Have we lost sight that the rebuild is ahead of schedule?

[PowerWookie]

bump

 

[FLVOL_79]

A lot of chicken little's on this board..

 

[DNBVOL]

Everytime I get down...I just go take a look at this incoming class. It all starts with recruiting,and you couldn't ask for a better job than what CBJ and staff have done on the recruiting trail. #2 class...and going head to head with saban,the first year on the job,given our recent history. Nothing short of amazing! What more could you ask for on the recruitin front? As far as this season goes,I think we are atleast ON schedule with the process considering the nature of our situation. Which would be this ridiculous schedule that we are playing. And just the overall lack of elite talent,speed,and depth thereof. Especially when matched up against all the sec teams we face week in and week out. Anyway,just relax and stay positive VN!!!Its happening. Butch is gonna right this ship! He is our guy...He has to be.... GoVols!!!

 

[SobeVol]

The sec even in a bad year is the toughest conference where every game is a grind an any team can beat you. Recruiting is cutthroat and coaching changes and NCAA penalties are debilitating.
Coach jones has tackled a program with insane expectations, hot headed and sometimes finicky fans, and at that same time has to turn a program around that was in the gutter of this conference.
This will not be easy! This will not happen quickly!
Add the insane schedule we have ( half the fans begging to buy out Oregon) and what did we expect from this year?!
Butch is beloved by his players, ha reinspired our previous players, and is kicking absolute a$$ in recruiting - way beyond what any of us expected.
Give the man and the team their due respect and appreciation for where we are headed. The night is darkest before the dawn- I truly believe greatness is returning to Knoxville .... And ahead of schedule!

 

[rocketskates]

Can someone please tell me what happened last night? I saw the first quarter then had to go to work. I was following the game on my game cast and every time I checked my phone when were inside of their 45 yard line. Dobbs passed for 240 yards, ran for over 40 and we scored 3 points?? I don't care to rewatch what seemed to be a hideous game can someone fill me in?

 

[MOOOOONEY]

Agree that Auburn has overachieved, while we're still down in the SEC cellar with Arky and UK. Our season has taken an ugly downturn, and while there's no reason to panic, there's no reason to pat ourselves on the back, either. We've played poorly as many times as we've played well.

Auburn won the NC in 2010, they still have talent, just had an idiot coach who was worse then Doofus.

 

[onevolfan]

After last night's performance we're not on track to do anything but lose the next 3 games. This team has regressed since the SC game. Are the teams tougher? Yes, but players are getting beat, taking horrible angles, and are dropping passes that should be caught 100% of the time.

I think the brutal schedule is beginning to catch up with this team. With no depth, coaching changes, and everything else they have been through, I am still proud of them for what they have done and I think they win their next 3!

 

[Velo Vol]

Many predicted 6-6 for the regular season this year.

Correct. A majority predicted .500 or better. Not sure where the OP was this summer.

 

[titansvolsfaninga]

I had said that 6-6 was the low mark, if we don't make that then maybe CBJ is not the man for the job. Of course all that was before the Barn and big MO was so high ranked. even Vandy is better that I thought they would be.

Still was not happy with our offence sat night, a good coach would have not set up Dobbs to fail like he did. the read option has it place, But CBJ had better learn how to line up and run smash mouth football (power I) or find him a Tebow to run it.

This has got to be the dumbest comment that I have read in VOLNATION in a while. So with Worley, Peterman, and ferguson hurt who else was going to start? If you haven't noticed the line isn't exactly blowing teams off of the ball. Please share your game plan with everyone.

 

[DaddyChad]

Correct. A majority predicted .500 or better. Not sure where the OP was this summer.

Majority of media sources had this team at 5-7. Most posters seemed to have us at 5-7 or 4-8 even.

Auburn is ahead of schedule as well but they haven't had nearly the coaching fiasco we have. We've had four different head coaches and more assistant changes than I even want to think about during that time.

You get a loud opposing stadium with a true freshman at QB and you're going to have issues.

 

[DaddyChad]

Can someone please tell me what happened last night? I saw the first quarter then had to go to work. I was following the game on my game cast and every time I checked my phone when were inside of their 45 yard line. Dobbs passed for 240 yards, ran for over 40 and we scored 3 points?? I don't care to rewatch what seemed to be a hideous game can someone fill me in?

No one but Palardy bothered to show up basically. Most undisciplined sideways screw since Dooley was coaching. Almost Sunseri like defensive noneffort. Dobbs had some flashes of promise along with some stupid decisions like any young QB. Problem is he got little to no help most of the night.

 

[rjd970]

6-6 with this team and schedule would be a coaching masterpiece.

 

[oregonvol]

I know it's easy to lose our minds and I know we looked pretty terrible last night. However this team is currently on pace to make a bowl game which I don't think anyone in their right mind would've expected at the beginning of the year. No one would've considered this team capable of beating South Carolina or competing with UGA.

We have the #2 recruiting class in the country coming in which addresses several need areas. Our team has made strides on the field and off the field to get this thing turned around.

Wow, no one in their right mind would have predicted we would be bowl eligible this year? Really?

So you didn't expect any improvement from the Dooley years? Really?

Are you still wondering why he got fired? I mean that would make sense, because you seem to have the lowest possible standards for this program. And you seem to think everyone else should have them as well. I truly feel sorry for you.

 

[oregonvol]

Majority of media sources had this team at 5-7. Most posters seemed to have us at 5-7 or 4-8 even.

Ummm, no. I actually anticipated this kind of revisionist history if the going got rough, so I made a thread right before the season started to get the numbers down.

Here it is:

http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-football/200621-ok-one-last-time-before-season.html

As you can see, a grand total of two posters had us only winning 4 games. The majority predicted 6 or 7. But if you'd rather just continue to make things up and state them as facts, have at it.

 

[UTRavens]

Wow, no one in their right mind would have predicted we would be bowl eligible this year? Really?

So you didn't expect any improvement from the Dooley years? Really?

Are you still wondering why he got fired? I mean that would make sense, because you seem to have the lowest possible standards for this program. And you seem to think everyone else should have them as well. I truly feel sorry for you.

What part of "#2 recruiting class" do you not understand?

 

[Titan&Volfan4life]

Wow, no one in their right mind would have predicted we would be bowl eligible this year? Really?

So you didn't expect any improvement from the Dooley years? Really?

Are you still wondering why he got fired? I mean that would make sense, because you seem to have the lowest possible standards for this program. And you seem to think everyone else should have them as well. I truly feel sorry for you.

Stop trying to act so arrogant and like you know everything and stop trying to belittle people for their honest opinions.

Many on here have probably been Tennessee fans longer than you have but I've read lots of your posts so here's what I see my friend.

You always evaluate our team talent as being much better than it actually is.

You badly overexpect this lower grade SEC talent to get more Wins than is reasonably possible.

You mistakenly think we have depth for a solid 2 deep gameday roster when reality is that we don't even have SEC quality starters yet at most positions much less have SEC starter quality for a 2 deep roster.

Our Vols overachieved against UGa and should have Won that game and it's sad that they didn't because they played that #6 ranked team far better than anyone would have dreamed.

The next week they overachieved again and got lucky to Win against the 9th ranked USCe team and the old ball coach that's tortured us for years at both floriDUHHHH and USCe.

Look at the rankings of the teams we've had to play at the time we played them and tell me where you see better than a 6-6 team with the lack of SEC quality talent and lack of depth we have right now.

#1 Bama
#2 Oregon
#6 UGa
#9 USCe
#9 Mizzou
Now comes #8 Auburn

I honestly have no idea at all what team you're looking at that has all this great SEC type starting talent and good backups for depth too my friend but it's simply not our Tennessee Vols right now.

We ARE still right on track to get 6 Wins this season and if we get lucky and play really well we might get a 7th Win and 6 Wins and going to any Bowl game this season IS an improvement from the lasrt few years as lacking as we really are on SEC starting quality talent.

Today our commited recruiting class is ranked #2 in the nation and that IS a huge step upwards for as bad as our teams have been for a decade or longer now.

I'm still mad and very disappointed with the Mizzou game because I got caught up in the hype and unrealistic optomism just as many did and because I wanted that Win so badly but I'm now back to being realistic and perhaps that would do you and many others alot of good too.

No matter what happens I'll always love my Vols and I'll back and support them and the coaches until I die and then I'll be buried in my Tennessee Orange and cheer them on from my grave!

bUTch deserves 4 or 5 years to get this sinking ship repaired and back on track to the Winning traditions of Tennessee football.

#BrickbyBrick...VFL...GBO!!!

 

[DaddyChad]

Wow, no one in their right mind would have predicted we would be bowl eligible this year? Really?

So you didn't expect any improvement from the Dooley years? Really?

Are you still wondering why he got fired? I mean that would make sense, because you seem to have the lowest possible standards for this program. And you seem to think everyone else should have them as well. I truly feel sorry for you.

Don't do me any favors, I love my program and have supported them for many years. You on the other hand it seems like a real chore for you to look at yourself in the mirror and call yourself a Vol fan. I don't know that I've ever seen you make a positive comment about the team.

 

[oregonvol]

Stop trying to act so arrogant and like you know everything and stop trying to belittle people for their honest opinions.

Many on here have probably been Tennessee fans longer than you have but I've read lots of your posts so here's what I see my friend.

You always evaluate our team talent as being much better than it actually is.

You badly overexpect this lower grade SEC talent to get more Wins than is reasonably possible.

You mistakenly think we have depth for a solid 2 deep gameday roster when reality is that we don't even have SEC quality starters yet at most positions much less have SEC starter quality for a 2 deep roster.

Our Vols overachieved against UGa and should have Won that game and it's sad that they didn't because they played that #6 ranked team far better than anyone would have dreamed.

The next week they overachieved again and got lucky to Win against the 9th ranked USCe team and the old ball coach that's tortured us for years at both floriDUHHHH and USCe.

Look at the rankings of the teams we've had to play at the time we played them and tell me where you see better than a 6-6 team with the lack of SEC quality talent and lack of depth we have right now.

#1 Bama
#2 Oregon
#6 UGa
#9 USCe
#9 Mizzou
Now comes #8 Auburn

I honestly have no idea at all what team you're looking at that has all this great SEC type starting talent and good backups for depth too my friend but it's simply not our Tennessee Vols right now.

We ARE still right on track to get 6 Wins this season and if we get lucky and play really well we might get a 7th Win and 6 Wins and going to any Bowl game this season IS an improvement from the lasrt few years as lacking as we really are on SEC starting quality talent.

Today our commited recruiting class is ranked #2 in the nation and that IS a huge step upwards for as bad as our teams have been for a decade or longer now.

I'm still mad and very disappointed with the Mizzou game because I got caught up in the hype and unrealistic optomism just as many did and because I wanted that Win so badly but I'm now back to being realistic and perhaps that would do you and many others alot of good too.

No matter what happens I'll always love my Vols and I'll back and support them and the coaches until I die and then I'll be buried in my Tennessee Orange and cheer them on from my grave!

bUTch deserves 4 or 5 years to get this sinking ship repaired and back on track to the Winning traditions of Tennessee football.

#BrickbyBrick...VFL...GBO!!!

Where did I say that we had a ton of talent or that we should have beaten Alabama? That was quite a lengthy essay you wrote to argue with words you pretended I said.

I've repeatedly said that 6-6 would be a decent result for this season. My argument was with the OP, who stated that no one in their right mind would have expected us to win 6 games this year. That's just utterly absurd.

And don't give me this silliness about
"You always evaluate our team talent as being much better than it actually is."...you always blame talent for every single thing that ever goes wrong. You wanted us to keep Dooley, for crying out loud.

I said we should have been underdogs to Missouri before the game (when everyone else was saying how we were being disrespected), and I wouldn't have been surprised to lose. They are a good team. But you can't really say that there is a huge talent disparity. If you look at recruiting rankings, we should actually have more talent. But, regardless, we had enough talent to make a game of it and we didn't even show up. Toledo and Indiana played Missouri much tougher than we did.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Nobody's talking about overlooking. He was simply saying they are not top 10 teams except for Auburn. We should be able to win 2 of next 3. Keep in mind also that prior to the season no one expected Mizzou and Auburn to be as good as they are. This schedule has been brutal for a rebuilding team. If we get to a bowl game this year it will be a significant accomplishment. eace2:

And my point is that I hope the team and coaches has more respect for Vandy and Kentucky than Vol Nation does.

Both have jumped up and bitten more talented Vol teams than the current team in recent years.

These days of "its just Kentucky and Vanderbilt" are over and to automatically assume wins over anyone is not something I would do.

Especially given that we knocked off South Alabama by 7 earlier this season. I think Kentucky and Vandy would have more talent than them.

 

[JonGrudensAgent]

Agree that Auburn has overachieved, while we're still down in the SEC cellar with Arky and UK. Our season has taken an ugly downturn, and while there's no reason to panic, there's no reason to pat ourselves on the back, either. We've played poorly as many times as we've played well.

Bingo.

 

[RiotVol]

Auburn won the NC in 2010, they still have talent, just had an idiot coach who was worse then Doofus.

This is EXACTLY what I think every time I see someone comparing UT's rebuild with Auburn's resurgence.

They still have a roster stuff with the recruits they picked up after winning the NC. We have a roster that reflects a decade long swan dive into the asphalt.

The two situations are not comparable.

 

[Voltate]

I'm really excited about the position we are in... The point may have been made already but if Smith catches that TD ball, we begin creating that momentum on the road. In my mind that was the tipping point. But he didn't catch it, and maybe for the first time this year we caved... But compared to where we were last year and the OVERALL effort of the team and coaches, we are rolling!

VFL... GBO.... Butch still gets it, ask the Berry twins and Jalen Hurd

 

[UTVolWarrior98]

Good point OP. I do find it funny that prior to the start of the season, a LOT of posters were saying that we would be lucky to go 5-7 again or that we would definitely only win 4 this year, and most agreed that 6-6 with a Bowl game was as good as we could hope for. Yes, we got skunked by Mizzou, which several thought we'd win, but as luck would have it they are ranked in the Top 10 in the nation. On the flipside, we beat South Carolina, which most people didn't think he had a fighter's chance of doing, and we broke the streak of losing to ranked opponents. It's obvious that this program is headed in the right direction, but some people are just blind. We're still on track to hit that 6-6, but now that we're 4-5 (with all 5 losses coming from all but one Top 15 team), a lot of people are saying "We suck," and "Fire Butch," and "Butch Doesn't Get It." In truth... this is just ignorant. It's unfortunate that the Tennessee fanbase mentality is similar to that of a 14 year old girl. Rather than focus on the positives, we live in the negatives and point out every flaw. Mind you, we're expected to have flaws, as it's Year 0 and a rebuilding year. You know who just doesn't 'get it?' People.

Ahead of schedule?! We couldn't even put up ONE TOUCHDOWN...Id say we are extremely behind.

 

[DaddyChad]

Where did I say that we had a ton of talent or that we should have beaten Alabama? That was quite a lengthy essay you wrote to argue with words you pretended I said.

I've repeatedly said that 6-6 would be a decent result for this season. My argument was with the OP, who stated that no one in their right mind would have expected us to win 6 games this year. That's just utterly absurd.

And don't give me this silliness about
"You always evaluate our team talent as being much better than it actually is."...you always blame talent for every single thing that ever goes wrong. You wanted us to keep Dooley, for crying out loud.

I said we should have been underdogs to Missouri before the game (when everyone else was saying how we were being disrespected), and I wouldn't have been surprised to lose. They are a good team. But you can't really say that there is a huge talent disparity. If you look at recruiting rankings, we should actually have more talent. But, regardless, we had enough talent to make a game of it and we didn't even show up. Toledo and Indiana played Missouri much tougher than we did.

I said Dooley should be gone after the UK loss. You can look that up in my post history if it tickles your fancy.

Bottomline is game by game for the most part this team has overachieved this year. UGA game on paper should've been a blowout looking at their talent level versus ours, same thing with South Carolina. We lost to Missouri, hell consider it underachieving if you want but for the year if you look at it game by game the staff and team has overachieved. On the recruiting front, we have also overachieved.

Stop making excuses where you can feel bad about the program and coach.