My expectations of Heupel year by year

[BanditVol]

2021. 7-5 was a pleasant surprise. At the start of the year, looking at the East, I figured Uga and UF, and probably even UK would finish above us, vandy below, so I was really looking to see how Heupel would do against USC and MIzzou. In both games, we led 28-0 after the first quarter. Against teams I thought were our "peers" to stay out of the bottom half of the SEC East. And oh yeah, we beat UK as a bonus.

2022. Was thinking 8-4, maybe 9-3 if we caught a break. GREATLY exceeded my expectations. Hooker and Hyatt were phenomenal, defense still only average or maybe a bit above average but better. Almost made the 4 team playoff. This was WAY better than I expected. Beating Clemson the way we did in the bowl game was a nice cherry on top.

2023. Thought we we go 8-4 or 9-3. We did go 8-4 but won the bowl game to finish 9-4. I would say the season met my expectations, but maybe a little worse than expected. Going one game worse with a QB like Milton is not a huge disappointment, just a minor one. We all knew that if we had a future, it was Nico.

2024. Preseason predicted 9-3 with a shot at 10-2 and the playoffs, which I also heard numerous other fans and talking heads predict. It was weird how common an expectation that was. I was very happy with 10-2 including wins over UF and Bama, and of course disappointed by the loss to Arkansas. Playoff loss was ugly and embarassing, but that doesn't change the fact that we made the playoffs when everyone...and I mean it was close to universal preseason, said 9-3 would be a good season and we might get 10-2. I would say the regular season exceed my expectations, postseason was very disappointing.

Bottom line...Heupel has exceeded my expectations 3/4 years, and the 4th year was about what I expected, or maybe only a mild disappointment. He has his work cut out next year for sure, but so far so good.

 

[207 others]

Non contrarian first post

 

[Golfprovol]

2021. 7-5 was a pleasant surprise. At the start of the year, looking at the East, I figured Uga and UF, and probably even UK would finish above us, vandy below, so I was really looking to see how Heupel would do against USC and MIzzou. In both games, we led 28-0 after the first quarter. Against teams I thought were our "peers" to stay out of the bottom half of the SEC East. And oh yeah, we beat UK as a bonus.

2022. Was thinking 8-4, maybe 9-3 if we caught a break. GREATLY exceeded my expectations. Hooker and Hyatt were phenomenal, defense still only average or maybe a bit above average but better. Almost made the 4 team playoff. This was WAY better than I expected. Beating Clemson the way we did in the bowl game was a nice cherry on top.

2023. Thought we we go 8-4 or 9-3. We did go 8-4 but won the bowl game to finish 9-4. I would say the season met my expectations, but maybe a little worse than expected. Going one game worse with a QB like Milton is not a huge disappointment, just a minor one. We all knew that if we had a future, it was Nico.

2024. Preseason predicted 9-3 with a shot at 10-2 and the playoffs, which I also heard numerous other fans and talking heads predict. It was weird how common an expectation that was. I was very happy with 10-2 including wins over UF and Bama, and of course disappointed by the loss to Arkansas. Playoff loss was ugly and embarassing, but that doesn't change the fact that we made the playoffs when everyone...and I mean it was close to universal preseason, said 9-3 would be a good season and we might get 10-2. I would say the regular season exceed my expectations, postseason was very disappointing.

Bottom line...Heupel has exceeded my expectations 3/4 years, and the 4th year was about what I expected, or maybe only a mild disappointment. He has his work cut out next year for sure, but so far so good.

So you are saying the sky is not falling?? Lol. I also am pretty pleased with our 4 year progress and think the future is getting brighter

I think once we can go fast again we will be tough to beat as long as our defense stays at this level.

 

[K-town Vol Fan]

Everyone always says you'll know by year 4 if you have a coach or not. Well we just made the playoff with a team that didn't have a ton of talent and people still want him fired. Doesn't make sense.

 

[WhenUrVolUrVFL]

So you are saying the sky is not falling?? Lol. I also am pretty pleased with our 4 year progress and think the future is getting brighter

I think once we can go fast again we will be tough to beat as long as our defense stays at this level.

The sky’s not falling now but when we absolutely get railroaded next year, this place is gonna start being a toxic waste.

My point is that we had a shot for this year to be special. But Heupel has some form of CTE where he makes dumb decisions sometimes. And that decision was riding Milton for the duration of 2023 when it was obvious he wasn’t a championship caliber QB. Nico should have been prepped for this run. And we lost to Arkansas because he wasn’t prepped.

 

[Golfprovol]

The sky’s not falling now but when we absolutely get railroaded next year, this place is gonna start being a toxic waste.

My point is that we had a shot for this year to be special. But Heupel has some form of CTE where he makes dumb decisions sometimes. And that decision was riding Milton for the duration of 2023 when it was obvious he wasn’t a championship caliber QB. Nico should have been prepped for this run. And we lost to Arkansas because he wasn’t prepped.

Last year would have been a disaster with Nico, he was not anywhere ready. Could have ruined him with the expectations after 2022.

Why do you think we get railroaded next year?

 

[VolMarine1371]

2021. 7-5 was a pleasant surprise. At the start of the year, looking at the East, I figured Uga and UF, and probably even UK would finish above us, vandy below, so I was really looking to see how Heupel would do against USC and MIzzou. In both games, we led 28-0 after the first quarter. Against teams I thought were our "peers" to stay out of the bottom half of the SEC East. And oh yeah, we beat UK as a bonus.

2022. Was thinking 8-4, maybe 9-3 if we caught a break. GREATLY exceeded my expectations. Hooker and Hyatt were phenomenal, defense still only average or maybe a bit above average but better. Almost made the 4 team playoff. This was WAY better than I expected. Beating Clemson the way we did in the bowl game was a nice cherry on top.

2023. Thought we we go 8-4 or 9-3. We did go 8-4 but won the bowl game to finish 9-4. I would say the season met my expectations, but maybe a little worse than expected. Going one game worse with a QB like Milton is not a huge disappointment, just a minor one. We all knew that if we had a future, it was Nico.

2024. Preseason predicted 9-3 with a shot at 10-2 and the playoffs, which I also heard numerous other fans and talking heads predict. It was weird how common an expectation that was. I was very happy with 10-2 including wins over UF and Bama, and of course disappointed by the loss to Arkansas. Playoff loss was ugly and embarassing, but that doesn't change the fact that we made the playoffs when everyone...and I mean it was close to universal preseason, said 9-3 would be a good season and we might get 10-2. I would say the regular season exceed my expectations, postseason was very disappointing.

Bottom line...Heupel has exceeded my expectations 3/4 years, and the 4th year was about what I expected, or maybe only a mild disappointment. He has his work cut out next year for sure, but so far so good.

Tennessee was also picked to finish 7th in the SEC this year and to finish 8-4 according to ESPN FPI.

 

[WhenUrVolUrVFL]

Last year would have been a disaster with Nico, he was not anywhere ready. Could have ruined him with the expectations after 2022.

Why do you think we get railroaded next year?

Our defense will regress significantly. We’re playing road games at Alabama, at Florida, and Georgia in Knoxville. We’re losing Mays, more than likely losing Sampson. Thornton is gone.

We should have rolled the dice. Great we won. The orange bowl against Clemson. No one cares. We just got embarrassed and it didn’t have to happen. But you’d rather rep it out with Overthrow Joe.

 

[Golfprovol]

Tennessee was also picked to finish 7th in the SEC this year and to finish 8-4 according to ESPN FPI.

At the first of the season, not a soul in here would not have taken 10-2 and making the playoffs and been happy.

Now it seems if we don't copy Bama's run we should fire everyone. The last game did suck, we played probably the worst game of the season. But from winless in the SEC to a playoff team in 4 years....not bad!

 

[Golfprovol]

Our defense will regress significantly. We’re playing road games at Alabama, at Florida, and Georgia in Knoxville. We’re losing Mays, more than likely losing Sampson. Thornton is gone.

We should have rolled the dice. Great we won. The orange bowl against Clemson. No one cares. We just got embarrassed and it didn’t have to happen. But you’d rather rep it out with Overthrow Joe.

Have a bad 2023 - might not have some of the guys we will count on next year. Would they all still have come if we had been 6-6 in 2023? Impossible to know but also would not have wanted Nico to have thrown 12 picks and been a head case afterwards.

I would be willing to bet Nico had a worse deep ball % than Joe did.

 

[Golfprovol]

The sky’s not falling now but when we absolutely get railroaded next year, this place is gonna start being a toxic waste.

My point is that we had a shot for this year to be special. But Heupel has some form of CTE where he makes dumb decisions sometimes. And that decision was riding Milton for the duration of 2023 when it was obvious he wasn’t a championship caliber QB. Nico should have been prepped for this run. And we lost to Arkansas because he wasn’t prepped.

This year was special, we were picked to finish near the bottom and could have made the championship game. 10-2 is never a failure.

 

[Golfprovol]

The sky’s not falling now but when we absolutely get railroaded next year, this place is gonna start being a toxic waste.

My point is that we had a shot for this year to be special. But Heupel has some form of CTE where he makes dumb decisions sometimes. And that decision was riding Milton for the duration of 2023 when it was obvious he wasn’t a championship caliber QB. Nico should have been prepped for this run. And we lost to Arkansas because he wasn’t prepped.

If 10-2 is not a good year, then we have only had 9 good years since 1990.

 

[The Original Fade]

Everyone always says you'll know by year 4 if you have a coach or not. Well we just made the playoff with a team that didn't have a ton of talent and people still want him fired. Doesn't make sense.

Who wants him fired? Name names

 

[Golfprovol]

Who wants him fired? Name names

Read through some other threads......it gets absurd.

 

[utvolpj]

Who wants him fired? Name names

Time to upgrade

Look, I’m not disrespecting heupel at all for the job he’s done in the position we were in. But we are too prestigious a program to not be looking to improve when we can. We are in a position now where we can convince a proven head coach to take the job. Heupel has been paid well and been given...

www.volnation.com

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Everyone always says you'll know by year 4 if you have a coach or not. Well we just made the playoff with a team that didn't have a ton of talent and people still want him fired. Doesn't make sense.

Anybody with sense doesn’t want him fired but I think wanting some new assistants is fair

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Everyone always says you'll know by year 4 if you have a coach or not. Well we just made the playoff with a team that didn't have a ton of talent and people still want him fired. Doesn't make sense.

Yep. We have averaged 10 wins over the last 3 seasons. CJH has the 3rd highest win % of any P4 coach at their current school...and Is only 3rd because DeBoer has only coached at Bama 1 season. I believe CJH passes him soon. Little Kirby is first.

The small % of VOL fans that come post like the world is ending and want to fire everyone are extremely loud, ignorant, and Irrational. The most annoying thing on Earth. These losers are like the Gump fan that went and poisoned trees at Barn. Just complete jackasses who think people want to read their emotional temper-tantrums.

Wish all the azzhats trashing our Coaches and players would find a new team to root for. Your ignorance and over emotional mindsets would be perfect for bandwagon teams currently being UGA, the Yankees (always) the Chiefs in the NFL....and Notre Dame. Give those teams a try. You guys will fit right in...and then when someone else wins a Chip besides them you can trash them and jump to the next bandwagon. In short...you negaVols suck. Same as always.

 

[volfanhill]

Anybody with sense doesn’t want him fired but I think wanting some new assistants is fair

Let the man run his program. He's more than earned that right.

 

[The Original Fade]

Time to upgrade

Look, I’m not disrespecting heupel at all for the job he’s done in the position we were in. But we are too prestigious a program to not be looking to improve when we can. We are in a position now where we can convince a proven head coach to take the job. Heupel has been paid well and been given...

www.volnation.com

You found a guy. Weak that you took time on Christmas Eve to find one example to prove me wrong. Congrats.

And Merry Christmas

 

[volfanhill]

You found a guy. Weak that you took time on Christmas Eve to find one example to prove me wrong. Congrats.

And Merry Christmas

What a douche way to wish someone Merry Christmas

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Let the man run his program. He's more than earned that right.

Fulmer ran his program and earned the right and still got fired for being stubborn about change. That was part of it anyways. If Heupel doesn’t make any replacements then eventually he will dig his own grave

 

[volfanhill]

Fulmer ran his program and earned the right and still got fired for being stubborn about change. That was part of it anyways. If Heupel doesn’t make any replacements then eventually he will dig his own grave

Sure. That's the way it works. Doing shat just to appease fans is dumb. Like replacing coaches just bc “we think” they should be.

 

[Berry4Heisman14]

Sure. That's the way it works. Doing shat just to appease fans is dumb. Like replacing coaches just bc “we think” they should be.

If you’re happy with what you’ve seen in our development of wide receivers and the OL then good for you.

 

[BIGORANGEBUBBA]

I could be wrong I think simply that folks are not happy because it hasn’t been explosive. I like the big plays and blowouts too. It’s disappointing when it’s not but the overall record speaks for itself.

 

[Dobbs 4 Heisman]

2021. 7-5 was a pleasant surprise. At the start of the year, looking at the East, I figured Uga and UF, and probably even UK would finish above us, vandy below, so I was really looking to see how Heupel would do against USC and MIzzou. In both games, we led 28-0 after the first quarter. Against teams I thought were our "peers" to stay out of the bottom half of the SEC East. And oh yeah, we beat UK as a bonus.

2022. Was thinking 8-4, maybe 9-3 if we caught a break. GREATLY exceeded my expectations. Hooker and Hyatt were phenomenal, defense still only average or maybe a bit above average but better. Almost made the 4 team playoff. This was WAY better than I expected. Beating Clemson the way we did in the bowl game was a nice cherry on top.

2023. Thought we we go 8-4 or 9-3. We did go 8-4 but won the bowl game to finish 9-4. I would say the season met my expectations, but maybe a little worse than expected. Going one game worse with a QB like Milton is not a huge disappointment, just a minor one. We all knew that if we had a future, it was Nico.

2024. Preseason predicted 9-3 with a shot at 10-2 and the playoffs, which I also heard numerous other fans and talking heads predict. It was weird how common an expectation that was. I was very happy with 10-2 including wins over UF and Bama, and of course disappointed by the loss to Arkansas. Playoff loss was ugly and embarassing, but that doesn't change the fact that we made the playoffs when everyone...and I mean it was close to universal preseason, said 9-3 would be a good season and we might get 10-2. I would say the regular season exceed my expectations, postseason was very disappointing.

Bottom line...Heupel has exceeded my expectations 3/4 years, and the 4th year was about what I expected, or maybe only a mild disappointment. He has his work cut out next year for sure, but so far so good.

You just have low expectations.

I expected 7-5 the first year so he met expectations. In Year 2 I actually predicted we would go 10-2 with losses to Alabama and Georgia. We went 10-2 but lost to South Carolina after beating Alabama. So he met expectations in year 2 despite it being a little disappointing cause it could have been better. I thought we would be 10-2 or 11-1 last year so it was a major let down to go 8-4. And finally I had us going 11-1 to 12-0 this year so Huepel going 10-2 was a disappointment. Also I never thought we would get embarrassed the way we did against Ohio State.

So to me Huepel has been going downwards in terms of meeting expectations the last 2 years. Hopefully we're better in Year 5. But just cause you set your expectations low doesn't mean everyone else does. Some of us hold Tennessee to a higher standard.