Championship defense

#28
#28
norrislakevol said:
We may finally have the talent in the secondary to be really solid on defense. There just hasn't been much to work with, particularly in the back 7. Line backer talent has been upgraded and their performance has gotten better over the last two seasons. Now the secondary has some real talent and speed, something we have lacked. I'm not sure how good they will be this year, particularly early on with all the new faces in the secondary, but this should be a very solid unit in 2025. Defense over all should be pretty good this year, and has the potential to be borderline elite next year.
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Great points. But personally I don’t believe we have the right coach for the secondary. I base that on what I’ve seen since he has been here. This is his fourth season trying to field an SEC-quality secondary. He has yet to do that, as I see it. Frankly, as long as he is coaching our secondary, I expect zero improvement in that group’s performance. I’m very disappointed that he is still here.
 
#29
#29
norrislakevol said:
We may finally have the talent in the secondary to be really solid on defense. There just hasn't been much to work with, particularly in the back 7. Line backer talent has been upgraded and their performance has gotten better over the last two seasons. Now the secondary has some real talent and speed, something we have lacked. I'm not sure how good they will be this year, particularly early on with all the new faces in the secondary, but this should be a very solid unit in 2025. Defense over all should be pretty good this year, and has the potential to be borderline elite next year.
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Heupel has said that he wants to have an elite defense. Considering the talent level available when he took the job, I would say, even with less skillful secondary talent, the defense has improved every year. Now with elite athletes noticing the improvement from the defense, there are a lot of high 4* and 5* defensive players putting Tennessee in their final group. All it takes is one or two of those type players to commit, and then more will follow.

I think Heupel came in knowing that this would be a 4-5 year makeover, and to me, it seems he is right on track. Let's just not get impatient with the pace.
 
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#32
#32
Casual Mustard Yeeter said:
Volnation in 2027 will be like: " Yeah we've had three straight playoff appearances and a national championship but his seat will be hot if -insert random metric- doesn't improve immediately!"
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👏👏👏.......the fact that there is still so much ignorance regarding the improvements on defense is mind blowing.

In well over half the statistical categories on defense, we are literally 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the SEC, only behind Georgia and Alabama, 2 teams with talent and depth. 2 programs that are established and play complementary football.

Here's where we are, where are you expecting us to be?

#1-T Defensive Touchdowns
#3 in 4th down defense
#4 in tackles for loss
#8 in sacks
#17 in yards per play
#19 in rush defense
#21 in points per play
#22 in scoring Defense
#27 in stop rate
#32 in total defense
#36 in passes intercepted
#42 in 3rd down defense
#64 in pass efficiency defense
#86 in red zone defense

The defense has been turned around by Banks in 3 short years. But if you want to just scroll down to the last 3 stats to justify your criticism, you better take a look at the same stats on offense and pass the criticism around.
Defense is part of the reason we have been able win 27 of the last 39 games. Like it our not, we have a really good defense despite the negative narrative......GBO
 
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#34
#34
FollowTheLeader said:
👏👏👏.......the fact that there is still so much ignorance regarding the improvements on defense is mind blowing.

In well over half the statistical categories on defense, we are literally 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the SEC, only behind Georgia and Alabama, 2 teams with talent and depth. 2 programs that are established and play complementary football.

Here's where we are, where are you expecting us to be?

#3 in 4th down defense
#4 in tackles for loss
#8 in sacks
#17 in yards per play
#19 in rush defense
#21 in points per play
#22 in scoring Defense
#27 in stop rate
#32 in total defense
#42 in 3rd down defense
#64 in pass efficiency defense
#86 in red zone defense

The defense has been turned around by Banks in 3 short years. But if you want to just scroll down to the last 3 stats to justify your criticism, you better take a look at the same stats on offense and pass the criticism around.
Defense is part of the reason we have been able win 27 of the last 39 games. Like it our not, we have a really good defense despite the negative narrative......GBO
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We do have a really good defense. That is a fact.
 
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#35
#35
Volador said:
Heck, do we have any "talent" in the secondary??
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Got a lot in the past couple of classes and via the portal this year. We haven’t had much till this year. Should see Gibson push to see the field on one side, probably the Oregon State transfer on the other. Got a lot of very talented freshmen coming in as well.
 
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#36
#36
FollowTheLeader said:
👏👏👏.......the fact that there is still so much ignorance regarding the improvements on defense is mind blowing.

In well over half the statistical categories on defense, we are literally 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the SEC, only behind Georgia and Alabama, 2 teams with talent and depth. 2 programs that are established and play complementary football.

Here's where we are, where are you expecting us to be?

#3 in 4th down defense
#4 in tackles for loss
#8 in sacks
#17 in yards per play
#19 in rush defense
#21 in points per play
#22 in scoring Defense
#27 in stop rate
#32 in total defense
#42 in 3rd down defense
#64 in pass efficiency defense
#86 in red zone defense

The defense has been turned around by Banks in 3 short years. But if you want to just scroll down to the last 3 stats to justify your criticism, you better take a look at the same stats on offense and pass the criticism around.
Defense is part of the reason we have been able win 27 of the last 39 games. Like it our not, we have a really good defense despite the negative narrative......GBO
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HOW DARE YOU TO USE COMMON SENSE AND LOGIC ON THIS FORUM...

GO VOLS!!!!
 
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#37
#37
DarkVolder said:
We beat those teams that season with our offense not our defense. Our defense was terrible in both of those games.
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Duh, but we won. And Florida did not score much until late to make it closer than it was. We have played several good games on defense under Heupel and our D has gotten better under Heupel. For you to act like it can’t continue to get better is kinda ultra negative. We will see the results on the field, I think the vast majority think our D is improving. We also beat LSU 40-13 on the road in Baton Rouge but I am sure you will find a way to minimize that performance as well. GBO
 
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#40
#40
DaddyChad said:
Got a lot in the past couple of classes and via the portal this year. We haven’t had much till this year. Should see Gibson push to see the field on one side, probably the Oregon State transfer on the other. Got a lot of very talented freshmen coming in as well.
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Freshmen in the secondary vs world class SEC Receivers. Am I the only one that gets a tad bit nervous about this scenario??
 
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#41
#41
Yes he will, and someone who went to high school with JH and knows him well thinks so also!

I‘m currently a snowbird in Cape Coral, Florida for the winter and went to get a haircut this morning with my T cap on. Love to wear it down here just to irritate gator fans.

One of the barbers welcomed me by saying “Go Vols.” He was a high school friend of JH and said still talks to him occasionally. Had nothing but good things to say about JH and the type person that he is, and told me he believes JH will win a national championship in the future.
Also, said JH loves it at TN!!
The woman that cut my hair was actually from Crossville, TN, moved here 7 years ago and still a Vol fan.
 
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#43
#43
DarkVolder said:
Do you think Heupel will ever have a good enough defense here to win a championship?
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Two concerns: (1) Secondary. We need Gibson to meet expectations and get another shut-down corner. Then, we need safeties that can play like UGA and Bama safeties. It could be a really good D in '24 if the secondary transfers can get it done. (2) For the most part, our DL were here when Heup arrived. Can we re-stock for the '25 season? We're pretty well stocked at DE and LB for the next couple of seasons.
 
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#44
#44
FollowTheLeader said:
👏👏👏.......the fact that there is still so much ignorance regarding the improvements on defense is mind blowing.

In well over half the statistical categories on defense, we are literally 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the SEC, only behind Georgia and Alabama, 2 teams with talent and depth. 2 programs that are established and play complementary football.

Here's where we are, where are you expecting us to be?

#1-T Defensive Touchdowns
#3 in 4th down defense
#4 in tackles for loss
#8 in sacks
#17 in yards per play
#19 in rush defense
#21 in points per play
#22 in scoring Defense
#27 in stop rate
#32 in total defense
#36 in passes intercepted
#42 in 3rd down defense
#64 in pass efficiency defense
#86 in red zone defense

The defense has been turned around by Banks in 3 short years. But if you want to just scroll down to the last 3 stats to justify your criticism, you better take a look at the same stats on offense and pass the criticism around.
Defense is part of the reason we have been able win 27 of the last 39 games. Like it our not, we have a really good defense despite the negative narrative......GBO
Click to expand...
Red zone defense is pretty important isn't it? #86 shouldn't be acceptable.
 
#45
#45
I hope I am wrong. I like the offense, but the defense seems to always be great at times and utterly a train wreck at others. It's been this way for him every year he has coached.
 
#46
#46
DarkVolder said:
Do you think Heupel will ever have a good enough defense here to win a championship? We know he can put together great offenses but he seems to not put much focus on the defensive side of the ball. Personally I have my doubts that we will ever have a great defense consistently with Heupel and yes I know it’s improved steadily every year since he arrived in 2021. But do you seriously have faith that the defense can stop a Florida and Georgia and Bama to complement our offense in order to win?. I personally thought Tim Banks and Wille Martinez should’ve been given their walking papers after last season.
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Donde Plowman for Defensive Coordinator!!!
 
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#49
#49
DarkVolder said:
Do you think Heupel will ever have a good enough defense here to win a championship? We know he can put together great offenses but he seems to not put much focus on the defensive side of the ball. Personally I have my doubts that we will ever have a great defense consistently with Heupel and yes I know it’s improved steadily every year since he arrived in 2021. But do you seriously have faith that the defense can stop a Florida and Georgia and Bama to complement our offense in order to win?. I personally thought Tim Banks and Wille Martinez should’ve been given their walking papers after last season.
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In the 2024 Class, counting both recruits and transfers, there was 14 players for offense with a 3.8 star average and 15 players for defense with a 3.6 star average. Looks like he is wanting to be good on both sides of the ball. Let him get the Jimmy and Joes in for a couple of years then elaborate.
 
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