Last years record was not an reflection of talent

#76
#76
i2amavol said:
The schedule doesn't help us though, and I am not sure our talent is going to be at the level of FL, Ga, SC, AL.
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But this is the big test.

Can he win the ones he's supposed to plus jump up and beat someone even without having quite as much talent. Can he coach on gameday in a way that capitalizes on strengths and covers weaknesses?

Stanford was not as talented as Oregon this year. USC lost 5 games and probably has more talent than any team that beat them. Bama is more talented than TAM.

You don't have to be more talented if you can force the other team to fight your fight.

That was Dooley's fundamental flaw. For two years he at least beat who he was supposed to beat but he never really showed he could force games to the strength of his team against better opponents. Then... even coaches with lesser talent discovered they could usually force him to play to their strengths. Troy and to a lesser degree Akron dictated the type of game UT would play vs them. They should not have had the talent to be anywhere close... but were.
 
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#77
#77
huskyvol said:
I won't say I agree with you, But that defense could possibly be the slowest defense ever!:banghead2:
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no worries... we are going to run some speed and agility drills this spring and we will have that fixed right up. :birgits_giggle:
 
#78
#78
bamawriter said:
While AJ is a gamer, the move to 3-4 showed just how slow the guy is. He's got football smarts, but some physical limitations that smarts can't totally overcome.
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He was constantly out of position trying to make plays. That isn't an indication of being too slow. It is an indication of poor coaching and/or a scheme that doesn't put him in a position to make a play.

While Sunseri failed as a DC, presumably his experience at Bama and elsewhere with LB's validates his analyses of talent. He said those two were the two most talented he had coached. That includes some guys who starred for Bama... and serves as an indictment of how incredible his failure was.
 
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#79
#79
bamawriter said:
No. No they don't.
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Yes. Yes they do.

They have sufficient speed. They have good size. They need to be coached and put in a position to succeed. It wasn't a lack of speed that caused coverage busts. It wasn't a lack of athleticism that caused DB's to get sucked inside losing contain.

Randolph has talent and is smart. They got worse without him because of it. McNeil even as a Fr showed the flashes that made him a prized recruit.

They have more DB talent than Mizzou, UK, Vandy, and perhaps Auburn. All of those D's allowed 50+ yards less per game. Their scheme made better sense and they were constantly out of position.

I do not expect UT to go from worst to first on D. But if the next staff has ANY level of confidence then they should at least return to roughly the level Wilcox had them at.... against a more difficult schedule.

Wilcox SEC rankings (with basically the same or lesser players who were younger)

Pass D- 6th (178 ypg)
Rush D- 8th (163 ypg)
Total D- 7th (341 ypg)
Scoring D- 9th (22 ppg)

Sunseri:

Pass D-14th (283 ypg)
Rush D- 13th (189 ypg)
Total D- 13th (471 ypg)
Scoring D- 14th (36 ppg)

Again, Sunseri actually had MORE talent. The only two major contributors lost from that D were Johnson (no faster and possibly slower than any of this year's LB's) and Malik Jackson (a DE playing DT because UT didn't really have any DT's). Three of UT's top 5 tacklers under Wilcox were Freshmen. Twelve of the 21 guys with 10 or more tackles on the year were either Fr or So.

Sunseri had talent to work with. He put them in a bad system, poorly coached, with poor playcalling. Only 3 of UT's top 20 tacklers from this team will be lost: Lathers, Bohannon, and Waggner.
 
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#80
#80
sjt18 said:
He was constantly out of position trying to make plays. That isn't an indication of being too slow. It is an indication of poor coaching and/or a scheme that doesn't put him in a position to make a play.

While Sunseri failed as a DC, presumably his experience at Bama and elsewhere with LB's validates his analyses of talent. He said those two were the two most talented he had coached. That includes some guys who starred for Bama... and serves as an indictment of how incredible his failure was.
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Like I said before, do you really think he actually believes they're more talented than the AAs he coached at Bama?
 
#81
#81
BTW, the only DB lost from '11 to '12 was Lanier who was a part time starter.

Unless you are claiming guys were talented enough to allow only 178 ypg in '11 became so untalented that they allowed over 100 ypg more with another year of experience and development.... you have to look to coaching.
 
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#82
#82
bamawriter said:
Actually, your secondary might be the worst in the SEC, and not simply because of coaching. Your LBs are in the back of the pack in the SEC as well.

No doubt, Tennessee had more talent than their record would indicate. But there are still some major issues that go beyond coaching.
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This! :rock: :rock: :rock:

Too bad it took a 'Bama fan to point that out to you.
 
#83
#83
bamawriter said:
Like I said before, do you really think he actually believes they're more talented than the AAs he coached at Bama?
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I don't know if he lies or not. I do know that unless he's a stupid liar he would not have made that kind of absolute statement without believing it.

He didn't say that they had matched performance... he was talking about "talent". Talent has to be coached then properly used. That's on him.

Do you think he made that statement knowing they were no where near as talented as the others he was comparing to? That would make no sense at all.
 
#84
#84
sjt18 said:
He was constantly out of position trying to make plays. That isn't an indication of being too slow. It is an indication of poor coaching and/or a scheme that doesn't put him in a position to make a play.

While Sunseri failed as a DC, presumably his experience at Bama and elsewhere with LB's validates his analyses of talent. He said those two were the two most talented he had coached. That includes some guys who starred for Bama... and serves as an indictment of how incredible his failure was.
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I couldn't agree with you more, and truly appreciate your insight. I am extremely suprised at Bamawriter's view on this one. While he may be a Bama fan, he usually has some decent insight, but this time he's either spewing negativity, or he is just totally misinformed. Confusion on the field with assignments and coverage was so painfully obvious that you'd have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to not have noticed. Our downfall was and has been coaching, I don't believe we are as deficient with speed as some of you suggest. To say that AJ is slow is laughable, he was out of position so many times and still was the one that made the tackle! AJ also was fast and elusive enough that we used him on several occasions in the wildcat. Please tell me what other "slow" linebacker would ever be put into that kind of package? Please...
 
#85
#85
sjt18 said:
I don't know if he lies or not. I do know that unless he's a stupid liar he would not have made that kind of absolute statement without believing it.

He didn't say that they had matched performance... he was talking about "talent". Talent has to be coached then properly used. That's on him.

Do you think he made that statement knowing they were no where near as talented as the others he was comparing to? That would make no sense at all.
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Yeah, coaches never use hyperbole to pump up their guys. Are you serious with this crap?
 
#86
#86
bamawriter said:
Actually, your secondary might be the worst in the SEC, and not simply because of coaching. Your LBs are in the back of the pack in the SEC as well.

No doubt, Tennessee had more talent than their record would indicate. But there are still some major issues that go beyond coaching.
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I have to agree. We lack speed terribly at both of these positions. Guys were always out of position & failed to make plays when they were. It was irritating listening to people build up AJ Johnson at any point during the season. It's like they weren't watching him except on the random good play he made & not the fact he was lost on big play after big play like the rest of our D.
 
#87
#87
Orange Blood n IL said:
I couldn't agree with you more, and truly appreciate your insight. I am extremely suprised at Bamawriter's view on this one. While he may be a Bama fan, he usually has some decent insight, but this time he's either spewing negativity, or he is just totally misinformed. Confusion on the field with assignments and coverage was so painfully obvious that you'd have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to not have noticed. Our downfall was and has been coaching, I don't believe we are as deficient with speed as some of you suggest. To say that AJ is slow is laughable, he was out of position so many times and still was the one that made the tackle! AJ also was fast and elusive enough that we used him on several occasions in the wildcat. Please tell me what other "slow" linebacker would ever be put into that kind of package? Please...
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AJ is terribly slow. Anybody could have run what he did out of that abomination of an offensive package.
 
#89
#89
bamawriter said:
Yeah, coaches never use hyperbole to pump up their guys. Are you serious with this crap?
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So he used "hyperbole" that was completely and totally false, right? He was telling those guys and everyone else in the world that two guys he knew to be seriously lacking in talent that they were the best he ever coached, correct?

Are YOU serious with that crap?

Hyperbole in that situation would be saying that two very talented guys who he really expected to perform were "the best he'd ever coached". There is no reason short of him being an abject idiot in every sense of the word for him to say two untalented players were the best he'd ever coached.



You also ignored the fact that these guys plus most of their teammates played significantly better and "faster" in Wilcox's scheme the year before against a schedule that included Arkansas under Petrino and both NC contenders.

I am still not claiming they're going to be world beaters. But the difference between mid-pack and the bottom was NOT talent or players. It was coaching and schemes.
 
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#90
#90
Hightower - 4.68
Upshaw - 4.79

AJ Johnson- 4.70

I could go through a list of linebackers starting in the NFL with a slower 40 speed. Johnson is far from slow. Im only comparing to those two because Bamawriter seems to tout those two as being so much better than AJ. The difference has been coaching, and tackling angles (which is a product of coaching,) and AJ still is 4th in the nation in tackles by position.
 
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#91
#91
DarthVisor said:
I take it you've never read his posts before.
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Maybe not. Reasoned, informed, fact supported arguments are indeed pretty rare here.

Or I guess we can just believe that UT's whole D became slower, weaker, and less talented while returning almost the same players plus some talented newcomers from '11 to '12.
 
#92
#92
We don't have much talent on defense at all--one good player and maybe a couple of decent players and that is it. Mediocre to weak DL; one good LB--others weak, no depth at that position; and weak DBs. It's true that Sal was TERRIBLE--we were demonstrably better on defense a year before with the same talent, except younger--and maybe we could have won a couple of the close SEC games with a better DC. But we need a MAJOR talent infusion on defense.
 
#93
#93
Orange Blood n IL said:
Hightower - 4.68
Upshaw - 4.79

AJ Johnson- 4.70

I could go through a list of linebackers starting in the NFL with a slower 40 speed. Johnson is far from slow. Im only comparing to those two because Bamawriter seems to tout those two as being so much better than AJ. The difference has been coaching, and tackling angles (which is a product of coaching,) and AJ still is 4th in the nation in tackles by position.
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Hightower and Upshaw play much faster than Johnson.
 
#94
#94
The other issue is that our QB was/is a very poor leader and really could do nothing except throw mid-range passes. QBs need to do more than that.
 
#95
#95
Orange Blood n IL said:
Hightower - 4.68
Upshaw - 4.79

AJ Johnson- 4.70

I could go through a list of linebackers starting in the NFL with a slower 40 speed. Johnson is far from slow. Im only comparing to those two because Bamawriter seems to tout those two as being so much better than AJ. The difference has been coaching, and tackling angles (which is a product of coaching,) and AJ still is 4th in the nation in tackles by position.
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If johnson runs a 4.7, i'm usain bolt
 
#98
#98
Orange Blood n IL said:
Countering with personal opinion? Your argument is losing traction faster than Sunseri's D :loco:
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Maybe they were just better players. Maybe they put themselves in position to make plays & could get off blocks instead of looking like a baphoon getting sucked inside constantly while guys bolted off tackle for 80 yards tds. A lot of times simply getting outran looking like a 350lb lineman chasing them instead of an SEC linebacker.
 
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#99
#99
Orange Blood n IL said:
Countering with personal opinion? Your argument is losing traction faster than Sunseri's D :loco:
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AJ Johnson is a much better linebacker than Rolando McClain, Courtney Upshaw, Donta Hightower, and CJ Mosley.

Does reading bull**** make you feel better? Lord knows I don't want to offend your delicate sensibilities.
 
#100
#100
armchair said:
The other issue is that our QB was/is a very poor leader and really could do nothing except throw mid-range passes. QBs need to do more than that.
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Yea our offense only averaged almost 40 points a game. Too bad out D gave up as much.
 
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