win and proceeded to overlook your 2017 National Champion UCF Knights in the peach bowl. Auburn is certainly the more talented team right now but how motivated is Gus? He is fat and happy and would be easy to overlook UT.
Simply put, there is a path to success in 2018. The SEC East was bad last year and the West really wasn't all that much better. I'm not posting this to say I think Pruitt will be the 2nd coming of Neyland but I am saying I think this team is a better team than 4-8 and they have a chance to prove it.
So your first thought is going to be to call me an idiot, so let me clarify. I am not saying UT "will" win the east, and I'm not even saying there is a great probability that they will. I am saying they "can" win the east. Lets break down the division by team:
- Florida: Tennessee broke the streak in 2016 and in 2017 1 play made the difference in possibly winning. 1 play where Florida committed multiple fouls that were not called. Let me re-state this; the WORST UT TEAM EVER could have beat florida last year if not for 1 play. Yes I know they have a new coach, but I don't expect Mullen to have the success in year 1 that he had at MSST after several years. And lets remember he was not their first choice so the fan base will turn on him quickly if things don't start great. The type of player that chooses UF (entitled) is not the same personality who chooses MSST (something to prove) and I don't think he has the personality to handle them.
- Georgia: When I look at Kirby Smart I see a coach like Phil Fulmer; a good coach who will succeed on how good a staff he has. Georgia was very lucky this year, they only had 1 starter injured (Eason) and had a very capable backup, and in that offense until the last game he really was a game manager. Their 2 graduating RB's carried the load. Auburn showed the blueprint to beat them, but we all know it's tough to beat the same team twice in a season. Georgia loses 31 seniors plus any juniors who go to the NFL. Yes they have a good class coming in but this could certainly be a rebuilding year for them. Georgia ran over the worst SEC East in history; I don't expect that will continue.
- South Carolina: I think Muschamp has learned a lot from his time at Florida, but the only reason he won over UT last year is because he had Butch's number. 15-9, does that really sound like a juggernaut? Tennessee still has more talent than SCAR, and they barely won last year. Beating SCAR gave Tennessee a resurgence a few years ago and can do so again in 2018.
- Mizzou: I don't really know what to make of Mizzou. If you look at talent they simply don't have the atheletes to hang with UT or Georgia or Florida. But they did last year beating UT and UF and hanging with UGA. Their players fit their mold much like GT has players that fit what they do even if they aren' 5 stars. Mizzou loses Heupel and his high powered offense and with the talent differential, UT should win this game most of the time.
- Kentucky: Once again UT should always out-talent the cats. I don't make much of Mark Stoops, he is a decent coach but I don't think he will out-scheme Pruitt. This is a game the players should be up for and I expect big things.
- Vandy: This may be the biggest shocker of all. Vandy and UT battled for worst in the East last year, and vandy looked head-and-shoulders above the Vols. Yes, there was an interim coach involved but the year prior Tennessee was embarrassed by vandy and you can't blame that on an interim. Injuries and this game being the end of the season have been contributors to the last 2 losses, but simply put, for Tennessee to get where they want to get they have to consistently win this game.
- BONUS - Auburn: Last time Gus got a big contract extension was after the 2013 BCS loss. HE followed that with a 8-5 season. He got a big contract after the bama win and proceeded to overlook your 2017 National Champion UCF Knights in the peach bowl. Auburn is certainly the more talented team right now but how motivated is Gus? He is fat and happy and would be easy to overlook UT.
Simply put, there is a path to success in 2018. The SEC East was bad last year and the West really wasn't all that much better. I'm not posting this to say I think Pruitt will be the 2nd coming of Neyland but I am saying I think this team is a better team than 4-8 and they have a chance to prove it.
Time will prove that the talent was there, the scheme and inept player development were not. I dont think we will win the East by any means, and neither did the OP say he did. I think 8-4 is a realistic and fair goal however.
Talent is about the same as last year. QB's have at least some starts under their belt albeit with less than average results. Chandler is a good RB different from jK but think he will be better. This was not a 4-8 team the negativity just built on it's self and became a dumpster fire. New coaching new O scheme may fit better with our O line skill set. I see 8-4 as ceiling and 6-6 as the bottom line. People were expecting to win the East last year at this time but an inordinate amount of injuries and bad attitudes coaches/players de-railed this team . We shall see if we can go from 20 injuries to 1 like Georgia.
Georgia then everyone else. Our chances for winning the east are slim to none. Will be happy with 7 wins with this brutal schedule. Not to mention with uga, I think Swift is better than either Chubb or Michel.
Also, I dont think UT was as bad as their record was. That team was badly coached and gave up after losing to Florida.
sorry even saying can makes you an idiot. unless UGA totally screwed the pooch AND e have miraculous luck.. not gonna happen. We play Florida, Georgia, auburn, alabama all in a row. Even if we beat UGA there is no way this roster comes out of that better than 2-2. realistic expectation from that stretch and 1-3 and 0-4 should not make anyone feel bad. On the other hand this is UGA's schedule.
Sept. 1 AUSTIN PEAY
Sept. 8 at South Carolina
Sept. 15 MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE
Sept. 22 at Missouri
Sept. 29 TENNESSEE
Oct. 6 VANDERBILT
Oct. 13 at LSU
Oct. 27 Florida (Jacksonville)
Nov. 3 at Kentucky
Nov. 10 AUBURN
Nov. 17 MASSACHUSETTS
Nov. 24 GEORGIA TECH
they have exactly 2 losable SEC games based on what they have coming back LSU and Auburn. anyone not retarded sees them winning every other game on their schedule and most folks only see one possible loss (Auburn). We'd have to beat them, unlikely, and they would have to also lose to either auburn or LSU. Also less tan likely though auburn could make it interesting. Best possible case for UT next year is 10-2 after regular season and that's with all kinds of magic. We will lose to Bama and one other SEC team period. IMO the best possible record we can hope for is 9-3 with losses to bama, uga and auburn. No amount of coaching can get more than 9 wins out of this roster. a realistic best case is 8-4 and that's what i see happening we will likely beat one of the big three and lose one bad game we shoulda won. UT next year is 8-4 I said it i locked it in and the second we lose game 5 I stop posting ever on forums. Even though my brain says 6-7 games tops my heart says this staff cna get us to 8.
Winning the SEC east.. crazy talk and only happens if UGA totally implodes. Not to mention there is this team called Florida. Do not sleep on the sheer amount of talent they have at hand. A bad recruiting class from Florida has to always be parsed against where they came from. California, Florida, Texas and Atalanta are the easiest places to miss on kids because they have so much talent. This is how UCF and FAU can pop up out of nowhere on the map. its why Georgia State a Joke college in any other state will make noise from time to time.
Georgia State (an overgrown community college) thought about getting into football in 2006. this was because some person saw what is. They are at the center of the biggest spot for football talent. Perfectly positioned geographically. They officially started playing football in 2010. They were independent for first 2 years...3rd year CAA 4th year sunbelt. is the sunbelt a hard conference? Nope, but name a team with no history that could get to Div1 (FBS) football in 4 years. They have only had 2 winning season and neither big but thats 2 of 8 years starting from nothing. Doing it with scraps from CC's and the dregs of Atlanta.
No matter how good the recruiting classes of Tennessee get there is a fact that cant be ignored. atlanta hands down had more football talent than any metro area and most states in the country.Atlanta Metros population is = to that of the state of Tennessee. The whole state and concentrated in s smaller area so they play each other. UGa will never be ut of the conversation for best team in country for the same reason UF, FSU and miami will not. There i such a concentration of talent there that its impossible to scout at the bottom end. They are gonna miss flks there because there are so many good players. In Tennessee the problem is even really good players are spread out. They tend to get the opposite, overrated. Look at Georgia, FL, CA, TX there are MULTIPLE high schools ther that put out multiple D1 talents yearly non-stop. here name one school like that. We have many "powerhouse schools" but most of those players don't go on to D1. Regularly. the best schools lets say MBA or Maryville maybe drop one a year. I am talking schools that drop 3-4 a year and multiple in state.
This is not about making folks feel bad or thinking other places are better. Its simple math and demographics. Ut is a strong well positioned program. We offer different things than others do. But not understanding that is how we wend up butthurt. UT had a program and we let it go firing CPF too early and it all fell apart. It was time for him to go, that year, we just did it wrong. Fire him end of season. You know he is gone he knows he is gone but make sure you have an upgrade as a replacement or a least serous interest before pulling the trigger.
We seem to have gotten lucky with Pruitt. Firing CBJ imo was dumb before season was over and U had something better interested. Firing him when we did was stupid and accomplished nothing but make the program look lost. And it was proved out in both cases. We did the Fulmer firing wrong and the Jones firing wrong. We actually almost did CPF right because if a certain person had not left USC for the seahawks that year and every other person on their list said no Kiffin would still be here. His team in Florida FA who lost 3 games this year twice they scored less than 31 points. their worst loss they scored 14. A nobody team in Florida averaged over 30 points a game. THeir worst loss this year a to wisconsin ranked 7 at the time 31-14. FAU is a really big community college. Scott frost is a legend for taking UCF to undefeated against similar schedule ,, but UCF has been on the map awhile. We almost dodged a bullet with Kiffin. We lost there and got shot. This time we dodged another bullet with Pruitt imo because it was almost really bad in this coaching search.
UT fans need to strap in and ride it out. It wont be this year or next but we will be back. Leave twitter alone. Go talk to a Cubs fan, a reds fan ask them how it felt and realize we are better positioned. Stop worrying about what the joneses (saban's) do and enjoy our squad. We ain't Bama and thank god for that.. we are Tennessee.
They weren't as bad if healthy. The problem is a lot of those injuried guys aren't coming back on the offensive line (3 total). Then you add in the guys going pro or graduating, and you're not left with much.
Injuries are probably the biggest factor. How in the world can a team like Georgia only have ONE starter injured the entire season?! And Fromm turned out to be just as good, if not better than Eason anyway. Unbelievable.
Smith/Valentin/Richmond/Ryan Johnson/Tatum is talented in whatever form you put that. I think health/coaching has been the biggest obstacle on the offensive line, not talent.