Why we will be a force starting next year

[codyg10]

I think in the 2011 and 2012 season we will be competeting for a national championship

 

[volcarsont]

Guys, I know it's easy to get down about this loss and season, but the fact is, it's a new coaching staff's first year. I think you all will be shocked at how much improvement we experience next season. We will be more deep overall in many spots defense....ESPECIALLY at linebacker, a position that was largely responsible for three of our losses this season IMO, AU, Ole Miss and Va Tech. There are some serious young studs coming off redshirts for next season on D who should be ready to play with a year in the system already. We will be sick at RB and we will have plenty of young talent on both lines and will have one of iof not the best kicker in the nation.

The biggest thing, though, is it will be the second year in this staff's system. It takes a while for players to buy in guys. Look at Saban at Bama. What he did in year 2 with young new players was amazing. I believe we will see something similar if we land a top 3 class this year.

People are saying 2011 will be our year, I say it begins next year with Stephens at QB and a sick group of backs and WRs.

Next year is going to be tough, tougher than this year I am afraid. But 2011 and 2012 will be when Lane's recruits start making a difference. I just hope the fans will realize that and not go nuts next season.

 

[MaryvilleGator]

Just a thought, but Stephens has been practicing with the 2nd teamers all of this year, and those guys have a good chance of being next years starters. You have a tough scedule, but your starters for next year have been in place and working together for all of this season. don't give up on them before the first game. 8-4 may be realistic, but no one knows what you have yet. Spring ball will offer some hope I think.

 

[VolsRule]

The second year for a coaching staff is usually the big year (Stoops, Meyer, Tressel won national titles in year 2, after a mediocre year 1). Look for a better year in 2010 and a huge 2011 season (BCS bowl!)

 

[majic73]

interesting analysis, but, why did the bama and UF games not have similar results given their talent which is superior to VT?

Good questions and a few reasons ..I think ...

UT was able to 'mask' mismatches up until the Ole Miss game . Then the devil had to be paid his due . There is an article by Kiffin out there to this affect . The schemes that 'mask' weakness gets exposed on tape and then they just don't work .

Bama played a poor game from a playcalling perspective . If they had taken a page from Ole Miss and Tech and Auburn, they should have just pounded the rock .

The Florida game was early in the season ...lack of depth just wasn't that devisive at that point . The wear just had not caught up to their legs at that point in the season . Florida's offense is easier to manage than Tech's offense with the use of blitz packages . Monte was able to blitz 'to the grass' against UF ...but that would not be effective against a team like Tech .

I think the Vols lost both sides of the Line against Tech ...most notably in the second half . Scheme is out the window at that point ...and you can't adjust to it other than ' guys you have got to win the line of scrimmage ' If you can't do that ...no coach on the planet can help you .

I think it should also be noted that Bama and UF ...are very fond of playing safe defenses in the belief that they can win the line of scrimmage ...meaning they try to bring pressure with only their front 4 and leave the backers to make plays . This seems to be a little easier for UT to match up against . Tech on the other hand ...brought pressure from everywhere and played more of an 8 man front with multiple blitzes.

 

[Tampavolz]

I wish I had your optimism but we will probably struggle in 2010. I agree that we have a chance to start being competitive in 2011 or 2012 but next year we will be lucky to be above .500.

Thank you for the voice of reason,,,, many on here need to look at our schedule next year. I don't care if we improve quite a bit, we are in for a killer season.

 

[tm3]

good analyses, majic and regulator. thanks

 

[AFL2008]

I will gain a lot of respect for Kiffin if UT has a better season next year than this year. Most of UT's best players are graduating or going pro, depth is a HUGE issue, and the offensive line could possibly start 3-4 freshmen.

That is not a recipe for success. Especially when your best bet at QB is Nick Stephens. It would take a herculean coaching effort for that team, with that difficult 2010 schedule, to do better than 7-6.

 

[VOLinthaNATI]

Yeah there's no doubt in my mind we would have beaten northwestern and it would have been great for state of the programHowever, we have had problems selling tickets this and the last few years, and that's the kinda thing that gets u passed over in bowl selections
Posted via VolNation Mobile

Well we proved on Thursday that us not selling out home games against cupcakes means nothing. The Dome was sold out and at least 70 percent were Vol fans in orange.
Posted via VolNation Mobile

 

[KB5252]

We will see just how good our staff is next year, both the O and D lines will be starting young inexperienced and probably undersized players. This is where good teams are made, if this staff can bring them along and they hold their own it can open up so much more for the respective squads. If they struggle so will this team.

 

[The Paterfamilias]

I don't think Coach Kiffin will be satisfied with anything less than undefeated.

I don't expect that next year, nor the year after that.

I do anticipate great things in the next four or five years and lots of them if CLK can stay at UT for a decade or so.

Not to sound like a total jerk, but what are you basing your opinion of future success upon? It isn't as though CLK has a track record of rebuilding sagging football programs.

 

[sjt18]

interesting analysis, but, why did the bama and UF games not have similar results given their talent which is superior to VT?

Meyer coached teams are always more conservative when playing an unknown. They were the same way two years ago with Clawson... they could have beaten UT much worse both years if he'd taken more chances. OTOH, he played to win... more chances could have also cost him the games.

The Bama game hit at a point when UT was about as healthy as they were all year (except sadly Lincoln). The D was as healthy as at any other point of the season minus Reviez. Jones and Moore were back and had had time to get in synch with JC. If "that" team could have played every game this season then UT is probably a 9-3 or 10-2 team. They definitely would have beaten Auburn and UCLA.