Would you call it a "successful" season?

We went from 0-8 to 5-3 in two seasons and had a 2 game improvement from Pruitt's first season to his second. While the 7-5 isn't as sexy as the 5-3, I'm happy with the 3 game win improvement in the SEC. Its clear that the East is going to be down except for UF and UGA. I think we have a big opportunity to restore the balance to make the East a 3 headed monster like the days of old. We do luck out with another weak a$$ draw with Arkansas out of the West.

If you told anyone that in 2 years, Pruitt would take Butch's 0-8 SEC record to 5-3, anyone would take that.
 
I believe I said 8-4. Hard to believe that if not for the horrible performance the first two games against cupcakes we may have gone 9-3. Even such an optimist as I would have never said 9-3.

But no, I wouldn't call this a successful season.
And why would you not?
 
Most media and even VN posters predicted between 5-7 and 7-5. I don't recall seeing many 4-8s or 8-4s. I predicted 6-6.
So the team goes 7-5. Wouldn't anything better be overachieving, given the dumpster fire 2 years ago, young OL and even worse DL entering this season, and the disastrous start to QB play/injuries?
The opposed will point to losing to GSU and BYU and ask how could one say successful with inexcusable loses to them. I understand, and yes, they were inexcusable.
But did you consider what a 7-5 team that beat GSU and BYU would mean? They're losing to Miss St, Kentucky, Missouri, SCjr or Vandy. Had they upset someone that means they would have dropped 3 of those 5 games mentioned. Would you really rather them end on another sour note, or get the bad play out of the way and start rolling into 2020?
I don't think it's fair to predict 6-6 or 7-5, then say "Oh it's not really successful because they should be 9-3".
So if anyone doesn't think it was a "successful" season, I am curious as to how you would have rather the 7-5 season play out.
Super pumped about finding out the bowl game matchup and then... bring on Oklahoma!

I wouldn't use the word successful, improved yes. The GA state BYU losses still linger. Outside of the grind-it-out win against Miss St., the first half of the season was not a "success". We didn't really have a quality win outside of maybe USC jr. 5-3 is pretty good, but we missed a great opportunity to win 8 or 9, we had a much much easier OOC and SEC schedule this year.

And I especially didn't like getting whipped like we did by the gators and bulldogs. That right there shows we still have a good ways to go. Glad we are beating the teams we should beat though.
 
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No. Not "successful". More successful than it could have been. Successful in advancing the program in terms of culture and development. But 7-5 is NOT successful. Losing to BYU and GSU... can never be termed "successful".

There are "successes" within the season. Overall, not a success.
 
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Tough one...we still got blown out by our biggest rivals. I guess you could make a case it is a success in the sense we progressed over last year. However, even if we had won the first 2 games and gotten 9 wins, it would still feel kind of empty to me given the disparity between us and the teams at the top of the conference. I mean, just imagine what LSU would do to this team.
We were competitive at times against Alabama and Georgia which is an improvement over last year.
 
No. Not "successful". More successful than it could have been. Successful in advancing the program in terms of culture and development. But 7-5 is NOT successful. Losing to BYU and GSU... can never be termed "successful".

There are "successes" within the season. Overall, not a success.
No doubt we have advanced in terms of culture, development and especially optimism within the program and fan base. Where have you been the last two months, on vacation ?
 
In my mind the expectations for the season as a whole were: break the streak and beat Vandy, find a way to finally win against Muschump, and get to a bowl game. Based on that, the season was a success. But the early losses were very disappointing.
That’s about where I was. I wanted to say 8-4 but said If I had to bet the farm we’d go 7-5. We done it, got to a bowl game and I’m happy with the progression we seen. Not necessarily the losses we took. I figured Florida, Alabama, and UGA were 3 we would drop BYU and Miss State were the toss ups. Wasn’t sold on BYU being an easy W like some thought it would be. We’ve came a long way from where we were last season at this time and still have a long way to go. All I’m hoping for is to continue to build on it. With the development we have seen I feel good about that.
 
C+ season so far. It's not over yet and it could end anywhere from a D- to a B.
 
Tough one...we still got blown out by our biggest rivals. I guess you could make a case it is a success in the sense we progressed over last year. However, even if we had won the first 2 games and gotten 9 wins, it would still feel kind of empty to me given the disparity between us and the teams at the top of the conference. I mean, just imagine what LSU would do to this team.

Those blown out losses I keep hearing about over and over and over happened especially FL. Thought we improved against Ga somewhat. The Alabama loss we competed. I would love to have played FL/ Ga. . later I think we don't win but we compete. Maybe even scare a little bit.
 
concidering where we were predicted to finish and starting 1-4, I think the season was successful . We will be decisive underdogs in 4 games next year. We need to win a couple of those.
 
I think 6 wins was always going to be a success.

It is frustrating we had the "talent" to easily win 9 games this year if we were prepared to start the season.

With that said, I think Pruitt has put a wet blanket on any hotseat talk.

The fact of the matter is.. Beating all of South Carolina, Mizzou, Kentucky, and Vandy was a good accomplishment this season, but that's something he's gonna need to do every single year if we want to compete for SEC titles. Butch never did it, so this is a pretty good check box item I think.
 
Yes. I would call it a successful season. Most importantly, the staff has shown it can develop players and improve player performance. That in itself is a reason to be very optimistic. Also, the coaching staff has demonstrated it can put together a game plan that's effective and can win games even when the players aren't playing their best.

From this point it's simply a matter of Pruitt recruiting the players who fit the system and building depth.
 
No. Not "successful". More successful than it could have been. Successful in advancing the program in terms of culture and development. But 7-5 is NOT successful. Losing to BYU and GSU... can never be termed "successful".

There are "successes" within the season. Overall, not a success.
This has probably been the hardest season to judge in my life, but I think this is the right take. It looked like a complete disaster in the beginning. We seem to have righted the ship, but that just makes me wonder what if. One could absolutely argue that this team should be 9-3, but one must also wonder how we would have played down the stretch without the early adversity. At best, this season will be remembered as a springboard if we can maintain the late season momentum.
 
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I think 6 wins was always going to be a success.

It is frustrating we had the "talent" to easily win 9 games this year if we were prepared to start the season.

With that said, I think Pruitt has put a wet blanket on any hotseat talk.

The fact of the matter is.. Beating all of South Carolina, Mizzou, Kentucky, and Vandy was a good accomplishment this season, but that's something he's gonna need to do every single year if we want to compete for SEC titles. Butch never did it, so this is a pretty good check box item I think.

I don't think many Vol fans said before the season that 6-6 would be a successful season, especially with the lighter schedule.
 
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It was really 2 seasons. First season was disastrous with bad losses and non-competitive efforts against our rivals. Second season beginning with Miss St was a success including a solid effort in a loss against Bama

The bowl game will write the final chapter on this season - is it a continuation of the second season or a return to the first.
 
Most media and even VN posters predicted between 5-7 and 7-5. I don't recall seeing many 4-8s or 8-4s. I predicted 6-6.
So the team goes 7-5. Wouldn't anything better be overachieving, given the dumpster fire 2 years ago, young OL and even worse DL entering this season, and the disastrous start to QB play/injuries?
The opposed will point to losing to GSU and BYU and ask how could one say successful with inexcusable loses to them. I understand, and yes, they were inexcusable.
But did you consider what a 7-5 team that beat GSU and BYU would mean? They're losing to Miss St, Kentucky, Missouri, SCjr or Vandy. Had they upset someone that means they would have dropped 3 of those 5 games mentioned. Would you really rather them end on another sour note, or get the bad play out of the way and start rolling into 2020?
I don't think it's fair to predict 6-6 or 7-5, then say "Oh it's not really successful because they should be 9-3".
So if anyone doesn't think it was a "successful" season, I am curious as to how you would have rather the 7-5 season play out.
Super pumped about finding out the bowl game matchup and then... bring on Oklahoma!

Thanks for your post. No, I could not call it a successful season. Progress made and improvement shown the 2nd 1/2 of the season-absolutely! I do think Pruitt is the right guy. Don't know how long it will take him to have TN back in the SEC championship game but I think he will get us there.

I am looking forward to the bowl game. For me, (just a personal opinion) a successful season HAS to include a W over AT LEAST one of our biggest rivals (Bama, FL, or GA). It was a good season, especially considering the start.

GO VOLS!!!
 
As far as what our record would be it is what I expected coming in, now how we got there was way off. So I’ll say it was a disappointing season that fell short of its potential, but man what a ride.
 
You will have the people that say "we shoulda been 9-3" and maybe that's true. But honestly, if we beat GA State and BYU....I'm not sure the team comes together the way they do after the UF game. So all in all, the important thing is....Pruitt has finally got a good culture developed and his players believe in him. That's huge. Now it's time to knock of the big boys. Next season he needs to at least beat 1 outta UF, UGA, and Bama.
 
Ga state and BYU both finished 7-5. Hurts a lot less knowing that than it did when everyone thought they were 2 win teams.

Winning 5 in a row feels really good but only Kentucky and UAB had winning records during that run.

Alabama and Georgia game were close for a while so we were competitive. Won more than we lost. Won SEC games. So yes it was successful in year 2. Big shoes to fill in year 3 at key spots but probably more depth overall.
 
Ga state and BYU both finished 7-5. Hurts a lot less knowing that than it did when everyone thought they were 2 win teams.

Winning 5 in a row feels really good but only Kentucky and UAB had winning records during that run.

Alabama and Georgia game were close for a while so we were competitive. Won more than we lost. Won SEC games. So yes it was successful in year 2. Big shoes to fill in year 3 at key spots but probably more depth overall.


And most importantly... we wrecked Bama’s season by knocking out their Qb, they forced him back too early and made things worse.
 
Yes. Those first two games were necessary for this team to grow. It showed them that they can’t win just because they’re the “better” team. They had to work hard and they did a good job turning it around. While those losses stung, i wouldn’t trade 7-5 while winning those two games than the 7-5 we have now
 
I'll have to look, but I'm pretty sure I predicted 6 wins to be the low end and 9 wins would the top end for this year. Therefore, 7 or 8 wins is right where I thought we would be. We met my expectation, so it was a success to me. But what could of been with the first 2 games!!
 

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