When Kirby took the job GA previous recruiting class was 6th in nation. (UT was 4th). The year before GA was 8th. (UT was 7th). So it's a fact he didnt inherit any more talent than UT. Since then in 5 yrs his teams have played for the SEC Championship 3 times and played for a National Championship once. His W-L record is a paltry 62-14. Here's hoping Coach Heupel does every bit as bad in the next 5 years.
Crawl... walk.... run.
Look at Georgia's team and look at ours. Which roster would you select to play for you this year? I know which I would have picked. It is hard to image how good we would have been with Georgia's defensive players. However, I will say that our starters have played very well, especially early in the year before fatigue set in, but lack of depth and experience coupled with injuries have not helped us this year. The team has played with a very positive attitude and excitement and will have won at least 3 more games than most preseason predictions. I have not been more excited about our future during the last 15 years. Really look forward to the next 3 season as CJH builds his team into a SEC and National contender.
My point was simple and had nothing to do with this year's talent. I'm a Vol all the way but to tear someone down who has 62-14 W-L record and say it is only because of talent is borderline absurd. LSU, FL, TX etc. have loads of talent and are pushing .500. I hope GA loses every game but playing in 4 SEC championships and probably 2 Nat'l Championships in 6 yrs is impressive. He's taken GA from a top tier program to an elite one. Here's hoping Coach Heupel does the same thing. As for this season's predictions almost everyone had the Vols winning 6.5 games which they will meet. You say you only expected them to win 4 lol? We have more depth than we've seen, Aaron Willis is a highly rated LB and a couple of others. Maybe Coach Heupel is redshirting them?
All I can do is respond to the thread, which for the umpteenth time, is about trending upward against UGA, UF, and Bama. TN is going to have a much better record this year than most anyone expected. In my book, Heupel is coach of the year. Still, no one here has explained how TN is trending up against these three teams.
I expected us to win 7 games this year. I'd we win out including a bowl game they will have exceeded my prediction. News people in Knoxville were in the 4-5 range. I have no problem in saying that Small did not win as many games as he should have won. I know that with the talent he has had, he has under achieved and I believe Heupel has over achieved if the wins 7 or more games. Seems pretty simple to me.
Mostly competitiveness. Your comparison doesn't account for the fact that Pruitt intentionally ran clock on O. He used the throwback Fulmer philosophy of football that says you avoid losing on O then win with D.
I'm not disagreeing that UT can and maybe should win those games.... but a lot of it depends on what Heupel is able to do in recruiting and the portal. He could come back next fall with Hooker and Tillman plus some young talented receivers or he could be breaking in a new QB with very little experience returning at WR. Lots of ways this could go.
You can’t act like those 2 teams had anywhere near the same talent when Kirby took over. If memory serves correct that was butch 4th season and half of his great class was departed. The downward spiral was well into motion by then. We had already went through Dooley years and kiffin bolting and mark richt was just coming off yet another 10 win season with consistent top 10 classes. Not saying that Kirby have a trash, just your argument that we had equal talent when Kirby took over Georgia does not hold water.
