If we start 6-0, will the Heup be real?

#2
#2
I think we need a post season well. I do listen to the troll that is Uncle Lou a lot and basically we would have to get off his "were back list". (I think we are already off. He puts a criteria about winning the conference but winning the SEC is not easy for anyone. There are teams like 2022 Tennessee that would win the ACC or other leagues).

From my perspective, Heupel has us back. I personally think he overachieved in 2022 and he is starting to pick it up in the recruiting trial. It is crazy to realize where we are at now versus what he walked into.
 
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#3
#3
I would perhaps wait until the season is over before having a shirt created. No one cares about a 6-0 start if we stumble down the stretch and then your stuck with a t-shirt that will remind you of that failure.
 
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#4
#4
FBtime said:
I would perhaps wait until the season is over before having a shirt created. No one cares about a 6-0 start if we stumble down the stretch and then your stuck with a t-shirt that will remind you of that failure.
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I don't think we are going to repeat this at all but the 2016 team folded and in some ways 2022 kind of folded down the stretch. (I personally think 2022 just overachieved so it is hard to be down on them. 2016 Tennessee flopped at the end and a lot of it, IMO, had to do with players not staying healthy).
 
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#11
#11
volbound1700 said:
I don't think we are going to repeat this at all but the 2016 team folded and in some ways 2022 kind of folded down the stretch. (I personally think 2022 just overachieved so it is hard to be down on them. 2016 Tennessee flopped at the end and a lot of it, IMO, had to do with players not staying healthy).
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I'll give you 2016 for sure. 2022 I'm still convinced that the Harbaugh situation had something to do with the South Carolina game. Beamer isn't that good of a coach and it seemed like they knew everything that we were going to do. Plus Banks' influence in the locker room didn't help. 2022 was the year that should've been. That was a playoff caliber team.
 
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#12
#12
1. The hype (heup) is already real.
2. It will continue to grow.
3. It will not stop growing until we win our next natty (thanks, @allvol17 !)
4. Then, unfortunately, folks will start turning on Heup every time we have a somewhat off year. Eventually, they will run him out of town. Then we'll enter a new Dark Ages that will last 15 years.
5. Because humans don't learn from the past nearly as often as they should.

But here's hoping we break that cycle and keep Dan White, Tony Vitello, Josh Heupel, and all our other great coaches for as long as they don't want to retire.

Go Vols!
 
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#13
#13
rocketskates said:
He is real. I can't remember the fanbase being this excited in the last 15 years or so. 2016 may be the exception, but that's because talent overcame Butch's ineptitude to coach (for the most part).
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Sadly, each of the 3 dud coaches had a year we got hyped about.

In 2012 with Dooley, it was after the big OOC win over NC State. We went into the UF game with Tyler Bray and we were ranked and totally flopped.

With Butch Jones it was both 2015 and 2016 because we had some big wins both years but really fell apart the second half of 2016 and it led us into the worse year in school history 2017.

With Pruitt, it was the tail end of the 8-5 year in 2019 going into 2020. At one point, Tennessee was tied with the longest win streak in the nation and they had a halftime lead on Georgia in 2020 only to lose late and then get blown out at home by UK.

We had fool's gold with these past coaches.

Heupel is different in that the team FINISHED 2022 after the heart breaking loss against South Carolina. They followed up with a 9-4 season in 2023 that was a major letdown but is still one of the better records we have had post-Fulmer. The recruiting and stability that Heupel, his staff, and Danny White brings to the table makes us a contender. It is different now and the team that I saw Saturday night has started to remind me of the 1990s Tennessee teams (especially the way they controlled the line of scrimmage).

2022 team will always be special because of how they overachieved. As a Vol fan, sadly, we rarely get overachieving teams, even during Fulmer era. We tend to get underachieving teams more often. 2022 was a major exception to that rule.
 
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#14
#14
rocketskates said:
I'll give you 2016 for sure. 2022 I'm still convinced that the Harbaugh situation had something to do with the South Carolina game. Beamer isn't that good of a coach and it seemed like they knew everything that we were going to do. Plus Banks' influence in the locker room didn't help. 2022 was the year that should've been. That was a playoff caliber team.
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I still think 2022 overachieved. We didn't have the depth we have now. Even Heupel and the staff have made comments about it if you pay attention. Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, and everyone on that team (minus the secondary) were studs. Even the secondary, played hard, IMO, they just weren't that good. There were also some head cases like Byron Young.

2022 Tennessee sold confidence in our program and has helped us land stronger recruits (technically we had Nico prior to that year but other recruits probably bought in after that run).
 
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#15
#15
What does "real" mean? In the context I think you're meaning make it 7-0 with a big win in Neyland over AL. If AL had somehow knocked off GA at that point we're probably talking a top 5 matchup.

As others have said if we're talking the big picture "real" we have to, like in the NFL these days, notch some playoff wins to really be taken seriously at the top end.
 
#16
#16
VFL-82-JP said:
1. The hype (heup) is already real.
2. It will continue to grow.
3. It will not stop growing until we win our NEXT natty.
4. Then, unfortunately, folks will start turning on Heup every time we have a somewhat off year. Eventually, they will run him out of town. Then we'll enter a new Dark Ages that will last 15 years.
5. Because humans don't learn from the past nearly as often as they should.

But here's hoping we break that cycle and keep Dan White, Tony Vitello, Josh Heupel, and all our other great coaches for as long as they don't want to retire.

Go Vols!
Click to expand...
Fixed your post
 
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#18
#18
Heupel is one of the most innovative coaches in the game. Did you see him make NCs waste a TO on a substitution? Josh was the first to figure out how to weaponize the substitution rules. Most coaches still haven't caught on. Do you ever hear him talk about TOP? No. You don't. That's because it's not important to his offense. I would guess our typical scoring drive takes about 2 minutes. When you hear other coaches talking about limiting the time Tennessee has the ball means that they don't understand what Heupel is doing. Eventually, they will catch up but by then, Josh will be on to the next great innovation. He's a winner.
 
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#21
#21
Volnanza said:
Heupel is one of the most innovative coaches in the game. Did you see him make NCs waste a TO on a substitution? Josh was the first to figure out how to weaponize the substitution rules. Most coaches still haven't caught on. Do you ever hear him talk about TOP? No. You don't. That's because it's not important to his offense. I would guess our typical scoring drive takes about 2 minutes. When you hear other coaches talking about limiting the time Tennessee has the ball means that they don't understand what Heupel is doing. Eventually, they will catch up but by then, Josh will be on to the next great innovation. He's a winner.
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I particularly appreciate that he is feeding karma back to those coaches who think they can substitute later in the play clock while on offense, catching the defensive coach flat footed and unable to sub in a reasonable time (which is what the refs allow).

Heup and Tim Banks (not sure which of them actually figured this out) turn that on its head: "if you sub late in the play clock, we'll sub even later AND take our time, leaving you in a delay of game situation." Heh.

Opposing coaches quickly learn to sub early in the play clock on offense so both sides have time to get new players in. Takes away that little trick of theirs.

Go Vols!
 
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#24
#24
RDU VOL#14 said:
Yep. OU looked bad on Saturday, but they’ll be ready to play when we come to town. Get us to the bye week 4-0 and then out of Fayetteville w/ a dub and its game on for me.
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Yeah, even with the bye week, @ OU and @ Ark is gonna be quite the test. Pass that and the sky’s the limit. 1-1 and we’re looking at 8-4, 9-3. Still not horrible, but not memorable either.
 
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