Heupel Doubts or No?

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

That Josh’s problem. 4th year in the portal era he better have them pretty damn close

Nice to know you're reasonable. Prepare to be disappointed if that's your attitude.

 

[DooleyOrangePants]

Wah, wah, wah. Poor coach, he doesn’t have his players yet. Wah, wah, he was left a dumpster fire. Wah, wah. We have chosen 5 idiot coaches in a row. He needs 5 more years. We are UT and we have pride. Quit the excuses and get the job done. You have more resources and support than just about any other program. We have definitely regressed this year. 8-4 is fine but to get absolutely blown out by decent teams is NOT. Get the job done. 20 years is long enough.

Going into year 4 and this is what we are getting. Not ready to fire the guy, but this year is showing some cracks in his coaching approach and most were avoidable but also predictable based on his time at UCF.

The guy is going to have potential seniors this upcoming season that came in when he started. He’s got a good chunk of his own guys in place (or will have). We are losing a lot on the O-Line and our defense still has some major issues.

The excuses have to stop at some point and the biggest thing I won’t give him an excuse on is Milton. Same old Milton that we’ve seen from the beginning. But he refuses to acknowledge the problem. That is a problem.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

No. You guys have lost your minds if you think we need another coaching search. Good lord. Hey it could be a lot worse. We could have lost to New Mexico State today like Auburn did.

 

[NetworkVol]

No.

11-2 with Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, Cedric Tillman and an absolutely terrible defense. We possibly might go 9-4 with vastly less talent and the talent we did have got injured. Plus, many on here won't admit it, but our defense when healthy was significantly better than it was last year. With consistent 9,10,11 win seasons, we will build talent in depth. I don't think any other SEC coach could have gotten 10 wins out of this roster this season.

 

[wesley21]

wow talk about overreactions...we lost to Florida that sucked for sure, and then we lost to 3 top 10 teams...We are now 7-4 most sane people predicted 8-4... whats the regression? We lost probably the best QB we had in over 25 years the anchor of the Oline and in today's game 3 of our top 4 WR's were out. Yeah thats all terrible coaching.

The best QB we’ve had in 25 years wasn’t even starting until Joe got hurt

 

[CAVPUT]

This thread, like its posts, are really bad takes. Do you guys remember how bad we sucked for two decades?

Ill remind you, we sucked. Heup is the man.

Yep. I've been called a lot of things, but optimistic isn't one of them. Still, even I am reasonable enough to remember what this offense looked like with talented players at critical positions. The players we're starting this year just are not at a level that will allow us to compete with elite teams. I said it elsewhere, but it's like NASA handing me a hammer and screwdriver and expecting me to build the space shuttle. We just don't have the horses this year and yet, even as slow and unathletic as we are, we're still in a position to have a 9 win season. If this is our "bottom", I won't complain. Folks need to just accept what we are, stop expecting miracles and appreciate that we have some talented youngsters on the way. Take a deep breath. We're gonna be fine.

 

[Nationdom]

Nice to know you're reasonable. Prepare to be disappointed if that's your attitude.

You don’t think 4 years and the ability to dip into the portal is enough to win 10 games in year 4? And if he doesn’t it’s unreasonable to have his seat warm significantly?

 

[malinoisvol]

Nope.

 

[Vol865]

If he doesn't make changes, yes. The offense has become stale and predictable and isn't attacking vertical seams, which is what this offense is built around. We lost good players but we aren't doing much schematically to get people open. The lackluster passing game makes it harder on the running game. Add in that our defense can't stop a nosebleed and it's going to be hard to win big games.

I think Heupel is capable of making the changes but it's a matter of if he will.

 

[Orange931]

We started this season off with a 5th year senior qb who has played many games at different schools. And all of our biggest rivals --- Ga, Fla, Bama were starting with qb's that were not their starters last year or before. This should have been our year to knock off at least 2 of the 3, but instead, once again, teams playing a rookie qb beat a Vols team that was playing with a " seasoned" qb. All 3 of those schools will be harder to beat next year with their QB having more experience. Disappointing season, yeah

We have so many fans that said “we can’t throw a freshman out there in the SEC” and every time I see it I just laugh. Instead, let’s throw a 6th year Senior who still doesn’t have a clue out there. Let’s not worry about building for the future until next year because our freshman might get hurt. Saban has thrown Tua and Young out there as freshman in just recent years and they turned out just fine. There are some truly clueless fans out there.

 

[T-for-Tennessee]

At this point I have come to realize we may have the dumbest fan base in college….. We regressed what is sticking out this year that didn’t happen last year????? Idk know maybe that this team was bit by the injury bug….. I wonder how much of the play book had to be trimmed by losing Bru and then Thorton right as he was starting to really come on….. The defense was top 25 before Hadden went down and has declined bc we can’t pay man with Hadden…. We as fans may not like it but giving NIco time to learn the playbook will be massive

All due respect but I don't think I am being dumb. I am looking at what's on the field right in front of me. That, in fact, is all anyone can use to form an opinion. As a 50-year Vol fan, obviously I hope Tennessee comes out next year and smokes 'em all. But I don't see anything right now that makes me believe that's even possible. Heupel had a tremendous year last year. No question. But that doesn't put him above question. And I have questions now that I did not have 4 months ago. And I once defended Butch Jones, so I don't go down that road without very good reason to do so.

 

[VollerNbham]

The best QB we’ve had wasn’t even starting until Joe got hurt

He didn't start or play Iamaleava because if he got hurt then what would we do. The injuries have been many and so have the no call big penalties and this leads to teams being demoralized.

 

[VollerNbham]

We have so many fans that said “we can’t throw a freshman out there in the SEC” and every time I see it I just laugh. Instead, let’s throw a 6th year Senior who still doesn’t have a clue out there. Let’s not worry about building for the future until next year because our freshman might get hurt. Saban has thrown Tua and Young out there as freshman in just recent years and they turned out just fine. There are some truly clueless fans out there.

Saban has many to choose from.

 

[Orange931]

Saban has many to choose from.

We just brought the kid in on an $8 million dollar NIL deal. The choice is right in front of you. And no Saban didn’t have several of those QB’s. He makes the changes necessary every year.

 

[Volfan1000]

Nope. I think this is the floor of what a Huepel led team is with subpar QB play. Fortunately for us, this is the worst any QB has performed in an Huepel offense and I don't think it has anything to do with Huepel and everything to do with the limitations we have at QB.

No.

As long as Saban and Smart are coaching in the SEC, Alabama and Georgia will be very tough to beat and recruit against.

Texas and Oklahoma will upgrade the competitive and recruiting aspects of the conference when they join next season.

 

[orchidvol]

Let's not overreact. No one is beating Georgia at the moment. The only bad loss this year was to Florida.

Heupel is a good coach. He's won some huge games here. We don't need to run him out of town because we aren't having the season we all dreamed of. I believe he's the guy we need. We need to give him a lot of time to be successful.

That's not to say I don't have a concern about recruiting. Heupel won a lot of games here but it was mostly with good players Pruitt signed. Pruitt, despite not being a good head coach was apparently a good judge of talent and good recruiter. A concern is if Heupel can he recruit at a high enough level required to get back to consistent 9 to 10 win seasons. Consistently recruiting great players is everything in college football.

 

[GVol1966]

Perfectly well said. This is business. How the hell do you stick with Milton when the result was already decided?!? We knew we weren’t going to any major bowl game with Milton—WHY WOULD YOU NOT LET US LOSE WITH A FRESHMAN SO WE COULD BE HOPEFUL FOR THE FUTURE AT LEAST?!?? It’s so incredibly….stupid and illogical.

Unless the plan was to redshirt him and it appears it was. So it would be stupid and illogical to burn it when the overall team is an 8 win team.

The only thing that is 100% certain is that the collective I Q of volnation drops every time we lose.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

You don’t think 4 years and the ability to dip into the portal is enough to win 10 games in year 4? And if he doesn’t it’s unreasonable to have his seat warm significantly?

Yeah, of course, because so many programs win 10 in the SEC.

It's not easy to do and it's not going to be easy when TX and OU show up. We're in the best conference in the country right next to two of the best programs in the country.

We had a coach cripple our scholarships, visits, etc. We had more kids transfer out than had been seen, I think, in the SEC before. We had a coach come in and actually have to resurrect a nearly dead program.

You act like we're the only program that can use the portal or NIL. We're not. aTm just arranged to pay a coach $80M..... from boosters..... to leave. UT doesn't have that kind of boosters. We don't have the ability to buy a recruiting class like aTm did.

Remove the orange colored glasses. Tennessee hasn't been a football juggernaut and destination school like GA, Bama, Ohio State, Michigan in several years. Stop acting like it's going to suddenly change. It isn't.

 

[hog88]

I’m very concerned, if you remember the only way Hooker got the QB1 spot is because Milton got hurt. Plus our defense has not been especially good since he’s been HC.

 

[Jackcrevol]

Everyone's schedule is brutal next year

fyp

 

[DooleyOrangePants]

Unless the plan was to redshirt him and it appears it was. So it would be stupid and illogical to burn it when the overall team is an 8 win team.

The only thing that is 100% certain is that the collective I Q of volnation drops every time we lose.

I would agree with this if it wasn’t for Heupel’s own words about Nico early on and after every game where he has been asked about the QB issues since.

 

[majinVol]

nope, we overachieved in year 2 witch almost always leaves to regression the following year. just because of that success doesnt mean that the mass exodus of transfers and the bad recruiting in genreal by pruitt and others before him werent gonna comeback to haunt us on top of the fact that we have been decimated by not only alot of injuries but injuries to leaders and key players across the board. We dont have depth. On top of the blantantly biased and bad zebras this year, id say heupal its still realistically overachieving. It was smart the way they handled nico/milton situation even if it wasnt pretty at times. and the only truly concerning thing for me at this moment is weather or not willie martinez contract will get renewed.

 

[Jackcrevol]

Yep. I've been called a lot of things, but optimistic isn't one of them. Still, even I am reasonable enough to remember what this offense looked like with talented players at critical positions. The players we're starting this year just are not at a level that will allow us to compete with elite teams. I said it elsewhere, but it's like NASA handing me a hammer and screwdriver and expecting me to build the space shuttle. We just don't have the horses this year and yet, even as slow and unathletic as we are, we're still in a position to have a 9 win season. If this is our "bottom", I won't complain. Folks need to just accept what we are, stop expecting miracles and appreciate that we have some talented youngsters on the way. Take a deep breath. We're gonna be fine.

I will add, pretty consistently that recruiting could be much better. But, Nimrod and Webb were getting separation versus the best team in the Nation.

SO MUCH of this game is about the QB position. So much of this offense is the WR.

We dont have any dynamic playmakers at either position, save Nico. And he isnt ready. Leacock isnt either.

 

[volgr]

I have growing concerns with Heupel.

 

[TNHopeful505]

Here are my thoughts.

1. Last year was awesome. No one expected it. But because of that, now everyone expects it. Hendon was a gamer, and Heupel's offense really fit him. And with Wright, Tillman, Hyatt on the offense last year, we had playmakers in a way we haven't had this year. I really think Heup (like us) hoped that Milton would improve and take it this year. Milton has been okay at times, but he just doesn't have it between the ears to see what Hook saw on the field. This year was never going to be like last year. Last year was an outlier, but a potential of what this program could be.

2. I saw significant improvement this year both in our run game and in our defense. If we had last year's offense with this year's defense, we are in the playoffs, no doubt. While the offense took a step back, the defense rose. And I feel good about the young players we have coming up. Telander, Gibson, Pearce, Josephs all looked really good. We have some studs coming in this year too.

3. I have said it many times on this board and will say it again. I genuinely like Heupel as a person. With every (and I do mean every) coach we hired since Fulmer, there was always something about them that rubbed me the wrong way. Kiffin was too smug. Dooley seemed like he thought everyone was an idiot. Butch was a poser who fell uphill, Pruitt was never one of us. Heupel...I got nothing. He seems to be a genuinely good guy. I haven't heard about him mistreating our guys or lying or any locker room stuff. All I hear is "he is genuine and truthful." And I know that ultimately you have to win games, but that goes really far with me to know that the program is in the hands of a genuinely good man.

4. Recruiting is going very very well. For those of you complaining, just go watch the film of Jake Merklinger or Boo Carter and you'll feel better. We are getting great players, and we are evaluating well. The portal and the NCAA scandal really hurt us. Go look at the 2021 class and see how many are still here. Not many.

I'm not going to make any calls for concern until year 5. I think he has earned that just for beating Bama. Kirby, Saban and Urban have completely reset expectations for what "success" is, but I am very okay with this season. Sure, I was ticked about Florida like everyone else. But people just think it should be automatic to go in and win, and it doesn't work like that.

I'm just learning to enjoy it and ride along with the process. We all want to be the next dynasty, but I'm just enjoying watching each game, and feeling good about the long term success of this program.

P.S. I also believe VERY firmly that if Danny White thought there was a problem, he would make a change. We are set up for success from the top down. We just have to have patience. We are closer than we have ever been.