The Vandy Loss Sucks, but Let's Take a Look at Reality ...

#78
#78
DiderotsGhost said:
This was always going to be a down year.

Sorry, folks, but I called it at the beginning of the season. I said back then that 7-5 or 8-4 was the expectation. The reasons why:

* Loss of key defensive players to NFL Draft. We lost James Pearce Jr and Omar Norman-Lott. 2 players who were always going to be difficult to replace
* Key defensive injuries. What hurt even more was all the injuries - Jermod McCoy, Ricky Gibson, Arion Carter, and Jaxson Moi. Our secondary was really held together by duct tape this season and did better than expected. I'm particularly encouraged by the emergence of Ty Redmond.
* Nico defection. Look, we can all agree that Joey was better than Nico. But it's also rare for a QB to come in late in the Spring and thrive in Year 1, no matter how "senior" they are --- normally these types of QBs don't thrive till Year 2. The brutal truth ... we lost the Alabama game back in 2021 when Bama landed Ty Simpson over us. But we've landed G-Mac and Faizon Brandon in back-to-back classes now.
* Tougher schedule than anticipated. Everyone thought we had an easy schedule at the beginning of the season. Turns out, a lot of those teams were much better than expected. We played 3 top 10 teams; arguably 4 if you count Vandy. We ended up with an unexpectedly polarized schedule.
* Youngest team we've had in years. For whatever reason, everyone seemed to be ignoring this. This is one of our youngest teams in years. And it's tough to win in the SEC with a very young team.

I never expected this to be a CFP campaign type of season. It's honestly a miracle that if we hit a single FG, we're 9-3.

This isn't to suggest there shouldn't be changes. The defensive performance against Vandy was awful. But those who want to pull out the "FAHR EVERYONE!" playbook do more harm than good. Banks was, the prior 2 seasons, one of the best DCs in the country. We had the #4 ranked defense in America last year; and #21 in 2023.

We have one of our best recruiting classes in a long while coming in. We have a horde of promising young players. Expectations have risen again after the dismal Dooley/Jones/Pruitt triumvirate, but let's not go insane. Heupel took over a bad situation and turned the program into something again. This is a place people want to come.

I can't guarantee success, but I think burning down the house would be the worst thing possible right now.

GBO!
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Couldn't have said it better except one point Tim Banks is very average D Coordinator but the rest I agree. In CHRIST Alone
 
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#79
#79
djwes said:
Regardless there is zero excuse for the absolutely pathetic tackling or should I say lack there of all year. Nowhere was this difference, more glaring than watching Oklahoma’s defense versus our, I’m hesitant to even call them a defense.
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Heupel has to get a much stronger team during the offseason. Then he has to run a more physical spring & early summer camp. Fundamentals sucked starting in game 1 & never got better.
 
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#83
#83
wmcovol said:
I don’t wanna lose him but he’s paid too well for his level of consistency. I sure don’t give him more $ or sit RaJa & Smith next year while he drops passes.

Just me but I don’t think he has WR hands for the next level.
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Those type of posts aren't even worth responding to. They are troll posts to bash players by asking loaded questions. Matthews is a very talented sophomore. What happens to him is out of our control but we shouldn't want to start an avalanche of conversation created by a reddit or X type poster.
 
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#85
#85
BowlBrother85 said:
It's not an excuse. Vanderbilt is simply a much better team. Their approach to football has changed with the portal. They didn't use to take transfers from just anywhere ..... and they are throwing money around to boot.
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Its an excuse. If Vandy's team is a better team, the University of Tennessee should be that much better. You don't get embarrassed by Vandy in Neyland.
 
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#86
#86
wmcovol said:
I don’t wanna lose him but he’s paid too well for his level of consistency. I sure don’t give him more $ or sit RaJa & Smith next year while he drops passes.

Just me but I don’t think he has WR hands for the next level.
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Has the hands, lacks the heart. Money will do that to you when you get paid regardless of production. He gets to the NFL on talent alone. After that, up to him.
 
#87
#87
DiderotsGhost said:
This was always going to be a down year.

Sorry, folks, but I called it at the beginning of the season. I said back then that 7-5 or 8-4 was the expectation. The reasons why:

* Loss of key defensive players to NFL Draft. We lost James Pearce Jr and Omar Norman-Lott. 2 players who were always going to be difficult to replace
* Key defensive injuries. What hurt even more was all the injuries - Jermod McCoy, Ricky Gibson, Arion Carter, and Jaxson Moi. Our secondary was really held together by duct tape this season and did better than expected. I'm particularly encouraged by the emergence of Ty Redmond.
* Nico defection. Look, we can all agree that Joey was better than Nico. But it's also rare for a QB to come in late in the Spring and thrive in Year 1, no matter how "senior" they are --- normally these types of QBs don't thrive till Year 2. The brutal truth ... we lost the Alabama game back in 2021 when Bama landed Ty Simpson over us. But we've landed G-Mac and Faizon Brandon in back-to-back classes now.
* Tougher schedule than anticipated. Everyone thought we had an easy schedule at the beginning of the season. Turns out, a lot of those teams were much better than expected. We played 3 top 10 teams; arguably 4 if you count Vandy. We ended up with an unexpectedly polarized schedule.
* Youngest team we've had in years. For whatever reason, everyone seemed to be ignoring this. This is one of our youngest teams in years. And it's tough to win in the SEC with a very young team.

I never expected this to be a CFP campaign type of season. It's honestly a miracle that if we hit a single FG, we're 9-3.

This isn't to suggest there shouldn't be changes. The defensive performance against Vandy was awful. But those who want to pull out the "FAHR EVERYONE!" playbook do more harm than good. Banks was, the prior 2 seasons, one of the best DCs in the country. We had the #4 ranked defense in America last year; and #21 in 2023.

We have one of our best recruiting classes in a long while coming in. We have a horde of promising young players. Expectations have risen again after the dismal Dooley/Jones/Pruitt triumvirate, but let's not go insane. Heupel took over a bad situation and turned the program into something again. This is a place people want to come.

I can't guarantee success, but I think burning down the house would be the worst thing possible right now.

GBO!
Click to expand...
All NegaVols can f themselves. I support JH!
 
#89
#89
Volhoops said:
The reality is Heupel got his butt handed to him by Vanderbilt at home. That's something that is extremely hard to over come. Has there been a coach that made it here after losing to Vanderbilt ?
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Johnny Majors lost to them during his 5th season at UT…
 
#90
#90
DiderotsGhost said:
This was always going to be a down year.

Sorry, folks, but I called it at the beginning of the season. I said back then that 7-5 or 8-4 was the expectation. The reasons why:

* Loss of key defensive players to NFL Draft. We lost James Pearce Jr and Omar Norman-Lott. 2 players who were always going to be difficult to replace
* Key defensive injuries. What hurt even more was all the injuries - Jermod McCoy, Ricky Gibson, Arion Carter, and Jaxson Moi. Our secondary was really held together by duct tape this season and did better than expected. I'm particularly encouraged by the emergence of Ty Redmond.
* Nico defection. Look, we can all agree that Joey was better than Nico. But it's also rare for a QB to come in late in the Spring and thrive in Year 1, no matter how "senior" they are --- normally these types of QBs don't thrive till Year 2. The brutal truth ... we lost the Alabama game back in 2021 when Bama landed Ty Simpson over us. But we've landed G-Mac and Faizon Brandon in back-to-back classes now.
* Tougher schedule than anticipated. Everyone thought we had an easy schedule at the beginning of the season. Turns out, a lot of those teams were much better than expected. We played 3 top 10 teams; arguably 4 if you count Vandy. We ended up with an unexpectedly polarized schedule.
* Youngest team we've had in years. For whatever reason, everyone seemed to be ignoring this. This is one of our youngest teams in years. And it's tough to win in the SEC with a very young team.

I never expected this to be a CFP campaign type of season. It's honestly a miracle that if we hit a single FG, we're 9-3.

This isn't to suggest there shouldn't be changes. The defensive performance against Vandy was awful. But those who want to pull out the "FAHR EVERYONE!" playbook do more harm than good. Banks was, the prior 2 seasons, one of the best DCs in the country. We had the #4 ranked defense in America last year; and #21 in 2023.

We have one of our best recruiting classes in a long while coming in. We have a horde of promising young players. Expectations have risen again after the dismal Dooley/Jones/Pruitt triumvirate, but let's not go insane. Heupel took over a bad situation and turned the program into something again. This is a place people want to come.

I can't guarantee success, but I think burning down the house would be the worst thing possible right now.

GBO!
Click to expand...
What are you talking about? Tennessee just got spanked by Vanderbilt. Look at Vandy's recruiting classes over the last 4 years and look at UTs. This isn't a "rebuilding year"...this is a coach getting paid a lot of money and "not getting it done" year.
 
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#92
#92
Said this in another thread but the worst thing that happened this year as far as fan perception was the UGA loss. Not just that we lost, but that game reset expectations. People started looking ahead at the schedule and thought Alabama looked super vulnerable since they'd lost to FSU, OU looked very winnable, and another CFP appearance was likely.
 
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#94
#94
OrangeTsar said:
It’s not losing to Vanderbilt nearly as much as it was HOW they lost. That was outright pathetic and embarrassing.
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While I agree with you, I think most of our fanbase would be just as upset and downbeat if we went toe-to-toe with them and lost on a last second FG or something like that.

Rightly or wrongly very few here have any kind of respect for their program and expect to always win that game, even if they came into the game 11-0 and #1 in the country and we came in 0-11.
 
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#95
#95
Reality: Tennessee is not an elite program in its current state, will never be elite on its current trajectory, and it has been that way for the better part of 2 decades.

The sooner you all understand this, the easier life becomes.
 
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#99
#99
DiderotsGhost said:
Arky hiring Silverfield shocked me!

They would've been better off keeping Pittman and hiring a new DC.
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Well Heupel might pull the trigger on Banks shortly. If so, it will be interesting to see how the two programs compare at the end of next year. Wouldn't be shocked to see Arky having the better season.
 
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