Won't be practicing on the ground no more

#27
#27
This is very surprising to me. My thinking has been that Butch's practices were soft...that we weren't hitting enough. I get guess we can hit hard without full tackling. Whatever the case, I trust this guy and his staff. We have a football coach now. And my guess is that these are going to be some very hard practices. We should come out tougher in late August than we've been in a while.
 
#28
#28
This is very surprising to me. My thinking has been that Butch's practices were soft...that we weren't hitting enough. I get guess we can hit hard without full tackling. Whatever the case, I trust this guy and his staff. We have a football coach now. And my guess is that these are going to be some very hard practices. We should come out tougher in late August than we've been in a while.

It does seem a bit counter-intuitive. But I too feel pretty optimistic about Coach Pruitt and believe he toughen us up and prove to be a good hire in the long run.
 
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#29
#29
Annual change in S&C Dept is the issue. Tenn has been least physical team in SEC last 2yrs. Very soft.
 
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#30
#30
What exactly does he mean by "practicing on the ground"? It's not completely clear to me.

Regardless, there's definitely something to the idea that our practice habits are a reason for injuries. It seems like we lost an abnormally large number of players from injuries in practice over the past two seasons. Particularly true for the DL and OL where practice injuries were happening all the time.

He's talking about tackling to the ground. Greater chance of getting leg rolled.
 
#31
#31
NFL teams do the same. They just thud up. No actual live tackling.

We were also doing the catch and release thing toward the end of Fulmer's tenure. They picked it up from the Titans.
 
#32
#32
In 2013, I thought Butch walked into a tough situation and he did. Dooleys disastrous 2012 recruiting class and losing to UK was bad. Honestly though, I didnt think it could get worse.

I was wrong.

I believe Butch has left this program in worse shape than Dooley did. And Pruitts statements here reinforces my opinion. We have a small football team and we need to teach our guys how to practice tell me all I need to know.

We've Known This For Years. He's Relied On Athletes To Just Make Plays. Lack of coaching showed up all over the place. Special Teams, Blocking, Read Options, WRs getting open, DBs not looking for the ball.

Y'all Remember the "Duuuuh, big red truck"?

Heres your sign
 
#35
#35
It's just odd to me how we went from a very tough and physical team in '15 to a team that is soft and injured in '16 and '17. Whatever Butch did it was the wrong move.

I saw that too and it never made sense to me. It seemed like the first couple of years Butch was always complaining about how the team needed to get stronger and they did. I thought they were headed in the right direction, the linemen started looking solid and the skill players started looking chiseled. Then around '16 all of a sudden the team comes out and they look like a mid major team and the skill players looked small and the linemen looked out of shape.
 
#36
#36
Nope. Lack of stretching and core strength exercise. Too many "curls for the girls" instead. Hopefully Pruitt takes a page out of Saban's book and has the team doing Pilates.
 
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#38
#38
I have had a theory, especially concerning our offensive line, that a big part of our problem has been our scheme. We have run, what appears to me, a read and react scheme. This puts our players in a position of always being on their heels and losing leverage.

View attachment 153693

Spot on. I thought the same thing at times during the last few seasons. Reactivity rarely beats pro-activity. Good thing is that it is potentially correctable, and, at absolute minimum, the Vols have one of the top 10 best O-lineman in the nation as a Soph. to anchor the new line.
 
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#39
#39
In other words......Don't take tackles and blocks to the ground. Stay up and off the knees. Alot of practicing in "shells." Helmets Shoulder Pads and Shorts will teach kids how to practice.
 
#43
#43
Yeah. Then they discovered concussions lol.

I am too young to remember, but my dad said very few people didn't get decleated on his team at some point during the drill.

Everyone got decleated at some point, but that was the purpose of the drill to build speed and reaction time.
 
#44
#44
I saw that too and it never made sense to me. It seemed like the first couple of years Butch was always complaining about how the team needed to get stronger and they did. I thought they were headed in the right direction, the linemen started looking solid and the skill players started looking chiseled. Then around '16 all of a sudden the team comes out and they look like a mid major team and the skill players looked small and the linemen looked out of shape.

I saw the same things you did. During the first 2 years under Butch our teams were way tougher and more physical. Hell I remember we knocked out like 3 starting QB's in one season. We lacked talent but we played hard.

The difference between the first 3 years and the last 2 was Dave Lawson. Firing him was one of the worst mistake Jones ever made. Size wise, we looked like a mid-major school last year.
 
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#45
#45
Back in my day it was bull in the ring. One man in the middle surrounded by six players. Coach would assign numbers to each of the six. When it started, he'd call out numbers. That player would charge the bull. If the bull was too slow he got the sheet knocked out of him.

been there done that...it was stupid then and it's stupid now...don't need that crap to get your team ready to play, build character, or to discipline someone...:loco:

GO VOLS!
 
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#46
#46
VN's layout is comprehensively superior to tapatalk's. Isn't even close.
 
#47
#47
I saw the same things you did. During the first 2 years under Butch our teams were way tougher and more physical. Hell I remember we knocked out like 3 starting QB's in one season. We lacked talent but we played hard.

The difference between the first 3 years and the last 2 was Dave Lawson. Firing him was one of the worst mistake Jones ever made. Size wise, we looked like a mid-major school last year.

I saw Lawson's firing as strange. The team looked bigger and faster in his tenure than as of late. I wonder if he butted heads with Jones on how the program should be going and that is the reason for his being sent packing. I thought Rock would have been good for us being from the NFL but I didn't see a big change from the previous year to last year. I guess lack of discipline and accountability were to blame as well.
 
#49
#49
I'm not an expert, but it was easy to see some things watching practice film that left you shaking your head. Especially QB, WR, and CB practice. I always believed you play like you practice. We also had a few guys on defense get hurt from "spearing". I am looking forward to CJP's version of play. Finally, if you don't/can't recruit big, you become a small team. From the day Butch got here he recruited based on his MAC experience and not playing the tide, gators, or dawgs on a regular basis. Go Vols!
 
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