This was always a bridge season.

#78
#78
CAVPUT said:
No it's not a bridge season. No one forced Heupel to roll with a young roster. Look at Vandy. They used the portal and used it well. Nothing stopped Heupel from diving in. It was his decision to participate and to what level. No, he created this roster and staff. No excuses. The results are on him.
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I wonder how the transfer portal will work when eventually no team is taking time to work with high school players? What will those players do? Go the JUCO or FCS route to get experience and then transfer to a larger school as a JR or SR? JUCO and FCS becomes the minor league for college football?

A younger roster implies the coach is attempting to avoid a bridge and rebuild year by developing players over time.
 
#79
#79
Let's be honest - Texas was not as good as expected because Manning wasn't really ready. Quite a few schools have upper classmen QBs that came from smaller schools.
 
#82
#82
StuckInBamaVol said:
No one expected to have every game, outside of Florida, to be close.

I’m not saying fire him, I’m saying fire Banks.
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I'm in the fire Banks group also AND make Heupel less player friendly group.

I didn't like what Joey A said after the Vandy game. If you can't get guys to focus, you need to gain their respect and get more "buy in" to the importance of practice and execution. That comes in sports, usually, with strong, firm leadership. Heupel needs to be the biggest badass in the building and nobody needs to doubt that.

As for Banks, our D isn't acceptable and is holding us back. It's really that simple. He's not stopping them. I saw a clip of Ryan Day being asked why his DC was in the booth, not on the field, and his answer was, "That's his choice. He can go wherever he wants, just get off the field on 3rd down." We've not gotten off the field enough on 3rd down under Banks.
 
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#84
#84
BowlBrother85 said:
Why would we need to think it takes 10 years?

Tennessee's offense was just fine in year 2 .... Hooker was a Heisman candidate until the South Carolina game and Hyatt won the Biletnikoff. Tennessee led the nation in scoring offense.
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Then I guess you’re not one of the people I’m referring to. This team has major problems for Year 5 though that it shouldn’t have.
 
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#85
#85
Orange931 said:
Then I guess you’re not one of the people I’m referring to. This team has major problems for Year 5 though that it shouldn’t have.
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Roster mismanagement.

There have been some NIL investments made in players who have either not contributed much or contributed a little and been a pain in the butt. I don't want to call Mike Matthews a bust ... but if he enters the portal again, they should let him go this time.

It's not always been the player's fault ... Rickey Gibson hinted at entering the portal in the spring, and got a raise ... but was then hurt most of the season.
 
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#87
#87
I thought being on sanctions for 4 years and new QB we would be 9-3 or 8-4 but even finishing 8-4 really sucked because of the way Vanderbilt just embarrassed this team. I know their the oldest team in the SEC and we are the youngest but that game was a major fubar and a totally bad way to end a season. I don't even count the practice time Bowl game as a part of the 2025 season. No playoff the real season is over everything from now forward is prepping for 2026.
 
#88
#88
volfan102455 said:
Let's be honest - Texas was not as good as expected because Manning wasn't really ready. Quite a few schools have upper classmen QBs that came from smaller schools.
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Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss came from Ferris State, Butch Jones college go figure, I think they are FCS or Div. II
 
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#89
#89
BowlBrother85 said:
Roster mismanagement.

There have been some NIL investments made in players who have either not contributed much or contributed a little and been a pain the butt. I don't want to call Mike Matthews a bust ... but if he enters the portal again, they should let him go this time.

It's not always been the player's fault ... Rickey Gibson hinted at entering the portal in the spring, and got a raise ... but was then hurt most of the season.
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Roster mismanagement is the biggest gripe I have with the staff. We lost 8 defensive players in the portal after last year 6 were starters or contributors on good teams. We only brought one in. That was a huge problem this year. I’m sure most of that was them getting offers we weren’t willing to match but we really could have used a few more experienced guys. Especially on the back end of the defense
 
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#90
#90
This was 100% not supposed to be a “bridge” year. This was the third year of CJH’s handpicked overpaid wunderkind QB. This was the year it was supposed to come together, because said wunderkind was supposed to be off to the NFL afterwards.

Nico leaving wasn’t the problem though. By some miracle we were actually at least as good, and probably better, at QB than if Nico had stayed. The problem was the rest of the roster. And whose fault is that?
 
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#91
#91
EastTNVol6240 said:
Nico leaving didn’t hurt this team in the least. Every team deals with unfortunate injuries yearly. Vandy averages a 50th class over the last 4 years. We average the 14th. He was right. No reason to be embarrassed the way we were.

It’s not like we just happened to play a great game but fell a little short. We played and coached an awful game and were embarrassed. We once again lacked the fundamentals. We made some baffling decisions as far as staff goes in the second half. This is more than just “we were beat by a good Vandy team”.
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Bama had zero reason to lose to a FSU team that went 5-7. It’s college football, results vary greatly from one game to the next.
 
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#93
#93
hUTch2002 said:
Bama had zero reason to lose to a FSU team that went 5-7. It’s college football, results vary greatly from one game to the next.
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Bad losses happen no doubt. The problem is this staff makes a habit if at least one awful loss a year. That’s a pattern, not an “oops”. And it’s hard to compare us to Bama….. give me all their nattys and SEC titles and I’ll stomach an occasional bad loss from time to time. Big difference.
 
#95
#95
We did good this year considering a couple of things.

-We were one of the youngest teams in the SEC
- Nico left and we had to bring in someone asap
-our best DB's never played

I'm grateful we played an easier schedule this year because we needed it. It was a good learning experience for the team and got them a season of SEC experience under their belt
 
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