Heupel Has Earned the Trust

[volgr]

What gives me pause about Heupel is, he has never built/rebuilt a program.

This was my biggest complaint when we hired him. Not only has he not built/rebuilt a program, he is going to have to do it in the toughest conference in America during a new era of college football (NIL/portal). He has yet to prove he can consistently identify talent in either recruiting or the portal. His staff's ability to improve players once on campus is has been questionable. He also seems to be loyal to staff at the detriment to the overall program.

 

[utvolpj]

What gives me pause about Heupel is, he has never built/rebuilt a program.

This was my biggest complaint when we hired him. Not only has he not built/rebuilt a program, he is going to have to do it in the toughest conference in America during a new era of college football (NIL/portal). He has yet to prove he can consistently identify talent in either recruiting or the portal. His staff's ability to improve players once on campus is has been questionable. He also seems to be loyal to staff at the detriment to the overall program.

In 4yrs he's taken a dead program with 50 players left (and not the best ones) on massive ncaa penalties to the cfb playoff while averaging 10 wins over the last 3. You make me question the definition of rebuild for a minute

 

[volgr]

In 4yrs he's taken a dead program with 50 players left (and not the best ones) on massive ncaa penalties to the cfb playoff while averaging 10 wins over the last 3. You make me question the definition of rebuild for a minute

Butch Jones got us to 9 wins 2 years in a row and a 2nd place finish in the East both years, but he couldn't sustain it. Obviously, I am not comparing Heupel and Jones just making the point that Heupel has to SUSTAIN what he has seemingly built to this point. I hope he does and takes it even further, but I see warning signs.

 

[J C Higgins]

Butch Jones got us to 9 wins 2 years in a row and a 2nd place finish in the East both years, but he couldn't sustain it. Obviously, I am not comparing Heupel and Jones just making the point that Heupel has to SUSTAIN what he has seemingly built to this point. I hope he does and takes it even further, but I see warning signs.

In addition to a depleted roster and further scholarship reductions CJH has to deal with NIL. Butch didn't any of those negative factors to contend with.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

What gives me pause about Heupel is, he has never built/rebuilt a program.

This was my biggest complaint when we hired him. Not only has he not built/rebuilt a program, he is going to have to do it in the toughest conference in America during a new era of college football (NIL/portal). He has yet to prove he can consistently identify talent in either recruiting or the portal. His staff's ability to improve players once on campus is has been questionable. He also seems to be loyal to staff at the detriment to the overall program.

Look at 2008-2020. Now Look at 2021-2024. Now do it again. Then again. And again.

That’s a rebuild

 

[volgr]

Look at 2008-2020. Now Look at 2021-2024. Now do it again. Then again. And again.

That’s a rebuild

4 years isnt a rebuild. It is a good start though. We still haven't won anything of merit, gone to a SEC championship game and was just boat raced in the 1st round of the playoffs. Again, a good 4 years but we still have a few more steps to take and then we have to sustain it.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

What gives me pause about Heupel is, he has never built/rebuilt a program.

This was my biggest complaint when we hired him. Not only has he not built/rebuilt a program, he is going to have to do it in the toughest conference in America during a new era of college football (NIL/portal). He has yet to prove he can consistently identify talent in either recruiting or the portal. His staff's ability to improve players once on campus is has been questionable. He also seems to be loyal to staff at the detriment to the overall program.

Maybe you should have proofread this post before hitting "send". The first comment is 100% false

 

[901 Orange]

Has he? Last 2 years very suspect if we are being honest, and we are on an uncharted timeline for Heupel as a head coach.

I don't think the last 2 years were suspect at all. We all knew last year was a bridge from HH to Nico. Just like we all knew we had potential to make the playoffs this year, which we did. We went from worst position in program history to a top 10 program basically overnight.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

I don't think the last 2 years were suspect at all. We all knew last year was a bridge from HH to Nico. Just like we all knew we had potential to make the playoffs this year, which we did. We went from worst position in program history to a top 10 program basically overnight.

The fact that this $hit has to be explained over and over again to some on this board is insane. Message board geniuses should just start another X account just for Volnation to see what other kind of dumb $hit people say here . They wouldn’t be lacking content that’s for sure .

 

[901 Orange]

The fact that this $hit has to be explained over and over again to some on this board is insane. Message board geniuses should just start another X account just for Volnation to see what other kind of dumb $hit people say here . They wouldn’t be lacking content that’s for sure .

Completely agree and I have no idea where this negavol uproar is coming from. It's total bs and they shouldn't be the voice of Vol Nation.

 

[Golfprovol]

Where the hell did all these people come from? I don’t remember this many people giving Pruitt crap even.

Bandwagon. Didn't stick out the bad years like the rest of us

 

[EZE]

This board has gotten so toxic with idiotic comments from ingrates who somehow believe it is UT's birthright to be a top 5 program annually.

We go through a decade and a f***king half in the cesspool, hire a coach who provides two top 10 seasons out of four, and now his days are numbered ... off a playoff appearance!

I'm willing to bet most of you aren't a fraction as demanding in your own lives. But as keyboard warriors discussing a college football team you are fierce.

I would guess that this faction is a small percentage of the fan base, but unfortunately it's this group who seems to believe that their every utterance needs to be heard. And half of them do so by starting a new thread with a variation of the same whining theme.

Post of the Millennium.

 

[OldVol]

Ummm…I guess that’s one way to look at it. Another is that every player who has hit the portal was evaluated and recruited by this staff. And they whiffed on all of them.

I’d argue that at the time they were the best the staff could do as they were rebuilding. We’re still rebuilding. This program has nowhere close to where it can be but it’s light years ahead of where it was 4 years ago. I’d also posit that it shows the staff is willing to turn loose of players they don’t see cutting it. There had to be a reason Matthews got so few snaps this year.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

This board has gotten so toxic with idiotic comments from ingrates who somehow believe it is UT's birthright to be a top 5 program annually.

We go through a decade and a f***king half in the cesspool, hire a coach who provides two top 10 seasons out of four, and now his days are numbered ... off a playoff appearance!

I'm willing to bet most of you aren't a fraction as demanding in your own lives. But as keyboard warriors discussing a college football team you are fierce.

I would guess that this faction is a small percentage of the fan base, but unfortunately it's this group who seems to believe that their every utterance needs to be heard. And half of them do so by starting a new thread with a variation of the same whining theme.

HOF, and it's a tiny handful

 

[adam.vol]

The fact that this $hit has to be explained over and over again to some on this board is insane. Message board geniuses should just start another X account just for Volnation to see what other kind of dumb $hit people say here . They wouldn’t be lacking content that’s for sure .

Do you follow that account? It makes no sense to complain about stupid posts if you follow stupid content to read.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Do you follow that account? It makes no sense to complain about stupid posts if you follow stupid content to read.

I do follow that account. I follow it because it’s cathartic to know that other fan bases post dumb stuff too.

 

[Volfan1000]

Here’s a fact for all to consider. The NIL valuation has been completely reset. The Tulane QB getting 2 years for 8 million from DUKE!!??!!?? If we think what we were paying 2 years ago, or even 12 months ago is going to keep elite talent in the fold, we’re badly mistaken. I know it’s a hard pill to swallow for some of us who were raised up in the day of loyalty to team, teammates, coaches and fans. Those loyalties are all very much a far, far second to money now. That’s just how it is. I don’t know if Matthews has the potential to be elite, but I guarantee you Josh Heupel, after watching him for a year, has a very good take on it. If he is deemed deserving we will pay him and keep him. If he’s not, there may be someone else out there who hasn’t seen him that may take a flyer on him. I am comfortable with Heupel’s evaluation. We were sitting here 12 months ago, firing Martinez, bemoaning almost all of the secondary’s exit. What we didn’t know then was that Heupel would upgrade at each and every portal loss either through youth or the portal. I think he has earned the right for us to trust him again this year. He didn’t suddenly get dumb in 12 months anymore than Martinez got brilliant in 12 months. Trust the man. He’s earned it. If Pope can’t do the job, you can bet Heupel knows it. Everyone wanted Martinez gone 12 months ago. After multiple portal exits and a new crop of talent, Martinez had one of the best secondaries in the nation this year. Take a breath folks.

Carter and Matthews probably got bags and it will be interesting to see what amounts are dropped for any future portal additions in the wide receivers room.

 

[adam.vol]

I do follow that account. I follow it because it’s cathartic to know that other fan bases post dumb stuff too.

I can say that I’ve been there too often.

It’s better to not spend too much time listening to the ramblings of drunks. The nonsense spreads like a second hand buzz.

 

[EastTNVol6240]

This board has gotten so toxic with idiotic comments from ingrates who somehow believe it is UT's birthright to be a top 5 program annually.

We go through a decade and a f***king half in the cesspool, hire a coach who provides two top 10 seasons out of four, and now his days are numbered ... off a playoff appearance!

I'm willing to bet most of you aren't a fraction as demanding in your own lives. But as keyboard warriors discussing a college football team you are fierce.

I would guess that this faction is a small percentage of the fan base, but unfortunately it's this group who seems to believe that their every utterance needs to be heard. And half of them do so by starting a new thread with a variation of the same whining theme.

Please do tell us how long we base our current success off of the atrocious football program we had 5 years ago. Maybe some of us want to go back to basing success off of what TN football should look like. Shame on us for having standards.

You just let this board know when we can stop wallowing in our own pity and misery of what those 15 years were. Then, but only then will we start looking forward and being hungry for success again.

 

[EastTNVol6240]

What gives me pause about Heupel is, he has never built/rebuilt a program.

This was my biggest complaint when we hired him. Not only has he not built/rebuilt a program, he is going to have to do it in the toughest conference in America during a new era of college football (NIL/portal). He has yet to prove he can consistently identify talent in either recruiting or the portal. His staff's ability to improve players once on campus is has been questionable. He also seems to be loyal to staff at the detriment to the overall program.

I’m pretty critical of the staff myself. I can admit he’s rebuilt it. But I’m not sure he’s the guy to rebuild it to the next level of contention.

 

[Mtnvol80]

Had a stretch from 1989 to 2001 that had no bad seasons, and only a couple could be called average in that span. 94 and 2000

We won 3 sec championships, Florida 5 and Bama 2 in our best decade. We wasn't even the best team in our division in our greatest decade

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

We won 3 sec championships, Florida 5 and Bama 2 in our best decade. We wasn't even the best team in our division in our greatest decade

That because the 2 best teams in the league for most of those seasons were Florida and Tennessee and they were in the same division.

 

[sami]

Please do tell us how long we base our current success off of the atrocious football program we had 5 years ago. Maybe some of us want to go back to basing success off of what TN football should look like. Shame on us for having standards.

You just let this board know when we can stop wallowing in our own pity and misery of what those 15 years were. Then, but only then will we start looking forward and being hungry for success again.

You can do whatever the hell you want - I was just making an observation of the mindset here that just can't wait to lash out at the slightest step back, as if any program's path is straight line going up. And the need to start new threads to share their "wisdom".

I'm not wallowing in anything. I never even think about those years except when it's invariably brought up on here by people who can't get past it and want to exist in a constant state of "BVS", something I fortunately never experienced. I was simply using the state the program was in when CJH took over as a reference point to show the astonishing growth over a very short period of time while still having sanctions that limit scholarships.

Having standards while understanding the challenges of maintaining and growing a program in the current climate is fine and I share that feeling. I'm not sure that constant negativity and ignorantly demanding changes based entirely on internet click bait comments and online trolls fits with the idea of "having standards", especially since none of us know what's going on inside the building.

And I'm sorry for you if you don't consider what Heupel has accomplished in four years here as success. All but a tiny handful of programs that exist on a different level than the rest of CFB would kill for that kind of success.

 

[Cartervol]

Heupel also said put the ball down and let's play, team didn't even show up.

Wasn't finished with his coffee yet..

 

[camp_steveo]

I will be pissed about getting embarrassed in Ohio until the Vols consistently win important road games. That's just how it is for the time being.

That said, I haven't called for CJH or any of the assistants to be fired yet.

I don't know what impact it's actually having, but from what I've heard the scholarship limit is not done yet. That alone gives CJH a pass. Plus his win-loss record, and there's no grounds for firing him at the moment.

I actually think CJH has earned a lengthy leash, for lack of a better word, but if he doesn't get some dogs that will fight in here that's likely to change at some point.

Go Vols