At the Beginning of the Season....

[DERELICK_MY_VOLS]

We were picked to finish ahead of Kentucky and Mizzu. No one knew Auburn and Mizzu would be as great as they have been. Nor that Georgia and Florida would be injury plagued and have rough seasons either. With that said we are right where Athlon Sports picked us to be.

Nearly EVERYONE on here had Mizzu and Auburn pegged as gimme wins along with Kentucky. If we could upset Georgia or South Carolina or both then watch out East Division! Well we were 1/2 a yard from a Georgia victory...then what I consider the worst thing for the FANatics happens...we beat USC. Expectations honestly became unreal for many fans.

As we were slaughtered game after game from that point on until this major let down tonight....so many of you started calling for CBJ's head. Were you all really expecting a miracle season with the same athletes that had the worst defense in Tennessee history? Or an offensive squad that lost all of its best productive pieces to the NFL?

Team #117 has been a roller coaster of emotions for us this season. Playing Georgia tight and beating South Carolina was honestly a blessing and a curse from a fan's stand point. Expectations suddenly became unreal from a talent stand point. You mix in all the awesome commitments that kept coming in for us (that EVERYONE on here celebrated CBJ for) the "We're Back" euphoria spread quickly.

Then came the Bama beat down ...Worley goes down and his loss would be catastrophic as it turns out. And then comes Mizzu which we didn't believe was worthy and Auburn the other gimme win which was anything but. Putting all the bowl hope on this game tonight and we choked...as a team and coaching staff.

So no bowl game this year. At the beginning of the season it was a long shot according to the experts given the schedule...defensive roster from last year....and offensive production list to the NFL. The point is we finished right where we were picked too in Butch's 1st year. A bowl would've been great but it is what it is. Next to last in the East ahead of Kentucky like they said we would be.

Will these coordinators be here by year 3...who knows? All I know is things don't happen over night. To build a great business you have to have a great vision and employees to execute it. Same goes with a football team. Butch Jones may have to change a manager or 2 along the way but his 30 elite applicants he has in his 1st full year as CEO of Tennessee Football gives me faith his vision is in the right direction.

Losing sucks period. There has been a lot of it on Rocky Top for way too long. Vandy back to back....never thought I would see it in my lifetime. But I will focus on National Signing Day from here on out...because it is the first part of the process to getting back to winning....I hope all of you come to your senses and do the same now too.

 

[alldayvols]

Cool story bro...

 

[Catbone]

I agree but damn I can't take another season like the past 4. Next year will be similar to this one.

 

[djohnnyg]

So Dooley had to go. Why ? His recruiting classes weren't ranked that bad. Right..he lost.

Well how do we indict Dooley for losing with those players when CBJ has lost just as badly or worse (except for Carolina)?

Don't say Georgia game was a "win" since Dooley had more than his share of "almost win's" too. and they didn't count either.

So it all comes down to players then. CBJ apologists say he doesn't have the players so u can't blame him right? So CBJ can only win if he has better talent?

Same thing with Dooley.

Why change the coach then? Why not keep Dooley? After all, u can't blame a coach for losing when he doesn't have the talent right?

Recruiting looking good is what excites everyone about CBJ.

He's shown he is not a coach that can win without superior talent.

Kinda like Dooley.

 

[Doyle Hargraves]

We were picked to finish ahead of Kentucky and Mizzu. No one knew Auburn and Mizzu would be as great as they have been. Nor that Georgia and Florida would be injury plagued and have rough seasons either. With that said we are right where Athlon Sports picked us to be.

Nearly EVERYONE on here had Mizzu and Auburn pegged as gimme wins along with Kentucky. If we could upset Georgia or South Carolina or both then watch out East Division! Well we were 1/2 a yard from a Georgia victory...then what I consider the worst thing for the FANatics happens...we beat USC. Expectations honestly became unreal for many fans.

As we were slaughtered game after game from that point on until this major let down tonight....so many of you started calling for CBJ's head. Were you all really expecting a miracle season with the same athletes that had the worst defense in Tennessee history? Or an offensive squad that lost all of its best productive pieces to the NFL?

Team #117 has been a roller coaster of emotions for us this season. Playing Georgia tight and beating South Carolina was honestly a blessing and a curse from a fan's stand point. Expectations suddenly became unreal from a talent stand point. You mix in all the awesome commitments that kept coming in for us (that EVERYONE on here celebrated CBJ for) the "We're Back" euphoria spread quickly.

Then came the Bama beat down ...Worley goes down and his loss would be catastrophic as it turns out. And then comes Mizzu which we didn't believe was worthy and Auburn the other gimme win which was anything but. Putting all the bowl hope on this game tonight and we choked...as a team and coaching staff.

So no bowl game this year. At the beginning of the season it was a long shot according to the experts given the schedule...defensive roster from last year....and offensive production list to the NFL. The point is we finished right where we were picked too in Butch's 1st year. A bowl would've been great but it is what it is. Next to last in the East ahead of Kentucky like they said we would be.

Will these coordinators be here by year 3...who knows? All I know is things don't happen over night. To build a great business you have to have a great vision and employees to execute it. Same goes with a football team. Butch Jones may have to change a manager or 2 along the way but his 30 elite applicants he has in his 1st full year as CEO of Tennessee Football gives me faith his vision is in the right direction.

Losing sucks period. There has been a lot of it on Rocky Top for way too long. Vandy back to back....never thought I would see it in my lifetime. But I will focus on National Signing Day from here on out...because it is the first part of the process to getting back to winning....I hope all of you come to your senses and do the same now too.

I am sick of excuses.
Six wins were attainable and we fell short.
Ssdd.

 

[volnSC]

i agree but damn i can't take another season like the past 4. Next year will be worse than this one.

fyp

 

[wolfej]

Well how do we indict Dooley for losing with those players when CBJ has lost just as badly or worse (except for Carolina)?

Please tell me you're not going to compare the talent we have this year with last year's talent?

We lost a close game where our best wide receiver got knocked out and our QB was a true freshman who is playing like one. People need to shut the hell up and stop crying. This year was going to have heartache in it and I knew that coming in, apparently other people expected like 7 or 8 miracles.

 

[Voluble2]

There is no excuse for what we witnessed tonight.

We had equal or better talent, two weeks to prepare, we had a bowl game and extra practice time riding on the line, we had the home field, we put the entire defensive backfield of the other team out of the game, the other team tried everything they could think of to hand us the game, and we still found a way to lose.

Butch doesn't get a mulligan for this. He has to win games like this one and the FL game if he is going to be the coach we need and deserve.

 

[drgreear]

Cool story bro...

Quit being a butt hurt *******.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I agree but damn I can't take another season like the past 4. Next year will be similar to this one.

It won't be as bad as this year. Georgia loses Murray and that's huge. SC loses Shaw and Clowney. No Oregon or Auburn. Mizzou loses Franklin and some receivers. Jordan Matthews is one. Alabama is losing McCarron and Mosley.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Please tell me you're not going to compare the talent we have this year with last year's talent?

We lost a close game where our best wide receiver got knocked out and our QB was a true freshman who is playing like one. People need to shut the hell up and stop crying. This year was going to have heartache in it and I knew that coming in, apparently other people expected like 7 or 8 miracles.

So you expected the offense to be totally inept and the defense to be good against Vandy? You also expected Dobbs to regress as the competition got easier?

 

[DERELICK_MY_VOLS]

I am sick of excuses.
Six wins were attainable and we fell short.
Ssdd.

Hey bro those aren't excuses. Those are the facts for the so called realist that now seem unreal. We simply finished as expected per the college football experts predicted.....and it sucks. Should have 6 wins yes....but didn't and we wait until next year.

 

[Unimane]

Great, so they sucked, as you expected. Did they, at any time, have the appearance of a well coached team that simply lacked talent? Because, once you're done making excuses for this sham of a coaching staff, that will be what we're left with next year when we actually do have some talent rolling in.

 

[wolfej]

So you expected the offense to be totally inept and the defense to be good against Vandy? You also expected Dobbs to regress as the competition got easier?

I did expect an inept offense. Anyone who thought we are going to come out and score a bunch are delusional. Add in the fact that we lost North and we were destined to suck tonight.

 

[MrBiggles]

You would think that after 3-4 games that the coaching staff would be able to find some plays that actually worked for Dobbs weather he was a freshman or not. The Defense finally played out of their skin until the end. All we needed was 2 maybe 3 TDs to win this game.

 

[DERELICK_MY_VOLS]

So Dooley had to go. Why ? His recruiting classes weren't ranked that bad. Right..he lost.

Well how do we indict Dooley for losing with those players when CBJ has lost just as badly or worse (except for Carolina)?

Don't say Georgia game was a "win" since Dooley had more than his share of "almost win's" too. and they didn't count either.

So it all comes down to players then. CBJ apologists say he doesn't have the players so u can't blame him right? So CBJ can only win if he has better talent?

Same thing with Dooley.

Why change the coach then? Why not keep Dooley? After all, u can't blame a coach for losing when he doesn't have the talent right?

Recruiting looking good is what excites everyone about CBJ.

He's shown he is not a coach that can win without superior talent.

Kinda like Dooley.

Never said count Georgia as a win did I...and Butch did what Dooley & Kiffin did not and beat a top 10 team. And Butch has a proven resume of winning in his conference.

Doesn't have the players to compete....turn on any sports show that mentions Tennessee Football and that analyst paid the big bucks will say the same damn thing. How ignorant are you?

Tell me a team with as much depth as our roster is going to have as much offensive fire power after losing Bray, Rivera, C. Patt., and J. Hunter to the NFL and pick up right where they left off. Dooley had all that talent against Vandy last year and was slaughtered by Franklin.

As a matter of fact with that much talent and still choking every week is why Dooley ain't here now guy! I am sure you were calling for his head on a platter this time last year like the rest of us too. He has 3 years of choking and no proven resume of ever winning as a head coach.....at least Butch does and spin it however you may try it is the truth.

 

[DERELICK_MY_VOLS]

Great, so they sucked, as you expected. Did they, at any time, have the appearance of a well coached team that simply lacked talent? Because, once you're done making excuses for this sham of a coaching staff, that will be what we're left with next year when we actually do have some talent rolling in.

We are where the ESPN type analysts all picked us to be guy. For the same reason I stated for the most part....lack of depth and youth...deal with it because the truth hurts and when it does you have to say ouch.

It's not like this is Florida's roster with top 5 recruiting classes and this seasons out come happened. But by the way the masses of ignorance on here are acting it might as well have been.

 

[MrBiggles]

I talked with my dad who has watched UT football since the 50s and said it was a bad game but not the worst he had seen because in the 60's UT lost to Chattanooga. At the beginning of the year I said 7-5 with an upset of SC or at least a bowl game. I just looked at next years' schedule and I still think and I expect our players should be 7-5 or 8-4 as we have Florida And Missouri at home, UGA without Murray, and USCjr without Shaw. We should be a lot better than this year considering players have had a year in the system and to adjust to SEC play, should know the playbook and we have a lot of EEs and talent coming in. Now we have 4 QB that have been in this system 1 year and we should have at least 1 that can get the job done. If this coaching staff can't show improvement and by improvement I mean (7-5 and competitive against some of the top teams) after next year, then I will start to wonder if we have the right group.

 

[wolfej]

I talked with my dad who has watched UT football since the 50s and said it was a bad game but not the worst he had seen because in the 60's UT lost to Chattanooga. At the beginning of the year I said 7-5 with an upset of SC or at least a bowl game. I just looked at next years' schedule and I still think and I expect our players should be 7-5 or 8-4 as we have Florida And Missouri at home, UGA without Murray, and USCjr without Shaw. We should be a lot better than this year considering players have had a year in the system and to adjust to SEC play, should know the playbook and we have a lot of EEs and talent coming in. Now we have 4 QB that have been in this system 1 year and we should have at least 1 that can get the job done. If this coaching staff can't show improvement and by improvement I mean (7-5 and competitive against some of the top teams) after next year, then I will start to wonder if we have the right group.

I think we'll see improvements next year but the run game is going to take a hit with replacing the entire line. I'm hoping the replacements are at least mediocre.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I did expect an inept offense. Anyone who thought we are going to come out and score a bunch are delusional. Add in the fact that we lost North and we were destined to suck tonight.

Sorry but this is a bunch of BS. There is no possible way anyone could have expected the offense to be this bad. Not against Vandy. Your logic would be correct if we were playing Alabama but we weren't. We were playing a team that we should have at least scored 14-28 points on.

 

[DERELICK_MY_VOLS]

Sorry but this is a bunch of BS. There is no possible way anyone could have expected the offense to be this bad. Not against Vandy. Your logic would be correct if we were playing Alabama but we weren't. We were playing a team that we should have at least scored 14-28 points on.

According to what? The same group of Dobbs haters talking about how terrible he is.....well then we are right in line for the suckfest we got according to them. He will be inept for his whole career...just ask anyone on VolNation and they will tell you so.