'23 Portal Transfer Portal - Confirmed Tennessee Interest
- Thread starter allvolrecruiting
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Reality. Heupel and the boys don't seem to be cowering... they seem to be attacking.
Says who? You? UT was "close" this past season and came up short mostly on D. The moves they appear to be making are bringing them closer.
I'm not sure anyone seriously suggested it was. But last year's team was 11-2 with a seriously flawed defense. The O could very easily be better.
I'm not "predicting" anything. Many years have made me wise enough not to do that... and especially not in January. My point is exactly what I stated. Every team including Bama and UGA has question marks and holes to fill right now. Your "slow your roll" comment applies to UT... but also everyone else to one degree or another. And as we objectively look at where everyone sits right now... UT has more reason to be optimistic than most.
Says who? You? UT was "close" this past season and came up short mostly on D. The moves they appear to be making are bringing them closer.
I'm not sure anyone seriously suggested it was. But last year's team was 11-2 with a seriously flawed defense. The O could very easily be better.
I'm not "predicting" anything. Many years have made me wise enough not to do that... and especially not in January. My point is exactly what I stated. Every team including Bama and UGA has question marks and holes to fill right now. Your "slow your roll" comment applies to UT... but also everyone else to one degree or another. And as we objectively look at where everyone sits right now... UT has more reason to be optimistic than most.
The post I was originally responding to said it was. The slow your roll comment was about a declaration of us winning it all next season. No one said anything about anyone cowering, and lastly we competed this season but to say our roster this year was close in talent from top to bottom is delusional.
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From a talent standpoint.... We overacheived, Bama underachieved, and Georgia did what they were expected to do. I love what Heupel is building and how quickly he is building it, but to say that we are now equal with those two programs is very premature. That's not a knock on our program. We are probably 2 years ahead of schedule on the rebuild.
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I was also clearly being over the top when I declared a title.
Our roster is going to be a lot closer this year. You don't need to have a UGA or Bama roster to win titles. You need at least around a top 10 roster (which we will have next year) and a great QB (which is very possible)
Clemson went to the title in 2015 with the 13th ranked roster, won it with the 9th in 2016. They have never had the stacked rosters UGA and Bama have had, but they won titles with superior QB play and great coaching.
Our roster is going to be a lot closer this year. You don't need to have a UGA or Bama roster to win titles. You need at least around a top 10 roster (which we will have next year) and a great QB (which is very possible)
Clemson went to the title in 2015 with the 13th ranked roster, won it with the 9th in 2016. They have never had the stacked rosters UGA and Bama have had, but they won titles with superior QB play and great coaching.
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Never said it was impossible. Clemson has a much easier path to the playoffs being in the ACC. I hope Joe leads us to the promise land. I've been a supporter of Joe from the beginning. Our defense has to be exponentially better to win it all. I think it can, but being a consistent 10+ win team is the next step.
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Georgia can rely on defense and the run game the way Alabama used to. I don't think Bama can do that anymore. At least not next season. QB isn't the big question mark that everyone thinks it is for Georgia. They have 3 guys that could potentially run that offense considering the weak ass schedule they have this fall. They also have a stable of monsters in the backfield and Bowers as a security blanket.
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LOL. Why? Because you say so? UT had the top offense in the country while playing in the strongest conference in the country and playing the hardest schedule in the conference. The Vols had the nation's top WR and the 3rd best rushing O vs the SEC. The D had holes. I don't discount what Heupel does on O as a coach. But it is "delusional" to suggest you field that kind of O without being "close in talent".
The D needed better play in spots and particularly at CB. No one disputes that. But they were closer than you seem to think... and that's far from "delusional".
The D needed better play in spots and particularly at CB. No one disputes that. But they were closer than you seem to think... and that's far from "delusional".
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We'll just have to agree to disagree. We'll also have to see how NFL front offices evaluate that talent and see how many players we have go in each specific round from our team (offense and defense). Then we'll do a comparison on team talent vs. Bama and Georgia. Admitting that our roster wasn't and isn't as talent laden as those two schools doesn't detract from what these kids accomplished. It actually makes it more impressive.... and no, it's not because I said so. It's just the current reality. Heupel did more with less. I don't know why you find that so offensive.
Who said they were? You indicated that the Vols weren't "close in talent". I didn't say the Vols were equal much less greater. But you make out like UT is miles and miles behind the top programs and not in better shape than the vast majority of those not named Bama, UGA, or OSU. That is crux of our disagreement.
No doubt Huepel did more with less. No doubt in my mind that this staff's development ability squeezed more out of each guy. They appear to be elite in that regard. However in regard to talent... if Bama/UGA/OSU are 10's then UT is between an 8 and a 9. They're not a 5.
No doubt Huepel did more with less. No doubt in my mind that this staff's development ability squeezed more out of each guy. They appear to be elite in that regard. However in regard to talent... if Bama/UGA/OSU are 10's then UT is between an 8 and a 9. They're not a 5.
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Hadden needs to play disciplined. But he's a talented guy who can develop into a very good CB. It won't hurt to have better players around him. In fact, I think that's what we as fans cannot know. Some guys may have looked worse than they were because they were trying to compensate for someone else's weaknesses.
Hadden may have been one of the guys who held them back... or he might of been one of the guys who was held back. We will see as the level of competition at all positions goes up.
To me, getting guys like Charles back to S or Star will be huge for the guys playing CB.
Hadden may have been one of the guys who held them back... or he might of been one of the guys who was held back. We will see as the level of competition at all positions goes up.
To me, getting guys like Charles back to S or Star will be huge for the guys playing CB.
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I cant stand the Hadden hate
Early in the year he was considered out worst player and then he was stupid against USCjr and everyone decided to hate him forever.
Then he goes and plays great against Vandy and Clemson after that and gets zero credit because of the resentful nature of our fanbase, which then created the false narrative that he was our worst corner. He had the third best PFF grade of any of the corners behind Turnage and Slaughter.
Early in the year he was considered out worst player and then he was stupid against USCjr and everyone decided to hate him forever.
Then he goes and plays great against Vandy and Clemson after that and gets zero credit because of the resentful nature of our fanbase, which then created the false narrative that he was our worst corner. He had the third best PFF grade of any of the corners behind Turnage and Slaughter.
He's an undisciplined guy so he brings a lot of it on himself.
That said, I don't give up on people easily in real life or here. There comes a time when you have to honestly assess someone's trajectory and write them off. But like you point out, not everyone has a smooth improvement curve. Some of the best performers I've managed were pretty "irregular" in their progression.
I had to deal with one of my guys recently like that. Young guy. REALLY smart and talented at what we do. Natural leadership ability which made the impact of his downturn more significant. Top notch abstract reasoning ability. Took off like a rocket when he came in. Great attitude. Everything we look for both in performance and potential. Then a couple of years into his growth he hit a "wall" attitude wise. Everything went downhill to the point where I had a "change course or else you won't be welcome" conversation. After some struggles on his part to accept the criticisms and expectations, he came in and talked with me for about two hours and ultimately accepted responsibility and committed to doing better. He's back on track now. I won't be surprised if he completes his degree and advances high in management with the company.
I see Hadden the same way. He still has a high ceiling if he can get his head right.
That said, I don't give up on people easily in real life or here. There comes a time when you have to honestly assess someone's trajectory and write them off. But like you point out, not everyone has a smooth improvement curve. Some of the best performers I've managed were pretty "irregular" in their progression.
I had to deal with one of my guys recently like that. Young guy. REALLY smart and talented at what we do. Natural leadership ability which made the impact of his downturn more significant. Top notch abstract reasoning ability. Took off like a rocket when he came in. Great attitude. Everything we look for both in performance and potential. Then a couple of years into his growth he hit a "wall" attitude wise. Everything went downhill to the point where I had a "change course or else you won't be welcome" conversation. After some struggles on his part to accept the criticisms and expectations, he came in and talked with me for about two hours and ultimately accepted responsibility and committed to doing better. He's back on track now. I won't be surprised if he completes his degree and advances high in management with the company.
I see Hadden the same way. He still has a high ceiling if he can get his head right.
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Hopefully the addition of Gabe and hopefully Iggy can bring the best out of Hadden and the rest of the CB's and we have ourselves some healthy competition in the secondary for the first time in a long while.
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When you look at an entire roster, we were probably a 7 at best. We're not talking about starting line ups. We're talking about 85 scholarship players. We are not close. Not yet anyway. 7 is a long way from 10. You can mask deficiencies by having really good players at certain positions.
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Or... you can recognize that while the coaching has been great and worthy of praise... the roster had more talent than you for some reason want to admit. And... they're upgrading.
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I have been around college football a long, long time. I have no issues distinguishing pure talent from coaching and hard working overachievers. It's you that seems to have the problem distinguishing the two and underestimate what these coaches and players accomplished this year.
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Not "underestimating" anything... just not buying your "overestimation" of your opinion.
UT was 2+ deep as anyone in CFB on the DL last fall. They got "good" LB play. The secondary was a problem. You simply don't lead the nation in scoring and total O while playing in the SEC while not being "close" talent wise. To say that doesn't diminish what anyone did... it just recognizes that UT also had very good offensive talent.
Not really sure why you are so committed to calling these guys untalented. Really odd in spite of your attempts to deflect.
UT was 2+ deep as anyone in CFB on the DL last fall. They got "good" LB play. The secondary was a problem. You simply don't lead the nation in scoring and total O while playing in the SEC while not being "close" talent wise. To say that doesn't diminish what anyone did... it just recognizes that UT also had very good offensive talent.
Not really sure why you are so committed to calling these guys untalented. Really odd in spite of your attempts to deflect.
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