Jones has had 2 classes in my book and flipped the roster to his players and that talent and competition is showing through.
I liked last year's class too and especially when you consider the absolute WORST thing Dooley did to Jones. He quit sometime mid-season in '12. IMHO, if they had not fired Dooley, he would have walked away. Sometimes you get in a situation that you cannot possibly climb out of. That's where he was.
But you still want to leave with some sort of dignity. I think he quit recruiting completely and left Jones with pretty much nothing to build on.
You're constant bagging of the coaching staff including the DC and OC using Missouri and Vandy and any other blowout loss is what irritates added to the fact that you seem to think everything boils down to coaching. It doesn't always.
I agree. With Dobbs, I'm not sure Mizzou was winnable due to his youthful mistakes. But you don't let the same play beat you over and over and over without making a single effective adjustment or at least trying a different player grouping. UT didn't have the guns to beat Bama or Oregon. You have said that you expect to see the team competitive. I do too... and the coaching. There were times last fall when neither were.
You seemed to acknowledge in another thread what I wrote last year (think it was after the Missouri game) that it looked like CBJ was quarantining his young players from that losing mentality (getting them experience, toughening them up, showing the expectations and how much harder they must work and get buy in). I seem to remember Jones calling them "SOFT" too last year.
Not exactly. I am talking specifically about in game coaching. Yes. I know it all flows together... but at the same time why let AJ play all night with McCullers in his lap? It wasn't just that they may have been holding guys out. Why not try J Wms at DT last year? Why not move Walls or Miller inside? Both had played inside before. Both are closer to what Jancek seems to want from a DT. Yet they kept running McCullers out there... and he killed them. Jones was prophetic on that one. Their D sure enough went like McCullers went.
Those players know the expectations now and have already started to show improvement. They have SEC talented players now too so excuses like being a young team won't cut it when other coaches seem to get more out of their young players.
Agree completely.
You seem to think its OK when you say stuff like that... but not me?
I think we agree on something regarding the Vandy game. Should we have been in that position in the first place. No but still the game was winnable. It's not too much to ask 4 OL that are going to be drafted in the NFL to pick up 1 yard against some lower talented players to win the game is it? That is what I have constantly said. They get the 1 yard. They get the first down and run out the clock. Vandy doesn't come back and we go to a bowl.
I'll get hammered of course and this is NOT a claim that the O was good that game... but the fact that they could not defense a simple WR screen ALL DAY was the biggest factor in that loss in my opinion.
I think Jones miscalculated. He said UT had to "manage the game". Franklin took the exact same approach- he had to. Jones didn't have to. He had better players.
Franklin outcoached him. He used that stupid WR screen every time he needed to extend a drive.
USU, ASU Vandy, Chat And UK should be wins in my book this year. Losing any of those will have me wondering if we hired the right guy. We should also win Missouri with the amount of talent they lost and I think Florida is ripe for the picking this year with all the turmoil there as well. That makes 7 in my book and competitive or another win against the rest. I think we should win at least win 7 every year if not 8,9 or 10 from now on if CBJ is the right guy.
We agree on this. I also like the fact that UF was moved back. I have long believed it was a distinct disadvantage for UT to play them earlier.
As for ESPN and 4-8. They can shove it!
:lolabove:
