Let’s get some things straight.

[LittleVol]

1) Papa Nick for sure screwed Nico. I’ve already mentioned his culture and how your elders can do NO WRONG. BS.

2) I talked about the offense being a problem. And now you saw Basillio talking about that. But guys it’s not an inability to grasp the playbook. Stop kicking the can down the road!! Milton who was no dummy easily grasped the playbook before Nico. There needs to be an infusion of new or old concepts into our scheme. We don’t “hold the cards” on offense anymore. 8 teams last season slowed our offense down in some form of fashion. The jig is up! Heupel knows this which is why Litrell was brought in, and we’ll see how that goes.

3) Nico isn’t a bad kid. He’s TOO loyal to the idiots around him (family). If he were able to get a new agent (break away from family) and if we could get a NEW OC, I would welcome him back for whatever the market says. Which is less than the 2.4 he was due to make. Nico is still a strong armed QB that runs 4.4 and led us to the playoffs only to lose to the National Champions at their house.

4) Heupel wants to win, and I think he’s going to get a guy that doesn’t need much coaching.

5) We can at least get to 10,000!! IYKYK

 

[Powder and shot]

Nico is untrustworthy. How could the locker room or coaches rely on him?

 

[Voljayton]

He didn't lead us to the playoffs. Sampson did. I wouldn't bring him back to UT if he paid the school 4 million to play. F him and his jacked up family.

 

[loservol]

1) Papa Nick for sure screwed Nico. I’ve already mentioned his culture and how your elders can do NO WRONG. BS.

2) I talked about the offense being a problem. And now you saw Basillio talking about that. But guys it’s not an inability to grasp the playbook. Stop kicking the can down the road!! Milton who was no dummy easily grasped the playbook before Nico. There needs to be an infusion of new or old concepts into our scheme. We don’t “hold the cards” on offense anymore. 8 teams last season slowed our offense down in some form of fashion. The jig is up! Heupel knows this which is why Litrell was brought in, and we’ll see how that goes.

3) Nico isn’t a bad kid. He’s TOO loyal to the idiots around him (family). If he were able to get a new agent (break away from family) and if we could get a NEW OC, I would welcome him back for whatever the market says. Which is less than the 2.4 he was due to make. Nico is still a strong armed QB that runs 4.4 and led us to the playoffs only to lose to the National Champions at their

Being honest, the only reason Nico chose TN was, Spyre met hie dad's asking price. If Nico had any free will, he would have played for a team out west.

 

[Ttucke11]

He doesn't run a 4.4 and he didn't lead us to the playoffs. We miraculously made the playoffs despite his heinous play in every single big game last year.

 

[VOLfrombama]

1) Papa Nick for sure screwed Nico. I’ve already mentioned his culture and how your elders can do NO WRONG. BS.

2) I talked about the offense being a problem. And now you saw Basillio talking about that. But guys it’s not an inability to grasp the playbook. Stop kicking the can down the road!! Milton who was no dummy easily grasped the playbook before Nico. There needs to be an infusion of new or old concepts into our scheme. We don’t “hold the cards” on offense anymore. 8 teams last season slowed our offense down in some form of fashion. The jig is up! Heupel knows this which is why Litrell was brought in, and we’ll see how that goes.

3) Nico isn’t a bad kid. He’s TOO loyal to the idiots around him (family). If he were able to get a new agent (break away from family) and if we could get a NEW OC, I would welcome him back for whatever the market says. Which is less than the 2.4 he was due to make. Nico is still a strong armed QB that runs 4.4 and led us to the playoffs only to lose to the National Champions at their house.

4) Heupel wants to win, and I think he’s going to get a guy that doesn’t need much coaching.

5) We can at least get to 10,000!! IYKYK

1. Agreed. that seems obvious atp

2. The lack of a good/healthy slot receiver and the step backwards on the OL's pass protection was the main reason the passing game had so many issues. It limited what they could do. Not to mention Nico missing wide open WRs left and right. Thank goodness for DSamp and his skills running the ball or it would have likely been way worse.

3. Agree for the most part. I understand that culturally he may not have the ability to stand up to his dad or family, but he is still an adult and if he wanted to stay at UT he should have showed up for practice and the O&W game. Being a responsible adult is a choice and sometimes that means going against the will of others if/when you know something is wrong, including your own loved ones.

4. Dont get me wrong, I would love if they get a plug and play Qb via the portal, but I don't see any Qb coming in and starting. There's not enough time to learn the offense and develop chemistry with the WRs. Besides, culture and the players locker room seemingly had a lot to do with why Nico is no longer welcome. So if you pay a top tier Qb to come here, how does that affect what you just salvaged? Does is spring more players to ask for raises?

For those reasons, I think whoever Heup chooses will be a depth piece and Merk is gonna be the guy.

5. Apparently Idk. What is get to10K? Vol Club Members?

 

[VOLINVONORE]

1) Papa Nick for sure screwed Nico. I’ve already mentioned his culture and how your elders can do NO WRONG. BS.

2) I talked about the offense being a problem. And now you saw Basillio talking about that. But guys it’s not an inability to grasp the playbook. Stop kicking the can down the road!! Milton who was no dummy easily grasped the playbook before Nico. There needs to be an infusion of new or old concepts into our scheme. We don’t “hold the cards” on offense anymore. 8 teams last season slowed our offense down in some form of fashion. The jig is up! Heupel knows this which is why Litrell was brought in, and we’ll see how that goes.

3) Nico isn’t a bad kid. He’s TOO loyal to the idiots around him (family). If he were able to get a new agent (break away from family) and if we could get a NEW OC, I would welcome him back for whatever the market says. Which is less than the 2.4 he was due to make. Nico is still a strong armed QB that runs 4.4 and led us to the playoffs only to lose to the National Champions at their house.

4) Heupel wants to win, and I think he’s going to get a guy that doesn’t need much coaching.

5) We can at least get to 10,000!! IYKYK

Thank goodness, it is too late to even think about trying to make room for him now. I hope he never wins another game.

 

[Advol]

I would trade NICO for 5 great OLineman and a Backup QB

 

[kiddiedoc]

No, Nico is not coming back. Never say never? I'm saying never.

That being said, the market value for a starting SEC QB with his accolades and potential (even though he was a bit underwhelming last year) is higher than you think. Were it not for his dad/ handlers and the associated shenanigans, Tennessee would have been paying him over $3M next season.

In the end, this was a huge flop for Nico and his camp. And, it will almost certainly hurt our chances for success this fall. Total lose-lose situation that was entirely unnecessary.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Nico is not coming back. At this point we have moved way on, nobody need not even bring it up. I trust Heupel and staff have a plan. Looking forward to fall football saturdays. Nothing better!!!! GBO

 

[Sivad]

Like others have already said, Nico was never the leader on last year’s team. Mayes and Sampson were the leaders on offense. Add to that when your defense can play like ours did last year it makes it a little easier on the offense

 

[Volanta]

I wanna be in the know. What’s 10k mean? I wanna be like the cool kids.

 

[Bigorangefaninga]

1) Papa Nick for sure screwed Nico. I’ve already mentioned his culture and how your elders can do NO WRONG. BS.

BS, he’s a grown adult, I don’t care what your culture is, sometimes you have to take responsibility for your own life, he didn’t and doesn’t do so, that’s still on him!

2) I talked about the offense being a problem. And now you saw Basillio talking about that. But guys it’s not an inability to grasp the playbook. Stop kicking the can down the road!! Milton who was no dummy easily grasped the playbook before Nico. There needs to be an infusion of new or old concepts into our scheme. We don’t “hold the cards” on offense anymore. 8 teams last season slowed our offense down in some form of fashion. The jig is up! Heupel knows this which is why Litrell was brought in, and we’ll see how that goes.

Littrell runs the same offense and if you aren’t smart enough to understand we were playing with half a playbook last year I don’t know what to tell you! The offense last year looked nothing like what We ran with Hooker and barely similar to the playbook we ran with Milton. Offense works, just got to have a non dummy at QB to run it and he looked lost last year! That’s why there was more huddle ran instead of the fast pace we ran when Hooker ran the offense flawlessly.

3) Nico isn’t a bad kid. He’s TOO loyal to the idiots around him (family). If he were able to get a new agent (break away from family) and if we could get a NEW OC, I would welcome him back for whatever the market says. Which is less than the 2.4 he was due to make. Nico is still a strong armed QB that runs 4.4 and led us to the playoffs only to lose to the National Champions at their house.

F’em! I wouldn’t let him back if he wanted 100k to play for us. He is ONLY where he is because he was a 5-star recruit, if this was a 3-star QB that played the same way last year he did no one would be slobbering over him! He didn’t lead us to the playoffs, that was a good to great defense and a RB that ran like his life depended on it. They won a lot of games almost in spite of him and his overthrows and bad decision making.

4) Heupel wants to win, and I think he’s going to get a guy that doesn’t need much coaching.

Not sure who we get at QB and this year even with Nico we were most likely looking at 8-4. Most likely still be 8-4 without him. Funny because if he does end up at UCLA he is 4-8 with an offense that sucks(I’m hoping the son OC takes after his dad when he was given full reign over the defensive side of the ball). We saw how bad Sal was as an DC, his son will prob be the same way.

5) We can at least get to 10,000!! IYKYK

 

[DaddyChad]

Nico is a bad kid.

Did his dad make him blow off media events and interviews? What about autograph sessions?

 

[SpookyAction]

1. Agreed. that seems obvious atp

2. The lack of a good/healthy slot receiver and the step backwards on the OL's pass protection was the main reason the passing game had so many issues. It limited what they could do. Not to mention Nico missing wide open WRs left and right. Thank goodness for DSamp and his skills running the ball or it would have likely been way worse.

3. Agree for the most part. I understand that culturally he may not have the ability to stand up to his dad or family, but he is still an adult and if he wanted to stay at UT he should have showed up for practice and the O&W game. Being a responsible adult is a choice and sometimes that means going against the will of others if/when you know something is wrong, including your own loved ones.

4. Dont get me wrong, I would love if they get a plug and play Qb via the portal, but I don't see any Qb coming in and starting. There's not enough time to learn the offense and develop chemistry with the WRs. Besides, culture and the players locker room seemingly had a lot to do with why Nico is no longer welcome. So if you pay a top tier Qb to come here, how does that affect what you just salvaged? Does is spring more players to ask for raises?

For those reasons, I think whoever Heup chooses will be a depth piece and Merk is gonna be the guy.

5. Apparently Idk. What is get to10K? Vol Club Members?

Heupel said he only opened 1/3 of his playbook for Hooker. Hooker was in the same league as Peyton, the two years he started, when you factor in his rushing talents.

 

[Bigorangefaninga]

Heupel said he only opened 1/3 of his playbook for Hooker. Hooker was in the same league as Peyton, the two years he started, when you factor in his rushing talents.

If that was 1/3 the playbook heck we have been using 1/8 of it the past 2 years! Guess it would be nice to be able to use all the playbook instead of 3 plays with a different alignment.

 

[SpookyAction]

I would've done it if my father told me to when I was 20. But, he was a seriously level-headed dude.

Intense . All my friends were scared to death of my father. I went to the school he wanted, not my choice, but he paid for it a couple of years. I can remember He actually apologized about that. Stunning that he would do that; apologize. Only three times was he ever dead wrong about things.
Thanks for the catharsis.

 

[FanDude]

I wanna be in the know. What’s 10k mean? I wanna be like the cool kids.

It was a good post until the last line. That part reads like he was having a stroke. No clue here about whatever it was supposed to mean.

 

[SpookyAction]

If that was 1/3 the playbook heck we have been using 1/8 of it the past 2 years! Guess it would be nice to be able to use all the playbook instead of 3 plays with a different alignment.

I agree 100%.
Heupel did a lot of stuff with the UCF offense I haven't seen repeated in Knoxville.
He really threw to a lot of RB routes and TEs had a lot of catches.

 

[volfeeva]

Almost every other SEC team eventually loses their starting QB to the pros or graduation and they begin new seasons with freshmen that seem to step up and win games in spite of little playing time the previous year. But with Nico, he needed to be spoon fed, coddled and in his 2nd years still looked like a high school level QB. If you are a QB wanting $2.5 million a year, you shouldn't need 3 years to be productive . Nico was a flop

 

[DirtyDawg]

1) Papa Nick for sure screwed Nico. I’ve already mentioned his culture and how your elders can do NO WRONG. BS.

2) I talked about the offense being a problem. And now you saw Basillio talking about that. But guys it’s not an inability to grasp the playbook. Stop kicking the can down the road!! Milton who was no dummy easily grasped the playbook before Nico. There needs to be an infusion of new or old concepts into our scheme. We don’t “hold the cards” on offense anymore. 8 teams last season slowed our offense down in some form of fashion. The jig is up! Heupel knows this which is why Litrell was brought in, and we’ll see how that goes.

3) Nico isn’t a bad kid. He’s TOO loyal to the idiots around him (family). If he were able to get a new agent (break away from family) and if we could get a NEW OC, I would welcome him back for whatever the market says. Which is less than the 2.4 he was due to make. Nico is still a strong armed QB that runs 4.4 and led us to the playoffs only to lose to the National Champions at their house.

4) Heupel wants to win, and I think he’s going to get a guy that doesn’t need much coaching.

5) We can at least get to 10,000!! IYKYK

I hope you’re right about Nico and he comes out of this situation better for it. He obviously has talent and presumably great potential and that is such a shame to waste or better, a shame to not take advantage of. I’ve no love for Nico, but I don’t want to see his potential wasted no matter where he plays.

So is what you’re saying is that you expect CJH to go after a seasoned QB in the upcoming portal to take the reins? I was thinking that Merk would likely have no problem leading the team at QB. He is a talented guy as is your incoming freshman by all accounts I’ve read.

 

[BowlBrother85]

For those critical of the scheme .... There sure wasn't anything wrong with it in 2022, when we led the nation in scoring with Hendon Hooker at QB. That is just an excuse coming from the Iamaleava side.

.... and I'm not so sure that losing Nico won't prove to be a benefit. The staff clearly did not trust him to make certain throws, like they did Hooker. Nico was handled with kid gloves.

Finally, a representative from the Iamaleava side claimed that he suffered "several" concussions last season due to our porous offensive line. That is a blatant lie!

 

[Vol737]

Look, Papa Nic is going to make every excuse in the book for why Nico isn’t at UT anymore. Everyone on the college football planet knows exactly why Nico isn’t here anymore. The media, the other HCs and ADs around the country, the agents and fans everywhere all know. We stood our ground and big Nic didn’t read the tea leaves and had no idea how little leverage he had. He must have seen his son have a record breaking fantastic season while the rest of the realistic college football world saw a 5* have a very average year and end up a middle of the pack SEC QB. That doesn’t exactly put you in the best negotiating position. Let him talk. Let him try to throw shade at Tennessee. It doesn’t matter. Everyone still knows.

 

[J C Higgins]

If that was 1/3 the playbook heck we have been using 1/8 of it the past 2 years! Guess it would be nice to be able to use all the playbook instead of 3 plays with a different alignment.

My guess is we were using less than 1/3 of the playback because Nico couldn't react properly and/or fast enough after the ball was snapped.

 

[JohnnyJava]

1) Papa Nick for sure screwed Nico. I’ve already mentioned his culture and how your elders can do NO WRONG. BS.

2) I talked about the offense being a problem. And now you saw Basillio talking about that. But guys it’s not an inability to grasp the playbook. Stop kicking the can down the road!! Milton who was no dummy easily grasped the playbook before Nico. There needs to be an infusion of new or old concepts into our scheme. We don’t “hold the cards” on offense anymore. 8 teams last season slowed our offense down in some form of fashion. The jig is up! Heupel knows this which is why Litrell was brought in, and we’ll see how that goes.

3) Nico isn’t a bad kid. He’s TOO loyal to the idiots around him (family). If he were able to get a new agent (break away from family) and if we could get a NEW OC, I would welcome him back for whatever the market says. Which is less than the 2.4 he was due to make. Nico is still a strong armed QB that runs 4.4 and led us to the playoffs only to lose to the National Champions at their house.

4) Heupel wants to win, and I think he’s going to get a guy that doesn’t need much coaching.

5) We can at least get to 10,000!! IYKYK

Your Golesh crush and Halzle hatred is becoming absurd and not healthy. I’m f you have issues with Tennessee’s offense, then your issue is with Heupel, because he is involved extensively in all things on the offensive side.