My Thoughts on the South Carolina Game, After Sleeping on it

[Rocky Top T]

Our safety's suck and so does Tim Banks!!!!

 

[djohnnyg]

So sick of reading how bad S. Carolina supposedly is. They're 7-4...and when they're on they're really good....as we all saw. Yes....we sucked. Coaching...players....EVERYTHING....but it's not like Carolina is Bemidji State or something. Rattler is a 5 star recruit who can play lights out as he did Saturday. Yes...we screwed up...majorly....big disappointment...but stop w the "Carolina is garbage" nonsense.

 

[volfeeva]

I am not on the fire Banks bandwagon, but I'm also not on the keep Banks bandwagon.

My question would be when he was hired were we really in a position to get anyone better? I mean this program was a train wreck and had quite a few defensive starters leave.

How much of this is a lack of talent or maybe a bad position coach? I think there is not a simple answer and maybe a position coach change might be needed to at the very least send a message.

I just have more questions than answers.

Part of a coaches job is to recruit players as best he can. And also to evaluate players during practice. Banks has had the same amount of time to recruit, and evaluate the defensive guys as the offensive coaches including head coach. By year 2 a team should reflect the ability of the coaches to do what they are paid to do: improve the offense or defense respectively. Why should Banks be allowed to blame the problems on " lack of good talent" ? Plus, the defense is digressing instead of getting better under his watch.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

South Carolina's offensive tackles were fabulous. Young's contributions were limited. Baron didn't even surface until a hands in face call when we had stopped them on third down.

It was a long night. Did we even play any man-to-man?

Yeah. Watch the first half and slaughter getting torched for 65 yards.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

So sick of reading how bad S. Carolina supposedly is. They're 7-4...and when they're on they're really good....as we all saw. Yes....we sucked. Coaching...players....EVERYTHING....but it's not like Carolina is Bemidji State or something. Rattler is a 5 star recruit who can play lights out as he did Saturday. Yes...we screwed up...majorly....big disappointment...but stop w the "Carolina is garbage" nonsense.

Carolina isn’t garbage. But they also scored zero offensive TDs vs a team that just got lit up by Vandy. If you had to wager which SEC team would score 63 points, they’d be near the bottom.

 

[Jax_Vol]

Yeah. Watch the first half and slaughter getting torched for 65 yards.

Good point. I did not see that was against man coverage.

Yeah, he's really an out of position safety. But, strong against the run game.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

Good point. I did not see that was against man coverage.

Yeah, he's really an out of position safety. But, strong against the run game.

We somehow have 16 scholarship DBs. Many are hurt and the ones that aren’t can’t seem to play.

 

[chattavol420]

Hard to find much positive from this one. Our dream season was dashed. Our defense was awful against a subpar offense.

-I've finally reached the point of no return on Martinez. I might could be convinced that it's not Banks if we replaced Martinez, but I'm leaning that way on him too. Just saying it's about personnel isn't enough. Good coaches get more production than this, even with average personnel. Brandon Turnage was a 4* recruit and the #11 CB in America when he signed with Alabama. Hadden was the #6 Juco CB in America when he signed with Auburn. McCollough was a 4*. Flowers was a 3* late riser (he'd been focusing on baseball) who we beat Clemson for. Pruitt really liked Charles and Slaughter and he does know DBs. Rucker was a highly thought of recruit. Dee Williams was the #1 or #2 JUCO CB. They simply aren't being developed or put in positions to succeed. Think about some of the defensive backfields James Franklin had at Vanderbilt...were they formed out of talent as highly rated as what UT has now? No. Even Saban's early Bama defensive backfields contained a lot of 3*s who were coached and schemed up. "Not enough talent" just isn't an excuse anymore. If they're not good at this point, it's because they aren't being developed. Conversely...

-Rodney Garner is taking non-blue chip recruits and making decent defensive lines out of them. Every position group on offense is taking lower rated recruits and producing big time with them. But the defensive backfield is the one spot that looks like a high school group. It's coaching. If Banks is kept, then Martinez needs to be let go and replaced with an elite DB coach. Kerry Coombs would be my fist call. He might like the idea of coming back to the state, having been DB coach for the Titans before.

-The news on Hooker is just gut-wrenching. Great kid, great QB, who led this great program back from the ashes. His legacy should and will be that. He's easily the best QB at Tennessee not named Manning. I hope he has a stellar NFL career. Would love to see him get an opportunity to succeed Tannehill in Nashville and go down as one of the greatest sports legends in state history.

-If Tennessee is going to blow its playoff chances against SC, at least Milton starting makes the Vanderbilt game more interesting. I would have otherwise been far less interested, but seeing what Milton can do against Vandy and in the bowl has me very interested to watch these last two games. If he can grab the bull by the horns and show out, expectations for 2023 will be higher than they've been in many, many preseasons.

-On that note, I wonder if other younger guys will play more, now that the stakes aren't as high. Will Dylan Sampson play more at RB, giving Small some rest? Squirrel? If Turnage and Slaughter are out, who plays CB behind Hadden and Charles? Do Christian Harrison and/or Dee Williams get a shot? I would think the latter would be far more up to speed now and will get increased practice reps with the others out.

This was a huge growing pain. But they happen. On to Vanderbilt. Let's get to 10-2.

I agree with a lot of those. I’ll say this… Makala is absolute trash. And I mean freaking trash. I’ve never seen a guy at this level unable to ever take the correct angle. Over and over and over again you almost immediately recognize he’s taking a poor angle. On the play that slaughter was hurt on… McCullough took a weird angle and then dove, which meant he kind of Whiplash’d his legs into slaughter.

Anyway, I don’t think that has anything to do with coaching or scheme. It is talent or lack thereof. One flaw I will say about this coaching staff is they almost always put the more experienced player out there and once a kid is named starter his spot is almost completely secure. Thanking back to the linebacker Willis sitting behind some less talented/more experienced kids last year further reinforces that this is the heupel philosophy.

 

[Jax_Vol]

We somehow have 16 scholarship DBs. Many are hurt and the ones that aren’t can’t seem to play.

Bunch of playing time available for youngsters out there. I think we have a bunch committed.

I'm no fan of Rattler, but he threw like a first rounder on Saturday night.

 

[vegasvolfan]

Hard to find much positive from this one. Our dream season was dashed. Our defense was awful against a subpar offense.

-I've finally reached the point of no return on Martinez. I might could be convinced that it's not Banks if we replaced Martinez, but I'm leaning that way on him too. Just saying it's about personnel isn't enough. Good coaches get more production than this, even with average personnel. Brandon Turnage was a 4* recruit and the #11 CB in America when he signed with Alabama. Hadden was the #6 Juco CB in America when he signed with Auburn. McCollough was a 4*. Flowers was a 3* late riser (he'd been focusing on baseball) who we beat Clemson for. Pruitt really liked Charles and Slaughter and he does know DBs. Rucker was a highly thought of recruit. Dee Williams was the #1 or #2 JUCO CB. They simply aren't being developed or put in positions to succeed. Think about some of the defensive backfields James Franklin had at Vanderbilt...were they formed out of talent as highly rated as what UT has now? No. Even Saban's early Bama defensive backfields contained a lot of 3*s who were coached and schemed up. "Not enough talent" just isn't an excuse anymore. If they're not good at this point, it's because they aren't being developed. Conversely...

-Rodney Garner is taking non-blue chip recruits and making decent defensive lines out of them. Every position group on offense is taking lower rated recruits and producing big time with them. But the defensive backfield is the one spot that looks like a high school group. It's coaching. If Banks is kept, then Martinez needs to be let go and replaced with an elite DB coach. Kerry Coombs would be my fist call. He might like the idea of coming back to the state, having been DB coach for the Titans before.

-The news on Hooker is just gut-wrenching. Great kid, great QB, who led this great program back from the ashes. His legacy should and will be that. He's easily the best QB at Tennessee not named Manning. I hope he has a stellar NFL career. Would love to see him get an opportunity to succeed Tannehill in Nashville and go down as one of the greatest sports legends in state history.

-If Tennessee is going to blow its playoff chances against SC, at least Milton starting makes the Vanderbilt game more interesting. I would have otherwise been far less interested, but seeing what Milton can do against Vandy and in the bowl has me very interested to watch these last two games. If he can grab the bull by the horns and show out, expectations for 2023 will be higher than they've been in many, many preseasons.

-On that note, I wonder if other younger guys will play more, now that the stakes aren't as high. Will Dylan Sampson play more at RB, giving Small some rest? Squirrel? If Turnage and Slaughter are out, who plays CB behind Hadden and Charles? Do Christian Harrison and/or Dee Williams get a shot? I would think the latter would be far more up to speed now and will get increased practice reps with the others out.

This was a huge growing pain. But they happen. On to Vanderbilt. Let's get to 10-2.

I mean this with all due respect, but this response and others like it remind me of when everyone flipped out after Jones almost beat Oklahoma and started screaming for Jancek's head. This is the same defense that shut down LSU, won the game for us against Pitt. We shut down Missouri second half and Kentucky. Granted the last two are not that great of teams.

I knew when we started playing way above par, we would have the same sort of reaction I have seen from our fanbase so many times. I've been emotional before, but it's usually about the issue at hand. I don't scream for people's jobs or freak out at the first sign of failure. If people did that to us, none of us would have jobs. Only 3 teams put up more than 30 on us. What matters most is points. Florida only got 33. We expected Bama to be a shootout with a Heisman Candidate at QB. This is the only real failure of our defense.

We are still very poor when it comes to talent in the backfield and thin at LB. That cannot be underestimated. I also think there was some questionable OC going on that would have kept the ball out of their hands. We eventually quit, which didn't help either. I was expecting that after Hendon went down. He's the leader of that entire team.

Noone needs to be fired right now. We have a stout class of defensive backs coming in. 2 4 star LBs with Herring flashing potential. We only recruited Aaron Willis in 2021 at that position. 4* but I don't see him on the roster. Without Banks, we are incredibly thin.

We do not need to upset the apple cart. That talent knows we have a gap and they are excited to fill it and play for these coaches. Relationships are important.

What we need to be doing as fans is rallying behind Hooker, this team and all of our coaches. Of course there is room for question on D, but the meltdown and calling for coaches' heads is overboard IMO. Players read these forums and social media as do recruits. It has flat been said by coaches, players and recruits.

Let's all hang in there. Noone felt Heupel should be here by now when he was hired. He took a hodgepodge team and put us into the conversation in year two. Our defense has flashed, even with an untalented DB and thin LB squad that has seen injuries.

Go Vols.

 

[Jax_Vol]

I mean this with all due respect, but this response and others like it remind me of when everyone flipped out after Jones almost beat Oklahoma and started screaming for Jancek's head. This is the same defense that shut down LSU, won the game for us against Pitt. We shut down Missouri second half and Kentucky. Granted the last two are not that great of teams.

I knew when we started playing way above par, we would have the same sort of reaction I have seen from our fanbase so many times. I've been emotional before, but it's usually about the issue at hand. I don't scream for people's jobs or freak out at the first sign of failure. If people did that to us, none of us would have jobs. Only 3 teams put up more than 30 on us. What matters most is points. Florida only got 33. We expected Bama to be a shootout with a Heisman Candidate at QB. This is the only real failure of our defense.

We are still very poor when it comes to talent in the backfield and thin at LB. That cannot be underestimated. I also think there was some questionable OC going on that would have kept the ball out of their hands. We eventually quit, which didn't help either. I was expecting that after Hendon went down. He's the leader of that entire team.

Noone needs to be fired right now. We have a stout class of defensive backs coming in. 2 4 star LBs with Herring flashing potential. We only recruited Aaron Willis in 2021 at that position. 4* but I don't see him on the roster. Without Banks, we are incredibly thin.

We do not need to upset the apple cart. That talent knows we have a gap and they are excited to fill it and play for these coaches. Relationships are important.

What we need to be doing as fans is rallying behind Hooker, this team and all of our coaches. Of course there is room for question on D, but the meltdown and calling for coaches' heads is overboard IMO. Players read these forums and social media as do recruits. It has flat been said by coaches, players and recruits.

Let's all hang in there. Noone felt Heupel should be here by now when he was hired. He took a hodgepodge team and put us into the conversation in year two. Our defense has flashed, even with an untalented DB and thin LB squad that has seen injuries.

Go Vols.

We only use two linebackers. Oftentimes, one of them is a bulked up DB and a two way player in high school. Example: Banks started as a RB

High school linebackers are a low priority in the new era.

Gets even more so at the pro level.

 

[vegasvolfan]

We only use two linebackers. Oftentimes, one of them is a bulked up DB and a two way player in high school. Example: Banks started as a RB

High school linebackers are a low priority in the new era.

Gets even more so at the pro level.

That's interesting. I would still think you don't want Linebackers who never played defense and have 0 in your soon to be Junior class, and 2 others possibly leaning the next year especially when you are already thin at DB. Back to my point, we are super thin on D and about to be thinner next year. I wouldn't have any hopes for our D for another couple of years.

 

[Proud Army Wife]

So sick of reading how bad S. Carolina supposedly is. They're 7-4...and when they're on they're really good....as we all saw. Yes....we sucked. Coaching...players....EVERYTHING....but it's not like Carolina is Bemidji State or something. Rattler is a 5 star recruit who can play lights out as he did Saturday. Yes...we screwed up...majorly....big disappointment...but stop w the "Carolina is garbage" nonsense.

USCjr IS garbage. They lost by 2 td’s to Mizzou at home and couldn’t muster a td against a Fl team who just lost to Vandy. Shane Beamer is a chode. We were their only good win. It was an anomaly.

 

[Volfan574]

Rattler had help in that game, he hasn’t played like that all season.

 

[OllVol]

I’m hopeful that Milton can get it done, but now that the lights are on him, this will likely be a disaster of epic proportions. Fingers crossed.

I wouldn't say likely, but it could be.

 

[FallCreekVols]

Rattler placing the ball in a Solo cup to his receivers all night long was damned impressive..
Several times the defender played the WR as well as could be expected but somehow the ball was right in a tight window into the WRs hands..

THIS X 100!
Thank you, Zues

 

[FLVOL_79]

Pruitt’s time at Tennessee put a major blemish on his record of being a DB guru. I wouldn’t vouch for a guy simply because he recruited him. In fact, I’m struggling to think of a coach that made worse overall roster decisions than old Jeremy.

Dooley and the o-line recruiting..

 

[FLVOL_79]

Vandy is going to be ultra hyped this weekend. They are playing to become bowl eligible for the 10th time in school history. Breaking into the double digits is a huge milestone.

I got a feeling our guys are gonna be deflated still..but I hope not. Hopefully they ruin Vandy's Christmas.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

We are going to sign several more defensive players in the portal. From there, it’s usually not the coaches to find guys that can start.

 

[NighthawkVol]

I mean this with all due respect, but this response and others like it remind me of when everyone flipped out after Jones almost beat Oklahoma and started screaming for Jancek's head. This is the same defense that shut down LSU, won the game for us against Pitt. We shut down Missouri second half and Kentucky. Granted the last two are not that great of teams.

I knew when we started playing way above par, we would have the same sort of reaction I have seen from our fanbase so many times. I've been emotional before, but it's usually about the issue at hand. I don't scream for people's jobs or freak out at the first sign of failure. If people did that to us, none of us would have jobs. Only 3 teams put up more than 30 on us. What matters most is points. Florida only got 33. We expected Bama to be a shootout with a Heisman Candidate at QB. This is the only real failure of our defense.

We are still very poor when it comes to talent in the backfield and thin at LB. That cannot be underestimated. I also think there was some questionable OC going on that would have kept the ball out of their hands. We eventually quit, which didn't help either. I was expecting that after Hendon went down. He's the leader of that entire team.

Noone needs to be fired right now. We have a stout class of defensive backs coming in. 2 4 star LBs with Herring flashing potential. We only recruited Aaron Willis in 2021 at that position. 4* but I don't see him on the roster. Without Banks, we are incredibly thin.

We do not need to upset the apple cart. That talent knows we have a gap and they are excited to fill it and play for these coaches. Relationships are important.

What we need to be doing as fans is rallying behind Hooker, this team and all of our coaches. Of course there is room for question on D, but the meltdown and calling for coaches' heads is overboard IMO. Players read these forums and social media as do recruits. It has flat been said by coaches, players and recruits.

Let's all hang in there. Noone felt Heupel should be here by now when he was hired. He took a hodgepodge team and put us into the conversation in year two. Our defense has flashed, even with an untalented DB and thin LB squad that has seen injuries.

Go Vols.

I don’t agree with much of that, but I appreciate the respectful and tactful way you stated it. There’s a decent chance you’re right and I’m wrong. I’m really looking forward to seeing this team’s response over the next 2 games.

 

[vegasvolfan]

I don’t agree with much of that, but I appreciate the respectful and tactful way you stated it. There’s a decent chance you’re right and I’m wrong. I’m really looking forward to seeing this team’s response over the next 2 games.

I am curious to see how Milton plays and our team responds. They seem to be taking ownership. How we play from here will say a lot about our team.

 

[AthensVol2007]

Greg, I always enjoy your write-ups. It's hard to argue with your first paragraph, but it begs the question: If our DBs are not being coached, how do you explain our victories against LSU, Alabama, KY and Florida? Were they that bad then and we simply outscored the other team? Is Banks that effective of a leader and our defense seemed "lost" without him? DBs were badly coached to begin with and just had an even worse day than normal? All the above?

Yes. We gave up 450+ yards passing to both UF and Bama, doesn’t sound like we covered them very well.