Next year means everything

[bpalmer28]

Next year always means everything! It may not be in the way OP stated though, but we should start to be able to see a clear picture on floor vs ceiling, as the talent level and depth should be better. If we win 8 games again( and I know this message board will lose its damn mind if we do), it at least establishes a floor. I'm sure the Merk chants will come out shortly after our first loss next year, without doubt. I'd be willing to bet that even if we sneak into the playoff with 3 losses, some would still want to label Heup a failure.

I see where you’re coming from. As far as the floor goes, I think we saw it this year. Considering the schedule, the QB situation, and all the injuries it was a brutal season. If we win 8 again next year it just reinforces the floor (in my mind) and my confidence in Heupel goes up.

I think we both agree that hovering around 8 or 9 wins while working to find a QB to take you over the hump is NOT a bad place to be. Heck LSU is thought to be one of the best teams in the SEC and they’re operating with a Heisman contender at QB right now. They only have one more win than us.

 

[butchna]

Except that if you read my previous response to someone, we have not "ramped up" the running game. We are over 4 rushing attempts per game less than last year. We are just better at rushing this year because of a better OL and RBs who are actually all the same RBs lol

Ramped up with more yards per carry and increased utilization of Wright and Sampson at the expense of Small. We also didn’t have the luxury afforded with blowouts that accompanies increased carries. The OL is not BETTER…that’s delusional. The DISTRIBUTION of carries is way better…with the same RBs.





















lol.

 

[sami]

I don't agree that the 2023 squad was "basically the same team" as the 2022 squad. The differences were significant across the offense, defense and special teams.

And I'm not sure I agree 2024 is the litmus test. Yes, a lot of the lads will be "Heupelites" for the first time. But it's still a freshman QB, and it's still a roster that lost its "Covid fat" (all those players who got to play a 5th year thanks to the Covid exclusion). That latter is the rubber band snapping. And it's snapping for every team in college football in 2024.

So I'm waiting for 2025 to see what we really have. That will be a more "ordinary" transition from year to year. I think then we'll see what Josh Heupel and his system are fully capable of. That's the year I think we start lighting things up with our presence in championship contests (conference and national).

But still, I do hope next year is awesome, too. Of course.

Go Vols!

Totally agree. Next year is really a transition to the Heupel recruiting classes being the core of the team, and there will be a ton of underclassmen in critical roles. 2025 is going to be the season that reveals if Heupel is the keeper we all hope he is and the program really begins to roll.

 

[butchna]

This is a bad argument though. "Hooker and Hyatt and Tillman weren't good before Heupel worked his magic on them" but wait why didn't Heupels magic wand work on Milton or Keyton or White? Since he apparently has the hand of God that turns players into NFL draft picks. Lol pass.

Hooker and Hyatt were all time good players.

White was way more explosive as a true freshman than either Tillman or Hyatt had been in their CAREERS. Most on this board (including myself) wrote Keyton off well before he effectively replaced an injured Tillman last season. Boils down to the difference between quarterbacks and their respective processing speeds. You’re the only one mocking religion in a futile attempt to win an internet argument you started.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Oh LAWD please God lay some details on me brother! Please shower me with your knowledge of the unseen details that are the key to everything!

Whatever. It's not close to the same team. The OP is BS

 

[UTFranklinVol]

@UTFranklinVol Put the pipe down dude. Without looking up all of our opponents rushing defensive ranks, and comparing them to this season opponents rankings, your "stats" are bunk. Our OL was easily worse this year, and the only reason we gave up less sacks, is because we threw a WR screen on 50 percent of plays. Our offense as a whole lost a top 10 draft pick on our OL, (only Spraggins is sniffing a shot at the NFL, as a very late round or undrafted FA), this team also lost 2 WR's ( and a 3rd if you count Bru's injury, QB, TE, 2 starting OL. Thats a ton of drop off in talent, when the cupboard was left bare from the NCAA sanctions, and mas exodus from the prior administration. The only damn thing you got correct was the title of the thread, cause not one bit of your "stats" mean a thing, without looking into them in more depth.

Wow what a den of intelligence this place is. Your stats and evidence mean nothing because I have opinions that I claim are facts because I believe them. Whaever. This place is exhausting trying to argue with toddlers. The OL is way worse. Why? Well because I believe it and people said it so I believed it because we lost this player and that player. Never mind the actual measurables are better those dont fit my narrative puked out by a bunch of people who have random opinions.

People in here trying to say we had less sacks because we ran the ball more. False. People saying we threw more short passes. Please back that up because Hooker threw a ton of that sh!t too. We ran so many screens out to the flat last year. It's just people throwing out random baseless opinions because it sounds good to them.

Regardless, my original claim stands as fact. This team has performed better on defense and on the OL, had a better running game too. You can't claim that throwing short passes improved out running game. The OL did that.The only measurable difference is no Hooker and no Hyatt and Huepel fell down hard because of it. Next year he has another QB. So if he fails with 2 out of 3 QBs it kind of says it was a fortunate accident that he ran into Hooker and Hyatt when he did if next year he has other QBs and other WRs and can't make them good like people claim he did with Hooker and Hyatt.

I could be wrong we could win 10 or 12 games next year and Heupel is who we want

 

[UTFranklinVol]

White was way more explosive as a true freshman than either Tillman or Hyatt had been in their CAREERS. Most on this board (including myself) wrote Keyton off well before he effectively replaced an injured Tillman last season. Boils down to the difference between quarterbacks and their respective processing speeds. You’re the only one mocking religion in a futile attempt to win an internet argument you started.

I guess we will see. If Milton was really that bad although so many on this board were hounding me that he was so good prior to our last 2 losses when I showed everyone how he ranked in the SEC and people just threw poop at stats. In the end I was right and always will be as long as I have the numbers.

Our defense and OL were better than last year. The difference was no Hooker and no Hyatt and Heupel fell apart. We will see what he does with his hand picked QB next year.

 

[FLVOL_79]

Bruh..the loss of Hooker was massive. Hooker and Hyatt with this year's team they have 1 loss..maybe.

 

[Batman1948]

UT won 11 games last year which was our best showing in a very long time. Some people think that is a reason not to question the results this year because Heupel is the best coach we have had since Fulmer.

I think it's worth asking the question though... Which year was the outlier? Was Heupel really a genius coach that got us to 11 wins or did he get extremely lucky to have Hooker and Hyatt on the same team?

Because this year I saw the same coach with basically the same team as last year but with a better OL and better rushing game but minus Hooker and Hyatt and the results were much different. Like, A LOT different we didn't compete against any of the tough teams on our schedule.

So was 2023 the "norm" and 2022 the "outlier"? Or should I expect more out of this team in 2024?

Heupel now has "his guy" at QB and IMO next year will tell the story of which year was the real outlier and who was REALLY responsible for the success last year. I hope Heupel is the real deal and not "in the right place at the right time" guy.

We lost too many really good players last year and everyone thought Hooker could be replaced and we would not miss a beat. Reality check-----every great coach has to have great players to be successful. Open your eyes

 

[rocketskates]

Same team? Not even close my friend. Hooker was probably the best QB we’ve had that wasn’t named Dobbs in the last 20 years. Hyatt, Tillman, Darnell Wright were gone. Bru was hurt before the meat of the schedule. I think by the Mizzou game the entire secondary was made up of freshman and sophomores. I mean, I could go on and on. Quite honestly 8-4 isn’t too bad all things considered. I do expect us to be better next year, but not quite Georgia level.

 

[rocketskates]

Bruh..the loss of Hooker was massive. Hooker and Hyatt with this year's team they have 1 loss..maybe.

Not to mention losing Bru as well. I don’t think people realize how stacked that receiving corps was last year when Keyton was your worst receiver (and he’s solid).

 

[UTFranklinVol]

Bruh..the loss of Hooker was massive. Hooker and Hyatt with this year's team they have 1 loss..maybe.

This is exactly my point

 

[UTFranklinVol]

Same team? Not even close my friend. Hooker was probably the best QB we’ve had that wasn’t named Dobbs in the last 20 years. Hyatt, Tillman, Darnell Wright were gone. Bru was hurt before the meat of the schedule. I think by the Mizzou game the entire secondary was made up of freshman and sophomores. I mean, I could go on and on. Quite honestly 8-4 isn’t too bad all things considered. I do expect us to be better next year, but not quite Georgia level.

Yeah you didn't read my post very well.

I said it was basically the same team MINUS Hooker and Hyatt.

My point was that when we look back on Heupels career that 2022 may be the outlier year and 2023 may be the norm and 2022 was just luck because he ran into Hooker and Hyatt at just the right time and he can't repeat it.

 

[knoxvol52]

I guess we will see. If Milton was really that bad although so many on this board were hounding me that he was so good prior to our last 2 losses when I showed everyone how he ranked in the SEC and people just threw poop at stats. In the end I was right and always will be as long as I have the numbers.

Our defense and OL were better than last year. The difference was no Hooker and no Hyatt and Heupel fell apart. We will see what he does with his hand picked QB next year.

I will agree Hyatt was great last year..but first 2 years guy couldn't catch a cold... White has been way more productive than Hyatt or Tillman in early years...

 

[LWSVOL]

UT won 11 games last year which was our best showing in a very long time. Some people think that is a reason not to question the results this year because Heupel is the best coach we have had since Fulmer.

I think it's worth asking the question though... Which year was the outlier? Was Heupel really a genius coach that got us to 11 wins or did he get extremely lucky to have Hooker and Hyatt on the same team?

Because this year I saw the same coach with basically the same team as last year but with a better OL and better rushing game but minus Hooker and Hyatt and the results were much different. Like, A LOT different we didn't compete against any of the tough teams on our schedule.

So was 2023 the "norm" and 2022 the "outlier"? Or should I expect more out of this team in 2024?

Heupel now has "his guy" at QB and IMO next year will tell the story of which year was the real outlier and who was REALLY responsible for the success last year. I hope Heupel is the real deal and not "in the right place at the right time" guy.

last year was the outlier due to Hooker. When you get a campaign like that from q QB plus what they had at the WR spots you will have a chance for a special season. That is what we got. Unfortunately, it has raised the expectations from Tennessee fans to the highest places. Already talking a chance at playoffs in the next couple of years. We need to be cautious with that kind of talk and let things play out as they work to rebuild the roster.

I will say again, recruiting classes need to elevate into the top 5 consistently to compete in this conference and have hopes to go to the playoffs. The roster doesn't contain enough talent to get there with the other schools now in the conference. So before we expect playoffs, need to start looking for improvement in recruiting.

JMO

 

[volfan411]

You're reading the stats wrong. Tennessee has had 34 sacks on defense which is second beat in the SEC. The OL has only given up 17 which is second fewest in the SEC this year.

The Vols not beating any ranked teams is not the fault of the OL or defense.

It's all on Joe Milton sucking and Josh Heupel being way too aggressive with his 4th down attempts

I did the research and our defense had 9 sacks in the 4 losses with 4 of those coming in the Bama game. I think the most alarming stat about out defense is that we only forced 3 turnovers in the 4 losses which has to improve for us to compete against the elite of the conference.

The game that everyone seems the most upset about is Florida and in that game we only recorded one sack and forced 0 turnovers.

 

[butchna]

I guess we will see. If Milton was really that bad although so many on this board were hounding me that he was so good prior to our last 2 losses when I showed everyone how he ranked in the SEC and people just threw poop at stats. In the end I was right and always will be as long as I have the numbers.

Our defense and OL were better than last year. The difference was no Hooker and no Hyatt and Heupel fell apart. We will see what he does with his hand picked QB next year.

Milton’s decision making vs Hooker’s is indisputable…and we’ve witnessed the results. 8 wins before a bowl game. We should all FALL APART so gracefully. And repeating ad nauseum that the OL which lost a top 10 talent and another four year starter along with it’s starting center for the first four games is BETTER doesn’t alter reality. Yes we’ll see and look forward to the windmills you joust when that one goes off the board.

 

[utvols74]

Due to graduation, draft, etc. last year's team was significantly more talented. Injuries only nicked away at the remaining talent this year.

Here is my worry....

Is Hendon to CJH what Dobbs was to Jones? My gut says, "No", but my head....well....we'll have to see.

Saving grace: CJH isn't going to throw Milton under the bus, but keep everything simple to avoid INTs and mistakes. I believe his playbook/scheme is quite thin due to this. We've had vanilla games and now are staring at a vanilla season (as far as play calling). Next year I believe will be a "bell-weather" of sorts. I do believe CJH needs at least 5 years however.

 

[cgrish]

Same team as last year? What planet did you come from, bub?

Well we are actually better defensively than last year, our running game is better than last year. Our ol has done an adequate job.

 

[TnVol!]

Next year does not mean "everything ".

 

[cgrish]

According to what statistics?

I have to say I think this years ol is better than last years. Most of the time Milton has ample time to throw, and our running game is much better, you can actually see holes for the rb to run in this year.

 

[rocketskates]

Yeah you didn't read my post very well.

I said it was basically the same team MINUS Hooker and Hyatt.

My point was that when we look back on Heupels career that 2022 may be the outlier year and 2023 may be the norm and 2022 was just luck because he ran into Hooker and Hyatt at just the right time and he can't repeat it.

I read your post just fine. And I listed several other reasons why it’s not the same team. But I’ll agree that I hope that this year wasn’t the “norm”.

 

[GoVols64]

As Bama and Georgia show every year, you can replace skill players year in and year out as long as you maintain a deep supply of talent at the OL and DL. Even in 2023, it still all ultimately comes down to the battle in the trenches

#truth my fellow Vol

 

[LivinginthePast]

Ugh a whole year away

 

[wmcovol]

UT won 11 games last year which was our best showing in a very long time. Some people think that is a reason not to question the results this year because Heupel is the best coach we have had since Fulmer.

I think it's worth asking the question though... Which year was the outlier? Was Heupel really a genius coach that got us to 11 wins or did he get extremely lucky to have Hooker and Hyatt on the same team?

Because this year I saw the same coach with basically the same team as last year but with a better OL and better rushing game but minus Hooker and Hyatt and the results were much different. Like, A LOT different we didn't compete against any of the tough teams on our schedule.

So was 2023 the "norm" and 2022 the "outlier"? Or should I expect more out of this team in 2024?

Heupel now has "his guy" at QB and IMO next year will tell the story of which year was the real outlier and who was REALLY responsible for the success last year. I hope Heupel is the real deal and not "in the right place at the right time" guy.

I’m probably gonna challenge you on the better OL. If there’s an All American on the OL, I didn’t see it.

Teams played Tennessee much different this yr than last. Teams basically played 2-3 guys deep, played 5 or 6 in the box and said “you’re not getting big plays this year, you’re gonna have to earn it”. Unfortunately the offense never got to the level to execute 9-12 play drives without a bad pass, dropped pass, penalty or OL getting blown up. Notice I listed 4 areas where Tennessee failed to execute.

I expect Heupel to makes changes necessary to move the ball. During his entire career (6 yrs) this season is the outlier