Harrison Bailey

[JHuntVols]

IMO should this team win Saturday and continue winning, some of these guys will complain about JM relentlessly, simoly because they made bold statements about how bad he sucked in 2021 and specifically in the Ole Miss game.

If by some miracle we made the CFP and won it all...they still wouldnt stop.

I dread hearing this sh.. with Nicos first bad game.

If we went to the CFP and won a national championship with Milton as the QB and presuming he plays as he has done up to this point in his long career, then that must mean we have one of the best coaches of all time along with our run game and defense both being elite to put it lightly. It's really not hard to understand that wins are not a QB stat.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

IMO should this team win Saturday and continue winning, some of these guys will complain about JM relentlessly, simoly because they made bold statements about how bad he sucked in 2021 and specifically in the Ole Miss game.

If by some miracle we made the CFP and won it all...they still wouldnt stop.

I dread hearing this sh.. with Nicos first bad game.

I get it that we expected more from Joe Milton. I was extremely critical of our playbook early in the season: our lack of the really fast tempo of last year, our seemingly bland screen/run offense, and our general lack of what I thought was enough of a pass game.

Over time I've realized Heupel is doing what works for the players he has. Milton isn't going to run the plays Hooker ran last year. I liked last year's offense but that's not an option, apparently, this year so Heupel is doing the things he feels will win with this group.

The expectations on VN are ridiculous. And if you question them, "You may accept mediocrity from UT but I don't." I'm trying to be a voice of reality.

Last year was great and Heupel coached the team and got excellent effort in every game except South Carolina. This year Heupel has gotten excellent effort except for FL but there are more personnel limitations this year and the team simply isn't as strong as last year.

What's positive to me in this is Heupel's ability to adjust his playbook and not be a "gimmick" coach who runs one offense come hell or high water. I see good things in the future for UT with Coach Heupel.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

So serious question to those who are claiming victory because of a bad staff deciding between a trio of what is now deemed to be bad QBs. Did anyone watch HB's clip against TAMU and compare it to Milton's game against TAMU? It's pretty clear to the unbiased eye who looked better there. That is to say if you think HB is bad, then what on earth will you say about Milton given that context?

Milton is the best QB UT currently has available. That's just how it is. No amount of flailing my arms and shouting "Why doesn't Milton do it like Hooker did?" or "Why isn't Nico playing instead?" will help.

He isn't Hooker.
The best information I have is that Nico isn't better than Joe Milton.

I'm certain of the first statement.

I've not seen any indication from ANY RELIABLE SOURCE that Nico is better. The only information that IS RELIABLE comes from the same source that judges the rest of our team which IS performing pretty well....... our coaches.

 

[JHuntVols]

Milton is the best QB UT currently has available. That's just how it is. No amount of flailing my arms and shouting "Why doesn't Milton do it like Hooker did?" or "Why isn't Nico playing instead?" will help.

He isn't Hooker.
The best information I have is that Nico isn't better than Joe Milton.

I'm certain of the first statement.

I've not seen any indication from ANY RELIABLE SOURCE that Nico is better. The only information that IS RELIABLE comes from the same source that judges the rest of our team which IS performing pretty well....... our coaches.

I hope no one ever thought he was Hooker... I personally didn't buy into the offseason hype, because his best performance in the Orange Bowl was statistically average game for Hooker if I'm to be charitable. You are correct we don't have a reliable source if he's better, because Nico has only thrown 5 passes this season. Practice is practice for the live game, so live games overrule whatever you see in practice. I guess we have to believe 1 of 2 things: 1) Milton is a monster in practice, or 2) Milton and Nico both are bad to the point there's not enough a difference to go through the trouble of playing him much less start him. I think option 1 is ultimately irrelevant, because we have 12+ actual games of average to terrible play from Milton. It's a bit hard for me to believe that someone as smart as Heupel disregards live game tape, because he sees his QB shred the air in 7 on 7 drills during the week. I personally don't care what Milton continues to do in practice; I see him shrink to Jarret Guarantano production in live games more often than not. I have to say option 2 is the answer at this point.

I think what the Nico camp is asking for is to give us some actual evidence that Nico is currently Milton level bad; don't be afraid to put Nico in the game at halftime if Milton continues to perform as he is doing now and begins to drag the team down to the point where the rest of the play of the team can't make up for his obvious deficiencies.

 

[whobethis16]

You keep on with this story about nico. You’ve never seen me say throw nico in. I’m just tired of people like you telling me Joe is a good QB. He’s not. He doesn’t make good decisions. He hasn’t shown he can be consistent. He holds this team back. It just is what it is.

Do you think Tee Martin was a good QB, despite his having 9 out of 25 games where he completed 50% or less of his passes? That man was a career 55% completion guy with a 2:1 TD:INT rate. That's not great, yet so many on here claim he's a Top 3 QB. All of Milton's numbers are better than Martin's, especially his 5.5:1 TD:INT rate at Tennessee (2.7:1 overall).

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I hope no one ever thought he was Hooker... I personally didn't buy into the offseason hype, because his best performance in the Orange Bowl was statistically average game for Hooker if I'm to be charitable. You are correct we don't have a reliable source if he's better, because Nico has only thrown 5 passes this season. Practice is practice for the live game, so live games overrule whatever you see in practice. I guess we have to believe 1 of 2 things: 1) Milton is a monster in practice, or 2) Milton and Nico both are bad to the point there's not enough a difference to go through the trouble of playing him much less start him. I think option 1 is ultimately irrelevant, because we have 12+ actual games of average to terrible play from Milton. It's a bit hard for me to believe that someone as smart as Heupel disregards live game tape, because he sees his QB shred the air in 7 on 7 drills during the week. I personally don't care what Milton continues to do in practice; I see him shrink to Jarret Guarantano production in live games more often than not. I have to say option 2 is the answer at this point.

I think what the Nico camp is asking for is to give us some actual evidence that Nico is currently Milton level bad; don't be afraid to put Nico in the game at halftime if Milton continues to perform as he is doing now and begins to drag the team down to the point where the rest of the play of the team can't make up for his obvious deficiencies.

Does Coach Heupel owe us "evidence" for why he plays each starter? No.

We've had several missed plays in the defensive secondary, does Heupel owe us "seeing for ourselves" if other players are better? No.

Who here has even 1/10th of the time spent grading QBs as Heupel has for 20 years? I'm betting.....no one. Did he miss Hooker being better than Milton last year? Yes.

Did he coach Hooker up to nearly a Heisman? Yes. Did he coach Sam Bradford to a Heisman? Yes. Coach Heupel knows what he's doing and has the resume to back it up. I trust him, not you, to be able to " see evidence" about how good QBs are.

 

[volfan102455]

If we went to the CFP and won a national championship with Milton as the QB and presuming he plays as he has done up to this point in his long career, then that must mean we have one of the best coaches of all time along with our run game and defense both being elite to put it lightly. It's really not hard to understand that wins are not a QB stat.

You only want to use the "stats" that fit your agenda. Really not sure if your agenda is to discredit Joe, discredit CJH or both - but you obviously have one.

 

[DeadByDaylightFan]

Milton is our starting QB. Our coaching staff has said we don't have a QB who can execute the offense any better than Joe.

The coaches have chosen Milton to start and continue to choose Milton to start and haven't pulled him.

I'm not the one arguing that Milton stinks or that our coaches are blind. Other people are. Milton is fine, though not Hendon Hooker great, and is our best QB in my opinion.

Sorry, but I have to disagree. Milton is a very bad QB. Not only is he very inaccurate, he is scared to run the football. Not a good combination.

He is a very very limited game manager type player. Problem is, he isn't actually smart nor does he make good decisions.

Nico just isn't ready, and that is understandable.

The coaches can't make Joe "Guarantano" Milton throw the ball the way he is supposed to throw the ball.

 

[DeadByDaylightFan]

You only want to use the "stats" that fit your agenda. Really not sure if your agenda is to discredit Joe, discredit CJH or both - but you obviously have one.

Joe Milton is trash and Heupel is still winning.... how does that reflect poorly on him?

He is making lemonade out of what he has and is coaching based on his players ability.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Sorry, but I have to disagree. Milton is a very bad QB. Not only is he very inaccurate, he is scared to run the football. Not a good combination.

He is a very very limited game manager type player. Problem is, he isn't actually smart nor does he make good decisions.

Nico just isn't ready, and that is understandable.

The coaches can't make Joe "Guarantano" Milton throw the ball the way he is supposed to throw the ball.

So what do you suggest? We just bitch about how bad our QB is continually, as many here do?

Seriously, what's the suggestion? Just bitch and keep bitching and bitch more if we lose and keep bitching.......

 

[DeadByDaylightFan]

So what do you suggest? We just bitch about how bad our QB is continually, as many here do?

Seriously, what's the suggestion? Just bitch and keep bitching and bitch more if we lose and keep bitching.......

There is no suggestion.

We ride with what we've got and go Vols

 

[JHuntVols]

Does Coach Heupel owe us "evidence" for why he plays each starter? No.

We've had several missed plays in the defensive secondary, does Heupel owe us "seeing for ourselves" if other players are better? No.

Who here has even 1/10th of the time spent grading QBs as Heupel has for 20 years? I'm betting.....no one. Did he miss Hooker being better than Milton last year? Yes.

Did he coach Hooker up to nearly a Heisman? Yes. Did he coach Sam Bradford to a Heisman? Yes. Coach Heupel knows what he's doing and has the resume to back it up. I trust him, not you, to be able to " see evidence" about how good QBs are.

Cool brother. Maybe we should let the staff here know just to shut down this DISCUSSION FORUM, because every answer should simply be, "Why talk about it... Heupel has decided it." I'm pretty confident in thinking they probably think that a bad idea. For the record, you're quite off on the comparison to the secondary. QB and the offensive line (for the vast majority of teams) are the only positions on the field where players do not switch out in a game; they're unique in that regard. In contrast, you'll sometimes see adjustments where they place a different corner than before on a team's most productive receiver in game as an attempt to slow him down. Using the comparison of the secondary is ironically evidence for the switch not against a switch.

 

[JHuntVols]

You only want to use the "stats" that fit your agenda. Really not sure if your agenda is to discredit Joe, discredit CJH or both - but you obviously have one.

Lmao man you trolling. I want the best players on the field for the Vols to win the game. Also, I do like to bring some sort of evidence to a discussion... I'm not one to continually chirp "coach authority" and "qb wins"

 

[orangebloodgmc]

Joe Milton is trash and Heupel is still winning.... how does that reflect poorly on him?

He is making lemonade out of what he has and is coaching based on his players ability.

Wow. I have been a fan of the Vols since 1966 and at no time have I ever said one of our young men was "trash" let alone a starting QB selected and coached by Josh Heupel. But, I can see how that is something a troll would say.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Cool brother. Maybe we should let the staff here know just to shut down this DISCUSSION FORUM, because every answer should simply be, "Why talk about it... Heupel has decided it." I'm pretty confident in thinking they probably think that a bad idea. For the record, you're quite off on the comparison to the secondary. QB and the offensive line (for the vast majority of teams) are the only positions on the field where players do not switch out in a game; they're unique in that regard. In contrast, you'll sometimes see adjustments where they place a different corner than before on a team's most productive receiver in game as an attempt to slow him down. Using the comparison of the secondary is ironically evidence for the switch not against a switch.

You know, I've got some twists on our counter runs. I think Heupel should implement my ideas about the plays in a game because there's no way he could tell if they're good unless he runs them in a game. Practice is no good and his take on my plays may not be good........ He should run my plays in a game to "let me see for myself" how they do.

This is how you sound.

 

[sjt18]

Also strangely not present in the game at bad times. Like two different 4th down attempts, one vs. Tamu and another vs. UF, in which he was very slow getting the snap off, rushed it, and the offense just imploded. Or ducking out of bounds a yard away from the first down marker. Or other examples...

Yeah. We could go on and on. I want him to play better. I actually like and appreciate him as a person... although I can't lie. I kind of wish he had transferred after the job was given to Hooker. We'd probably have another portal guy starting and Nico still in the wings.

 

[BanditVol]

Yeah. We could go on and on. I want him to play better. I actually like and appreciate him as a person... although I can't lie. I kind of wish he had transferred after the job was given to Hooker. We'd probably have another portal guy starting and Nico still in the wings.

Good point, hadn't thought of that. I wonder if he had trouble finding a place to transfer to?

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

Joe Milton is trash and Heupel is still winning.... how does that reflect poorly on him?

He is making lemonade out of what he has and is coaching based on his players ability.

Trash?

Really dude?

 

[GetYouSomeofThat]

Yeah. We could go on and on. I want him to play better. I actually like and appreciate him as a person... although I can't lie. I kind of wish he had transferred after the job was given to Hooker. We'd probably have another portal guy starting and Nico still in the wings.

Another portal guy who may throw interceptions at a rate equal to TDs.

This team is ranked and winning and yet some still have to find something to be miserable about.

Simply amazing.

 

[sjt18]

Another portal guy who may throw interceptions at a rate equal to TDs.

This team is ranked and winning and yet some still have to find something to be miserable about.

Simply amazing.

Not miserable. Just speculating.

And it could also be a portal guy like Hooker.

 

[0059862]

So what do you suggest? We just bitch about how bad our QB is continually, as many here do?

Seriously, what's the suggestion? Just bitch and keep bitching and bitch more if we lose and keep bitching.......

The suggestion is this: Who cares if Nico is not any better?? He is the future! The future needs playing time to develop. I'll be absolutely amazed if we don't lose at least 3 more games with Milton at the helm. The games would be much more exciting for me personally in getting to witness the future develop regardless of the game outcome vs a 5th or 6th year senior who won't be back, and won't be taking us to the SEC championship or BCS.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Deja Vu - same conversation year after year after year ...

It will never end. Trust me. When Nico has his first bad game, there will be idiots calling for Merklinger or Moore.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Not miserable. Just speculating.

And it could also be a portal guy like Hooker.

Or it could have been a portal guy worse. The portal is a crapshoot.

 

[sjt18]

Or it could have been a portal guy worse. The portal is a crapshoot.

It can be. But by and large it is less so than recruiting HS players.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

The suggestion is this: Who cares if Nico is not any better?? He is the future! The future needs playing time to develop. I'll be absolutely amazed if we don't lose at least 3 more games with Milton at the helm. The games would be much more exciting for me personally in getting to witness the future develop regardless of the game outcome vs a 5th or 6th year senior who won't be back, and won't be taking us to the SEC championship or BCS.

I'm pretty sure Heupel isn't coaching the team for your excitement at seeing "the future."

BTW, if Nico becomes the starter, it's "the present" you're watching, not the future.