The rebuild will be in 3 stages

#126
#126
99gator said:
Stage 1. Beat bad teams (non bowl teams/cupcakes)/ Beat evenly matched teams at home.

Stage 2. Blow out bad teams/Beat evenly matched teams on the road.

Stage 3. Win at home regardless of opponent. Be competitive regardless of opponent

Stage 4. Beat highly ranked teams wherever/whenver.

Stage 5. Beat Florida every once in a while.
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Nice 99.... Nice

Love number 5 - do you consider UF a more tradition rich ( wins, conference titles, and national titles mainly ) program than UT?
 
#127
#127
volsportsfan said:
Nice 99.... Nice

Love number 5 - do you consider UF a more tradition rich ( wins, conference titles, and national titles mainly ) program than UT?
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The short answer is.....no. When you factor the entirety of the history of their programs......no.

The long answer is that it's a complicated question. I kind of have a mental sliding scale going that I've never really put to paper. But, how much value do you put on things you never saw, things that we don't have video of, things that no one who is alive ever saw?

Depends on who you ask. There are a select few programs like Ohio State that were great then, great 30 years ago, and great today.

I, personally, put more value on what happens today vs. what happened 70 years ago. Now, you could say that's convenient because I am a Florida fan and Florida was no good 70 years ago. But, it's because so many things have changed since that time that it's a different game with different challenges when it comes to recruiting and competing in general.

In the last 50 years, yes, I'd put Florida as a more highly regarded, successful program than Tennessee. Among other things, it's hard to ignore the head to head of 27-9 when discussing that either. I mean seriously, how do you argue superiority against another school when within that time frame you have a 25% winning percentage? And it's not just beating Tennessee "when Tennessee is down". Florida beat Tennessee in 1969, 1985, and 1997 when Tennessee was the SEC champion. That's 3 out of the 6 (1989, 1990, and 1998 are the others) seasons in that 50 year span where Tennessee was the conference champion. Not to mention the success against Tennessee in the 90's in general.

When people speak to Tennessee being a better program than Florida, the argument (which is certainly understandable) has to do with things occurring in the 1950's and earlier. That's a valid argument, but it's also a really, really long time ago.

But, it's funny that as I get older, the things I think of as "recent" aren't recent anymore. 1980 is almost 40 years ago. Steve Spurrier began coaching at Florida almost 30 years ago. Time flies
 
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#129
#129
Kind of was the point I was going to make. In the 80's, UF meant absolutely nothing to me, or UT as far as I can tell. UF history was a spec of dust on our boots. Then, something called the unknown happened. That unknown is the future. Spurrier came and took UF to unprecedented heights and the next thing you know, UF can make somewhat of a case that they have equal to or greater winning history than UT. Unbelievable. That's the future. That's the unknown. We just never know how the future will turn things, how one empire rises and another falls so to speak.

I hope that as the state of Tennessee continues to see growth in population we will continue to see a rise in in-state talent, as we have over the past 5 years. All the fresh water sources the state has, imo, will continue to drive people to this area. Hopefully, we can soon start to capitalize on the influx of people and talent in our backyard by hiring a great coach. But, this is all me rambling about the prospects of our future, what could be.

I never ever ever thought I'd see the day, after growing up in the 80's and 90's, where for nearly 20 years we consistently hire coaches who aren't good enough to compete in the toughest conference in the country. Ahhh....the unknown future.
 
#130
#130
volsportsfan said:
Nice 99.... Nice

Love number 5 - do you consider UF a more tradition rich ( wins, conference titles, and national titles mainly ) program than UT?
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No.

That's not a shot at UF. They have been better than UT for most of my life, but both have been playing football for a long time.
 
#131
#131
volsportsfan said:
Kind of was the point I was going to make. In the 80's, UF meant absolutely nothing to me, or UT as far as I can tell. UF history was a spec of dust on our boots. Then, something called the unknown happened. That unknown is the future. Spurrier came and took UF to unprecedented heights and the next thing you know, UF can make somewhat of a case that they have equal to or greater winning history than UT. Unbelievable. That's the future. That's the unknown. We just never know how the future will turn things, how one empire rises and another falls so to speak.

I hope that as the state of Tennessee continues to see growth in population we will continue to see a rise in in-state talent, as we have over the past 5 years. All the fresh water sources the state has, imo, will continue to drive people to this area. Hopefully, we can soon start to capitalize on the influx of people and talent in our backyard by hiring a great coach. But, this is all me rambling about the prospects of our future, what could be.

I never ever ever thought I'd see the day, after growing up in the 80's and 90's, where for nearly 20 years we consistently hire coaches who aren't good enough to compete in the toughest conference in the country. Ahhh....the unknown future.
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It starts with not playing each other regularly and if they had, nothing would have been on the line.

From Tennessee people I have spoken to, everything grew from the fact that Tennessee was really good and had a road block in the form of "who the hell are you" keeping them from greater success. For those people, it would have been less frustrating if it was another school, but Florida was looked at as beneath Tennessee. Add to it, that Florida had a coach that specialized in needling the opposition and the hate factor increased exponentially.

For Florida people, it's a different deal. You feel that level of disrespect that the opposition feels you're beneath them. You figure that would have gone away by now with the winning that has taken place, but it hasn't. So, you really feel the need to win to remind the opposition what time it is.

I keep saying it's a rivalry built on mutual disrespect.

On the Tennessee end, Florida is Johnny Come Lately and trash and always will be. Like if Uncle Eddie in the Vacation movies ever won the powerball.

On the Florida end, Tennessee thinks they are Alabama or equals with Alabama and they aren't. And the more Tennessee argues how great the program is or that Florida needs to sit at the kid's table of the SEC, Florida fan has to hide their smug grin thinking.... if you are that damn good, why can't you ever beat us.
 
#134
#134
They were beneath UT, not in a morality way, but according to the stats, the facts. UT>UF historically. Keyword, WERE. The stats, the facts, they now suggest a much different story.

I, like you, put more stock in the more recent than in the distant past. Because football is more highly contested now than it was up until the 80's / 90's. Now, just about every D1 university makes it a priority to win at football. Too much money involved not to. Wins and championships came easier back then because a bunch of universities didn't prioritize football number 1. For instance, I'm more impressed with what saban has done compared to what Bryant did. Saban has done it in a much more competitive era.
 
#135
#135
Sara Clark said:
With the schedule we have next year, this will be a common theme; we should get at least 8-9 wins or it's a failure of a season. I expect a bowl game next year anything else is icing on the cake. People need to settle in to the fact, it's going to be baby steps. Now, after 2019, I expect significant improvement, just going to a bowl game (6 wins) isn't going to cut the mustard. GBO!
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IMO the thinking on this is, if you like the coach you want to under estimate, even though 2019 best schedule in many years. The less optimistic then if you get lucky and the ball bounces your way you win 8 or 9 you can say success & COY.
If you lose some and still come out 6 & 6 then you can say we won what we thought we would. If you end up 5 & 7 you say recruit recruit and I see progress no 25+ blowouts by 6 teams just Alabama & Georgia.
 
#136
#136
ftsandersvol said:
That only happens if we have enough Pruitt recruits to not have to play any of the soft Butch recruits, i.e., the p*ssies that didn't want to get to a bowl game this year. Unfortunately, at this stage in the Pruitt era, that doesn't seem likely.
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If they are on the team after 2 years then they are now Pruitt’s players. Pruitt is the head coach. If a player is soft and doesn’t want to play hard and he is still taking snaps then that is on Pruitt. Can’t use the excuse of “they are the best player due to depth.” I’m sorry, if Pruitt has known a player is soft for 2 years and hasn’t recruited over him that says a lot about him as a coach.
 
#137
#137
ThreatLevelOrange said:
Folks have to realize that 2-14 in our last 16 SEC games matters a whole lot more to recruits than a Natl Champ 20 years ago. We have to build rather than BS our way out of this.
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There is not a single recruit that cares what our 2017 record was. That was under a completely different coaching staff. The national championship is relevant to recruits because it shows them that UT is committed to winning and willing to put in the effort to get back on top.

A school like UK can’t bring a kid in and say “UK is committed to doing whatever it takes to have a winning football team”. That kid knows the football team will always play second fiddle to the basketball team. When UT tells him that he knows the coaches aren’t lying. He knows Fulmer would shut down the men’s basketball program if it resulted in the football team having a 10+ year Saban like run
 
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#139
#139
LWSVOL said:
Pruitt doesn't even know who the starters will be and you know the matchup already? How many times have you seen BYU play?
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In 2019? ZERO.

I know they're not West Virgina. And I know we're going to be a better team next year.

BYU like to throw, and roll the pocket. Defensively they run what we run.
They don't have the athletes West Virginia had on the perimeter, nor do they have a Will Grier, Drew Lock, Tua Taugaviola that can pick you apart.

We win by 30 against them
 
#140
#140
LittleVol said:
In 2019? ZERO.

I know they're not West Virgina. And I know we're going to be a better team next year.

BYU like to throw, and roll the pocket. Defensively they run what we run.
They don't have the athletes West Virginia had on the perimeter, nor do they have a Will Grier, Drew Lock, Tua Taugaviola that can pick you apart.

We win by 30 against them
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love your optimism. Merry Christmas
 
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#144
#144
Tennessee, in JP's first season, has reached the point where they could upset nearly any SEC Team, minus Bama, LSU or UGA. But, still lose to Vandy, badly. Inconsistent, 5-7.. The next level is beating lower level SEC Teams, consistently, sneaking up on middle-of-the-road SEC teams, and competing with upper echelon SEC Teams, 6-6 to 7-5. Bowl bound. The next level is where depth, talent, experience and coaching really starts to be exposed. Destroying lower level SEC Teams, beating middle teams, at home(Especially), and beating upper level teams, at home. 5-3 or 6-2 conference record, 8-4 to 10-2, New Year's Day bowl. At that point, we are relevant to SEC East Championships. Consistently remaining at that level, in the SEC, will cost us our coach. Nick will say goodbye, and Bama will reclaim their son.
 
#146
#146
FLVOL_79 said:
I like CJP. But I hear all this talk about him being super smart and out scheming people and we are going to see it...soon... Just curious what people saw that I must have missed this last season that would generate such hope and optimism considering he still has mostly the same players.[/QUOTE

Pruitt being from Sand Mountain comes from a long line of whittlers. I got faith that he can whittle a square peg to fit in that round hole!
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#150
#150
Orangeredblooded said:
It’s Christmas, it’s ok to be Merry today. Merry Christmas to you volfannbama, I imagine the holidays are rough for you in your line of work. 🎄
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Thanks, and no Christmas isnt rough. I do my job thats about it. Been playing with my kids all morning and now just waiting to go wifes family. Also spent Saturday at the Titans game with my little boy as a Christmas present. Not sure why you would suggest its okay to be happy. Weird how providing an accurate statement is somehow an indication of sadness or something. Anyway, Merry Christmas.
 
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