Crap happens in almost every practice....or at least it did when I played. You get a bunch of alphas and an intense practice and chit gets chippy. The fact that this team let something like that affect them and ruin their chances at a playoff spot, boggles the mind. Maybe it's just that, as a program, we've not reached a certain point of maturity champions seem to possess? As much as I hate bama, it's a credit to them and their "culture" that they've been so consistently excellent for so many years. Hell, we can't even handle success for one complete damn season. When all you have between you and the playoffs is SCjr and Vandy and you STILL can't get it done, well, the only thing I can say it that "it's just us being Tennessee".
This goes to leadership in that locker room or more accurately the lack thereof. I'm not down on Heupel. Some of his staff, yes. Several of our players, yes. I'm going to hold on to the fact that Heupel needs time to change this roster and clear out any of those who don't fit the vision of what he's trying to do. I'm also hoping that he'll recognize any on this staff who aren't getting the job done and do what's needed after the season. I'll appreciate the end of some streaks and some great wins, but if this season ends as I expect it to, it will be a disappointment not so much due to the fact that we "only" have 9 wins, but in terms of what we lost above and beyond individual games. Perception, respect, recruiting, etc. So much good will down the drain unless we somehow find a way to get just 2 more wins this year. Of course, we needed just "2 more wins" to have a shot at the gold ring and fell flat on our collective faces so I'm far from optimistic.
