This fanbase doesn't get it

[UTK]

Still a loss, though...

Yeah? You expected us to not lose this season? News flash we are expected to be a 5-7 or 6-6 team. When that's not longer on the table, then you can complain.

 

[USAFgolferVol]

You can't compare what Major's did in his first four years to now. This is a different era. Any coach today with that record would be fired; and rightly so.

Not coming off a natty and going home to his alma mater

 

[DarkAvenger]

You can't compare what Major's did in his first four years to now. This is a different era. Any coach today with that record would be fired; and rightly so.

Only because of the money involved. Outside of that it’s really no different. A better example of a university sticking by their hire even when it looked horrendous was Chip Kelly at UCLA and now they look like a possible juggernaut. They were a laughing stock the past three years but nobody is laughing now. Let the guy get more than 2 games before screaming doom and gloom.

 

[Wylo]

Only because of the money involved. Outside of that it’s really no different. A better example of a university sticking by their hire even when it looked horrendous was Chip Kelly at UCLA and now they look like a possible juggernaut. They were a laughing stock the past three years but nobody is laughing now. Let the guy get more than 2 games before screaming doom and gloom.

Chip Kelly has lead teams to title games. Let's not compare resumes with our coach...

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Only because of the money involved. Outside of that it’s really no different. A better example of a university sticking by their hire even when it looked horrendous was Chip Kelly at UCLA and now they look like a possible juggernaut. They were a laughing stock the past three years but nobody is laughing now. Let the guy get more than 2 games before screaming doom and gloom.

You also might want to not call the 2021 UCLA team a "juggernaut" after 2 games.

 

[Cobb-Webb 1989]

Nick Saban's first 4 years at Michigan State: 6 wins, 6 wins, 7 wins, 6 wins. First year at Bama 7 wins.
Dabo Swinney's first 3 years at Clemson: 4 wins (in 7 games as the interim coach), 9 wins, 6 wins.
Brian Kelly's first 2 years at Central Michigan: 4 wins, 6 wins. First 2 years at ND: 8 wins, 8 wins.
Pete Carroll's first year at USC: 6 wins.

You guys would all be on here trying to run these guys off if they had the same start here at UT than at their previous stops. I would argue we are in a worse spot than all of those other school's when they took over their programs. A decade plus of instability, looming NCAA investigation and sanctions, the toughest conference in college football and the vocal idiots expect this dumpster fire of a program to be turned around in 2 games. Hell, look at our basketball program as an example. Rick Barnes had a losing record his first two seasons combined before he got it turned around. We aren't in a position to turn this around in year 1 and most likely year 2 either.

The reality is that no matter who we hired; this was going to be a rough year. We haven't recruited at a high enough level, haven't developed enough guys, and the bulk of our best players all left the program before the season. I have no idea if Heupel is the guy or not. Heupel was pretty far down the list in terms of our coaching wish list so honestly he probably isn't the guy long term. However, the hope is that he can bring in some talent, get us to 7 or 8 wins a year, and we are a much more attractive job for the guy to take us beyond that. Either way, blaming this dumpster fire of a program on Heupel is asinine and ridiculous.

The fans know this fact:

Our administration has not been committed to Vol football in 15+ years

 

[LargeOrange1]

Nick Saban's first 4 years at Michigan State: 6 wins, 6 wins, 7 wins, 6 wins. First year at Bama 7 wins.
Dabo Swinney's first 3 years at Clemson: 4 wins (in 7 games as the interim coach), 9 wins, 6 wins.
Brian Kelly's first 2 years at Central Michigan: 4 wins, 6 wins. First 2 years at ND: 8 wins, 8 wins.
Pete Carroll's first year at USC: 6 wins.

You guys would all be on here trying to run these guys off if they had the same start here at UT than at their previous stops. I would argue we are in a worse spot than all of those other school's when they took over their programs. A decade plus of instability, looming NCAA investigation and sanctions, the toughest conference in college football and the vocal idiots expect this dumpster fire of a program to be turned around in 2 games. Hell, look at our basketball program as an example. Rick Barnes had a losing record his first two seasons combined before he got it turned around. We aren't in a position to turn this around in year 1 and most likely year 2 either.

The reality is that no matter who we hired; this was going to be a rough year. We haven't recruited at a high enough level, haven't developed enough guys, and the bulk of our best players all left the program before the season. I have no idea if Heupel is the guy or not. Heupel was pretty far down the list in terms of our coaching wish list so honestly he probably isn't the guy long term. However, the hope is that he can bring in some talent, get us to 7 or 8 wins a year, and we are a much more attractive job for the guy to take us beyond that. Either way, blaming this dumpster fire of a program on Heupel is asinine and ridiculous.

I dont give a flying #### about Nick's 1st year....Dabo's 1st year.....Brian's 1st year....or Pete's 1st year. I care about NOW. We had every chance to win that game yesterday and sucked wind. No I'm not a coach. No i never played college football. But people are getting paid millions $$$ to win games. Im SICK OF LOSING.

 

[ACvol3]

Heupel did a lot right yesterday and he also did some things wrong. Going to have to give him time before we can make a proper evaluation. 34 points against a pretty good defense with all that went wrong yesterday is encouraging.

It could’ve easily been a few more TDs.. stupid mistakes

 

[Mccage]

But you get it?

Yes he sure does!!

 

[Vol865]

Continuously losing is toxic to the program. A tiny fraction of irrelvalnt fans' opinions isnt.

It is when it's all over social media where recruits and everyone else sees it everyday.

 

[BradstarVols]

Agreed. Give JH a chance.

 

[Ten_Titans]

Nick Saban's first 4 years at Michigan State: 6 wins, 6 wins, 7 wins, 6 wins. First year at Bama 7 wins.
Dabo Swinney's first 3 years at Clemson: 4 wins (in 7 games as the interim coach), 9 wins, 6 wins.
Brian Kelly's first 2 years at Central Michigan: 4 wins, 6 wins. First 2 years at ND: 8 wins, 8 wins.
Pete Carroll's first year at USC: 6 wins.

You guys would all be on here trying to run these guys off if they had the same start here at UT than at their previous stops. I would argue we are in a worse spot than all of those other school's when they took over their programs. A decade plus of instability, looming NCAA investigation and sanctions, the toughest conference in college football and the vocal idiots expect this dumpster fire of a program to be turned around in 2 games. Hell, look at our basketball program as an example. Rick Barnes had a losing record his first two seasons combined before he got it turned around. We aren't in a position to turn this around in year 1 and most likely year 2 either.

The reality is that no matter who we hired; this was going to be a rough year. We haven't recruited at a high enough level, haven't developed enough guys, and the bulk of our best players all left the program before the season. I have no idea if Heupel is the guy or not. Heupel was pretty far down the list in terms of our coaching wish list so honestly he probably isn't the guy long term. However, the hope is that he can bring in some talent, get us to 7 or 8 wins a year, and we are a much more attractive job for the guy to take us beyond that. Either way, blaming this dumpster fire of a program on Heupel is asinine and ridiculous.

For every great coach that had a bad start, 100 bad coaches had a bad start. This is a pointless exercise that only makes logical sense if you start from the assumption that CJH is a good coach.

 

[FLVOL_79]

Awesome..the "early Saban years" reference by the 2nd game. BOOYAH!

 

[canboy21]

Nick Saban's first 4 years at Michigan State: 6 wins, 6 wins, 7 wins, 6 wins. First year at Bama 7 wins.
Dabo Swinney's first 3 years at Clemson: 4 wins (in 7 games as the interim coach), 9 wins, 6 wins.
Brian Kelly's first 2 years at Central Michigan: 4 wins, 6 wins. First 2 years at ND: 8 wins, 8 wins.
Pete Carroll's first year at USC: 6 wins.

You guys would all be on here trying to run these guys off if they had the same start here at UT than at their previous stops. I would argue we are in a worse spot than all of those other school's when they took over their programs. A decade plus of instability, looming NCAA investigation and sanctions, the toughest conference in college football and the vocal idiots expect this dumpster fire of a program to be turned around in 2 games. Hell, look at our basketball program as an example. Rick Barnes had a losing record his first two seasons combined before he got it turned around. We aren't in a position to turn this around in year 1 and most likely year 2 either.

The reality is that no matter who we hired; this was going to be a rough year. We haven't recruited at a high enough level, haven't developed enough guys, and the bulk of our best players all left the program before the season. I have no idea if Heupel is the guy or not. Heupel was pretty far down the list in terms of our coaching wish list so honestly he probably isn't the guy long term. However, the hope is that he can bring in some talent, get us to 7 or 8 wins a year, and we are a much more attractive job for the guy to take us beyond that. Either way, blaming this dumpster fire of a program on Heupel is asinine and ridiculous.

I like Heupel but Chadwell was the answer. He is a proven builder.

 

[jtdavis]

Our team has issues. No player development for three years- that is on Pruitt. NCAA penalties hanging over our head impacted recruiting- that is on Pruitt. We lost 30 players to the transfer portal, you can name many different reasons, but most of those are on Pruitt. Our top two players were held out the last game last year for taking money so they left- that is on Pruitt. If the NCAA hits us with significant scholarship losses- that is on Pruitt. No quarterback development over the past three years- that is on Pruitt. Undisciplined culture, that is on Pruitt. Being a laughing stock over the past three years, that is on Pruitt. It is going to be a bumpy ride, but you cant expect Heupel to fix all these issues in two games. Hell they wont be fixed in two years once the NCAA finishes with us. Let's place blame where it belongs- on the worse coach in Tennessee history- Pruitt.

 

[ABINGDON VOL FAN]

Yeah I think we will score 30+ points per game this year with the exception of Georgia and Alabama games. What baffles me is, watching the game yesterday, it seemed like the defense played really well. But then look at the scoreboard and we gave up 41 points. I knew we were going to give up points in bunches, but it’s odd how it still happened considering defense looked solid yesterday.

Except for the first Qtr the Defense was horrific. I’m not sure what game you watched.

 

[lukeneyland]

It could’ve easily been a few more TDs.. stupid mistakes

Oh I agree. And part of that is Heupel’s weight to bear but it’s also to his credit that he created so many situations in which we should have scored

 

[lukeneyland]

Someone had to dust off that recurring speech we see every 3-4 years.

I’ve got Saban’s and Dabo’s year over years records memorized at this point.

Well it depends on context. Using that speech after Pruitt got crushed by Vandy in 18 or lost to Georgia State in 19 is foolish. But it holds water in situation like yesterday.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

Well it depends on context. Using that speech after Pruitt got crushed by Vandy in 18 or lost to Georgia State in 19 is foolish. But it holds water in situation like yesterday.

It was used after Pruitt's first game against West Virginia.

 

[lukeneyland]

It was used after Pruitt's first game against West Virginia.

I’m sure it was and I’m not sure if that game is a fair stick to beat Pruitt with. Who knows. He was obviously incapable and I was guilty of being too forgiving of some of his crap. But yesterday was nothing like the WVU game. We were highly competitive and threatening on offense. At no point during Pruitts tenure was our offense this good

 

[bigl3327]

None of those coaches would run from shotgun on 4th and inches in the red zone and hand it off to 3rd string freshman RB. Those are the play calls that will make UT fans crazy. TN fans want our team to be physical and there is nothing physical about being in shotgun on a 4th and inches. Run your spread offense but also be able to use power when needed. I don’t know why coaches are so stubborn/one dimensional on pro/spread offenses. Glad we put over 30 on Pitt but 7pts are owed to special teams…who by the way played great. 130 yards in penalties is on coaching. Clean it up/adjust/change/move on. If TN plays clean next week and takes care of business then we’ll see how much improvement has been made at UF. Even in a loss there can be moral victories but yesterday’s loss was deflating bc it was all self inflicted mistakes in a game that TN desperately needed to make a bowl and help recruiting. I guess we all need to root for Pitt this year. Maybe they’ll win their division? Maybe they’re good enough to challenge NC, Va Tech, Miami? I don’t know. I do know that TN should have/could have won that game yesterday and found a way to TN ourselves again. It just seems we can’t ever get the momentum the program is so desperately needing.

People would be better served to get behind Heupel and help in any way they can. He's here for at least 6 years and possibly 7 if we end up with sanctions. If they try to fire him, they have to pay him double the buyout amount. It's in his contract.

 

[tennrich1]

Nick Saban's first 4 years at Michigan State: 6 wins, 6 wins, 7 wins, 6 wins. First year at Bama 7 wins.
Dabo Swinney's first 3 years at Clemson: 4 wins (in 7 games as the interim coach), 9 wins, 6 wins.
Brian Kelly's first 2 years at Central Michigan: 4 wins, 6 wins. First 2 years at ND: 8 wins, 8 wins.
Pete Carroll's first year at USC: 6 wins.

You guys would all be on here trying to run these guys off if they had the same start here at UT than at their previous stops. I would argue we are in a worse spot than all of those other school's when they took over their programs. A decade plus of instability, looming NCAA investigation and sanctions, the toughest conference in college football and the vocal idiots expect this dumpster fire of a program to be turned around in 2 games. Hell, look at our basketball program as an example. Rick Barnes had a losing record his first two seasons combined before he got it turned around. We aren't in a position to turn this around in year 1 and most likely year 2 either.

The reality is that no matter who we hired; this was going to be a rough year. We haven't recruited at a high enough level, haven't developed enough guys, and the bulk of our best players all left the program before the season. I have no idea if Heupel is the guy or not. Heupel was pretty far down the list in terms of our coaching wish list so honestly he probably isn't the guy long term. However, the hope is that he can bring in some talent, get us to 7 or 8 wins a year, and we are a much more attractive job for the guy to take us beyond that. Either way, blaming this dumpster fire of a program on Heupel is asinine and ridiculous.

I honestly think MOST Vol fans understand this and probably are approaching this year like you suggest. Granted there are some who want to win sooooo bad it skews their reasonable understanding. I try to identify those positions and skip over it. But that’s just me.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Yeah? You expected us to not lose this season? News flash we are expected to be a 5-7 or 6-6 team. When that's not longer on the table, then you can complain.

I didn't think we would give the game Saturday because of mistakes and poor play of the offense.

 

[UTK]

I didn't think we would give the game Saturday because of mistakes and poor play of the offense.

Well I'd rather look back at it and say "we beat ourselves" then just get the doors blown off us like the last coaching staff woulda done.

 

[Doberman]

Well it depends on context. Using that speech after Pruitt got crushed by Vandy in 18 or lost to Georgia State in 19 is foolish. But it holds water in situation like yesterday.

Disagree. A speech maybe, but not one that drags up Saban and Dabo. Fantasy land.