If this is the beginning of the end of Heupel at Tennessee—his executive decision to continue to play Joe Milton in 2023 is what prevented a breakout

#51
#51
JMSqb11 said:
Sure, but people are crazy to think we are such a sure thing to fall back.... The only 3 games of note on the schedule are

At Florida - 2 decade winless streak in Swamp
At Bama - 2 decade winless streak in Bryant Denny
Host Georgia - Won't believe we beat Georgia until the day we actually do beat them


We basically have to win 1 of the 3 to finish 10-2 and be in playoff buzz.

This notion we just shot our one chance to make a move in the playoff is chicken little-ish....
Click to expand...
Do we have any reason to believe this team can perform in big game away environments?

I think we can assume that Florida with DJ Lagway and their weapons they’ve acquired at WR is going to be a very tough matchup. I don’t want to call it what it is—but I’m assuming we’re probably going to be underdogs. Can we win? Yes. At this point I think you can’t say it’s probable we’ll win.
Berry4Heisman14 said:
I don’t think this game was the beginning of the end necessarily. If he won’t replace his assistants bc they’re his buddies then that’ll be what brings him down eventually
Click to expand...

I again, don’t want it to be the high water mark. I think Heupel is fully capable of getting us to the next level. What he put together in 2022 was incredible. It’s going to require a different approach than what we saw this year.

I think our offensive line, wasn’t even good—but I think it will be less good next year. I am expecting Sampson to leave. Thornton just announced he’s going pro. If Bru McCoy leaves we’re left with pretty much a skeleton crew at WR.

I like Bishop at RB. We have some pieces to build off of, but I am fully expecting a regression. I’d rather keep for it and expect what it is—than have a complete meltdown when we’re not competitive in the SEC and finish 8-4.

Bottom line is: this is a message board for discussing Tennessee football and our opportunity this year was not maximized because we didn’t have our QB prepped coming into the season because he chose to play Guarantano part Deux. That was on Heupel. And if after next year of going 8-4 we have a different schedule and we go 7-5 or worse, that’s when it will look like it’s the end for Heupel. And I think that’s a very real possibility.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolCalls
#52
#52
WhenUrVolUrVFL said:
And to build on this point—recruiting is going to be tough when it starts looking like Heupel has stagnated. This was a year to capitalize on, and instead we lost opportunity by not having Nico Raady to take full advantage of this campaign.

It was obvious to anyone last year that Milton should have been ready to be sat by Florida. How Heupel Couldn’t figure that out is the point of this post. And the fact that he punted to Ohio state when our defense looked like a liability against them….some decisions he makes are just….what…
Click to expand...
Recruiting is already tough. Vols currently have the 11th ranked class for 2025. Sounds good but it is 8th in the SEC. I understand being behind TEX, Bama, UGA, and LSU, but we’re also behind freakin A&M, Florida, and Auburn!

My guess is our recruiting is being heavily hampered by this coaching staff’s struggle to get players drafted.
 
#53
#53
Majors said:
You expected a true freshman to be ready? Hypothetically which game does Nico win that we lost with Joe was QB?


In four years we go from 3-7, to beating Bama twice, Florida twice, #1 ranking and make the 12 team playoff.
Click to expand...
Florida. And Bama. We were absolutely dominating Bama. Milton’s poor play lost us Bama and Florida two years ago. Without a doubt.
 
#57
#57
WhenUrVolUrVFL said:
Florida. And Bama. We were absolutely dominating Bama. Milton’s poor play lost us Bama and Florida two years ago. Without a doubt.
Click to expand...

Florida was a dumb game... That Bama game was chalked up to Heupel not making adjustments in the second half after Pearce had a blatant hold in the face of the head umpire on the long TD by Milroe.....

That is the one thing that I believe to Heupel's biggest weakness on the road... He just can't make halftime adjustments to save himself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VolCalls
#58
#58
Majors said:
So no blame to the defense? Got it. Believe we remember those games differently. Up big against Bama at half and couldn’t get off the field against Florida.
Click to expand...

Kamal Hadden's slapping tackle attempts vs Florida was absurd. And then he tried to fight an offensive lineman after the game was decided.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Majors
#60
#60
He got the max out of Milton. I'm not sold on Nico. Not convinced he's going to be "the man". Milton was a super high recruit and he didn't translate to college. My fear is the same for Nico. I'll be glad to be wrong.
CJH hasn't peaked. He does need to rethink his offense. It was new and he had a QB that was mature and could run it with Hooker. Everyone is catching on. They know how to stuff it......at least with our current roster. He needs a better roster and new wrinkles in the play calling. We had lightning in a bottle in 22. He can find it again. Right now, the most important thing is to find receivers that are in sync with the QB. The talent we do have doesn't click with each other.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77, tbones0711 and VolCalls
#62
#62
xpsyclonex2002 said:
He got the max out of Milton. I'm not sold on Nico. Not convinced he's going to be "the man". Milton was a super high recruit and he didn't translate to college. My fear is the same for Nico. I'll be glad to be wrong.
CJH hasn't peaked. He does need to rethink his offense. It was new and he had a QB that was mature and could run it with Hooker. Everyone is catching on. They know how to stuff it......at least with our current roster. He needs a better roster and new wrinkles in the play calling. We had lightning in a bottle in 22. He can find it again. Right now, the most important thing is to find receivers that are in sync with the QB. The talent we do have doesn't click with each other.
Click to expand...

It’s amazing to me how many people have apparently believed that Nico was supposed to walk into Tennessee and put up top numbers among QB’s in his first season….
 
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77 and Majors
#66
#66
WhenUrVolUrVFL said:
Love Josh Heupel. He’s done some great things for us. Couple of head scratching decisions. The biggest one being—not having Nico ready to roll in 2023.

Joe Milton was never a major starting QB. Michigan saw it right away. He has great tools, a great young man, and a great teammate.

But the way this season played out is precisely why he should have had Nico hitting the field as early as possible.

Nico played his ass off against Ohio state but it was obvious he wasn’t ready for game speed for much of this season.

don’t want to be a Debbie Downer but next year won’t be a playoff year. And then we have no idea what our schedule will look like the following year, but I think it’s going to get more difficult to recruit and this may be the high water mark of Heupel as our head coach.

I hope it’s not. But it’s going to be difficult to get back to where we were this year.

Fun year. Proud we made the playoffs. Should have had Nico ready for rush run after it was obvious Joe Milton wasn’t the guy. Instead we rode Milton for the entire 2023 season and missed the opportunity to really make progress in 2024.
Click to expand...

Why won’t next year be a playoff year?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77
#68
#68
JMSqb11 said:
Sure, but people are crazy to think we are such a sure thing to fall back.... The only 3 games of note on the schedule are

At Florida - 2 decade winless streak in Swamp
At Bama - 2 decade winless streak in Bryant Denny
Host Georgia - Won't believe we beat Georgia until the day we actually do beat them


We basically have to win 1 of the 3 to finish 10-2 and be in playoff buzz.

This notion we just shot our one chance to make a move in the playoff is chicken little-ish....
Click to expand...

Did you look at what we had on our roster this year vs what is going out?

Pearce is gone. Simmons gone. Our entire defensive line is gone. Sampson is gone. This was the time to make a move and win to do what Georgia has done when they had their window. Those frauds now have everyone thinking they’re a traditional football power with their stolen Green Bay Packers G, their gaudy color scheme and their working on the railroad fight song. I’m sure most of the basic lemmings in here will immediately come to Georgia’s defense…
 
#69
#69
WhenUrVolUrVFL said:
Well, let’s have this convo in 2 years. I hope you tell me that I was wrong and an idiot. But you’ll probably ask why I’m a genius and have the ability to see the future.
Click to expand...
No one is going to confuse you as a genius. I promise. Lol.

Everything you've said in this thread has been said a dozen times in 23 of the 24 threads on the first page. It wouldn't surprise me if you've been taking notes from them all and decided to start your own thread to look like you know what your talking about.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77, tbones0711, SockeyeVol and 1 other person
#71
#71
WhenUrVolUrVFL said:
Take a look at what we’re losing. It’s a lot. I think we’re going to regress to 8-4, possibly a 7-5 year and the chatter will begin that Heupel’s on the hot seat.
Click to expand...

Lmfao what?

You’ve lost me. Where are these major losses or are just trolling?

We are returning a ton
 
Last edited:
#75
#75
WhenUrVolUrVFL said:
Love Josh Heupel. He’s done some great things for us. Couple of head scratching decisions. The biggest one being—not having Nico ready to roll in 2023.

Joe Milton was never a major starting QB. Michigan saw it right away. He has great tools, a great young man, and a great teammate.

But the way this season played out is precisely why he should have had Nico hitting the field as early as possible.

Nico played his ass off against Ohio state but it was obvious he wasn’t ready for game speed for much of this season.

don’t want to be a Debbie Downer but next year won’t be a playoff year. And then we have no idea what our schedule will look like the following year, but I think it’s going to get more difficult to recruit and this may be the high water mark of Heupel as our head coach.

I hope it’s not. But it’s going to be difficult to get back to where we were this year.

Fun year. Proud we made the playoffs. Should have had Nico ready for rush run after it was obvious Joe Milton wasn’t the guy. Instead we rode Milton for the entire 2023 season and missed the opportunity to really make progress in 2024.
Click to expand...
So he makes two decisions you disagree with and you decide to fire him and pay the buyout? Wow just wow!!
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top