what would constitute a successful season

#54
#54
7-5 regular season would be an excellent season. That includes wins they "should" get in Montana, Cinci., Buffalo, MTSU, Vandy, and Kentucky. That leaves one upset, which I believe will be Florida or Georgia. With that said I am really excited to watch this young talented team play. Go Vols!
 
#55
#55
Consistent improvement. Whether we like it or not, the schedule is certainly tougher than in recent years. As such, we have to prepare ourselves for a 6-6 or 7-5 season. This becomes even more likely if injuries pile up. What I need to see to feel this season was a success is 1) elimination of stupid mental errors, 2) consistent play for four quarters, 3) unique and inventive schemes, and 4) execution of those schemes. In an ideal world, that should mean, with our current talent, 8 or 9 wins, but injuries always seem to occur at the worst positions, so I would consider simply seeing those four points as a positive sign of success.
 
#56
#56
GAVol said:
1) don't lose any ooc games or to Vandy/Kentucky.

2) play 4 competitive quarters against everyone else and let the chips fall where they may.
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:yes: absolUTely
 
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#59
#59
VolBadger said:
+1

let's not get ahead of ourselves here. we were 6-7 last year and all we did was become younger (more talented but still younger). 8 wins is not out of the question, but certainly not the benchmark
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Bama went 6-6 with Saban in his first year and damn near played for a NC in his second. My point is that anything could happen. That being said, I have been thinking 9-3 all off season but on paper 7 or 8 should be about right.
 
#60
#60
GAVol said:
1) don't lose any ooc games or to Vandy/Kentucky.

2) play 4 competitive quarters against everyone else and let the chips fall where they may.
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This is it.

6 regular season wins and a bowl game win would be pretty decent considering we play the 3 toughest teams from the west.
 
#61
#61
One thing that would be encouraging would be particularly dominant/impressive performances by certain units/players.

I'd rather UT be inconsistent in that they look like world beaters at times and struggle at other times than be consistent but not special.
 
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#63
#63
tvolsfan said:
We're a year away from being good. I'm not so sure we're a year away from 8-4 if Dooley is the right coach.
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I think it's a year too early to be hanging 8 wins out there as the standard.

Last year was a washout. This is the year that Dooley needs to look like he's closed the talent/experience gap between us and the top half of the conference (by, as GAVol said, beating the teams you're supposed to beat and being competitive with everybody else). Next year is the year that he needs to start beating those teams.
 
#64
#64
Vercingetorix said:
I think it's a year too early to be hanging 8 wins out there as the standard.

Last year was a washout. This is the year that Dooley needs to look like he's closed the talent/experience gap between us and the top half of the conference (by, as GAVol said, beating the teams you're supposed to beat and being competitive with everybody else). Next year is the year that he needs to start beating those teams.
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I wouldn't say I consider 8 wins the standard. It's just what would make me more confident that he can win here.

I'm not saying he should be fired if UT goes 7-5 or anything like that.
 
#65
#65
dw0731 said:
Its a legitimate question. I think 7-5 and a bowl win would constitute progress. If we go 6-6 and lose a bowl game I think that would show zero progress. We need to beat an SEC team that we are underdogs to period. I'm hoping players like Maggitt and AJ Johnson while young can help get the defense off the field and create some turnovers we desperately need to beat more talented teams.If we upset Florida this could pave the way to 8-4and a New Years Day bowl game. Is anyone surprised that Hood is starting ahead of Maurice Couch? Maybe his injury is the reason hope his performance isn't.
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8-4. anything less i think dooley gets put on the hot seat.
 
#69
#69
tvolsfan said:
I wouldn't say I consider 8 wins the standard. It's just what would make me more confident that he can win here.

I'm not saying he should be fired if UT goes 7-5 or anything like that.
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It's still early enough that I'm more concerned about the process than I am about the W/L record. I don't feel any differently about Dooley today than I would if he'd gone 8-5 last year, which he would've without the LSU/UNC debacles. I'm not going to feel any differently about him in February if we go 8-4 with two last-second wins over, say, Florida and Georgia than if we go 6-6 with two last-second losses to them. This year I mostly just want to see that we're starting to look like we belong on the field with the teams we play in October.

Next year's when we find out for sure.
 
#70
#70
champyvol said:
8-4. anything less i think dooley gets put on the hot seat.
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I think fans will be more patient now than they were under Fulmer, but less patient than they were under Majors.

Of course, if we fired Fulmer to go 3 straight seasons unranked all season and with 7 or fewer wins every year, then more and more fans will wonder why we fired Fulmer, who never won fewer than 24 games over any 3-year stretch in his entire career and never spent any season completely unranked.
 
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#72
#72
Vercingetorix said:
I think it's a year too early to be hanging 8 wins out there as the standard.

Last year was a washout. This is the year that Dooley needs to look like he's closed the talent/experience gap between us and the top half of the conference (by, as GAVol said, beating the teams you're supposed to beat and being competitive with everybody else). Next year is the year that he needs to start beating those teams.
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If we beat the less talented teams (Buffalo, Cincinnati, MTSU, Montana, Vandy, Kentucky), lose to the more talented teams (Alabama, Florida, Georgia & LSU), and split out against the equally talented teams based on venue of the game (lose to Arkansas on the road, beat South Carolina at home), then we'll finish 7-5. We would have to over-perform, or get the bounces/breaks, to do better than that in the regular season.
 
#73
#73
VegasVol said:
I think fans will be more patient now than they were under Fulmer, but less patient than they were under Majors.

Of course, if we fired Fulmer to go 3 straight seasons unranked all season and with 7 or fewer wins every year, then more and more fans will wonder why we fired Fulmer, who never won fewer than 24 games over any 3-year stretch in his entire career.
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We fired Fulmer because he looked old and absolutely helpless against Saban and Meyer. If your house is burning down around you, you jump out the window even if you don't know what's underneath.

Dooley will be on the hot seat in 2012 regardless of what happens this year. The process will be over and it'll be time to see what we've got.
 
#74
#74
Vercingetorix said:
We fired Fulmer because he looked old and absolutely helpless against Saban and Meyer.
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If we define our program by how we do against elite coaches at talent-rich programs, then we're going to be firing lots of coaches very fast for many years to come. Of course, maybe that's why every coach with a resume turned us down after Fulmer's firing.
 
#75
#75
7 wins minimum. Gotta win the games we should (Montana, Cincy, Buffalo, MTSU, Vandy, and Kentucky) and win 1 of 5 against Florida, UGA, LSU, SC, and Arky. Easier said than done, but Im expecting atleast 7 wins as long as we dont slip up in the gimme games. I also think we could win 2 of the 5 difficult games. We have reasonable shots against LSU, Georgia, and South Carolina at home.
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