Nico to start the bowl game? Confirmed

[MountainDooley]

Having your coach move on from you starting in the bowl game might make the NFL wonder what's up.

I doubt it would go down that way. Joe would know ahead of time that his isn’t starting so he would simply opt out. Then it looks like this was Joe’s decision and won’t look like the coaches moved on from him to Nico. I mean they did it in 2022 by running with the narrative that Joe got hurt and wasn’t able to go. That allowed Joe to save face and sounds better than saying that Hendon took his job, which is what really happened.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Lol Iowa puts defensive backs in the NFL every year. We have plenty of speed in the secondary.

I swear some of you are either drunk 80% of the day or don’t know anything about football outside of the SEC.

Is Cooper DeJean back for the bowl? I know he was a 1st rounder for you guys.

Your defense is good. Your offense is MIA.

It'll be a pretty dull game, but you've probably not faced a lot of tempo in the B1G.

 

[Pink Locker Room]

Is Cooper DeJean back for the bowl? I know he was a 1st rounder for you guys.

Your defense is good. Your offense is MIA.

It'll be a pretty dull game, but you've probably not faced a lot of tempo in the B1G.

No Cooper unfortunately.


No, only a few teams run tempo offenses. It just doesn’t work as well up north when it gets down to 20-30 degrees in November and the ball is as hard as a rock.

Most successful teams in our conference still play a ball control offense with great defense. We just couldn’t do the offense part this year lol.

 

[Mccage]

One the things I like best about Josh is he don’t throw his players under the bus. If Joe wants to play he will play!

 

[chuck0303]

Does your mom know you're on the internet?

I doubt she does since she died in 2009. Would you like to visit her & ask?

 

[jasonvol18]

If Joe doesn't opt out of the Bowl game and they start Nico I'm going to be disappointed in the Vols

I'm sure the Vols and staff will take that into consideration! I on the other hand want the Nico show to start now! Get Nico an early start on next season! I will ne so damn excited!

 

[jasonvol18]

One the things I like best about Josh is he don’t throw his players under the bus. If Joe wants to play he will play!

The VQ guys seem to disagree with you and I agree with them!

 

[jasonvol18]

Speaking of Austin...

Remember when the Austin Peay game was supposed to be the start of The Nico Show? I think how this game progresses will determine how much we see of Nico.

That was never mentioned.

 

[Mccage]

The VQ guys seem to disagree with you and I agree with them!

Give us us an example who he has thrown under the bus

 

[Jxn Vol]

There are some coaches on this staff that have aversions to playing the younger guys.

I think that hurts development and recruiting.

JH has had a documented blind spot for Milton. He should throw the fan base a bone and play the younger QB. Should have played him the last 3-4 games. I’m so tired of watching 7 take snaps.

 

[GAVol]

No Cooper unfortunately.


No, only a few teams run tempo offenses. It just doesn’t work as well up north when it gets down to 20-30 degrees in November and the ball is as hard as a rock.

Most successful teams in our conference still play a ball control offense with great defense. We just couldn’t do the offense part this year lol.

I don’t know how you can play any other style in that climate. Those games up there after Nov 1st are a complete crapshoot.

 

[Sea Ray]

Since Nico has already played in 4 games, do they really want to screw up his redshirt possibilities by playing him in a 5th game?

 

[bpalmer28]

Since Nico has already played in 4 games, do they really want to screw up his redshirt possibilities by playing him in a 5th game?

Bowl game doesn’t count against redshirt. Relatively new rule I think

 

[Zues1]

Since Nico has already played in 4 games, do they really want to screw up his redshirt possibilities by playing him in a 5th game?

This again?

 

[Sea Ray]

Bowl game doesn’t count against redshirt. Relatively new rule I think

They had a one year exemption last year but I haven't read that they extended it to this year

NCAA issues one-time waiver exempting postseason participation from counting toward eligibility, per reports

The blanket waiver means college football players can now play in bowl games without burning a year of eligibility

www.cbssports.com

 

[Sea Ray]

This again?

Do you have a source from the NCAA that states that this one year rule, passed in 2022, was extended to this year?

 

[Zues1]

Do you have a source from the NCAA that states that this one year rule, passed in 2022, was extended to this year?

I do not, but I'll stick my neck out and say.....
I'm sure Hype knows how many games his guys can play in and still redshirt.
I could be wrong but I did stay at a Holiday Inn..

 

[6th Floor Mule]

Probably just BVS, but part of me wants to see Nico . . . but what’s left of me would prefer to go ahead and flush the 2023 season with Joe and start looking towards 2024 starting January 2nd.

 

[rikberry31]

I'm sure the Vols and staff will take that into consideration! I on the other hand want the Nico show to start now! Get Nico an early start on next season! I will ne so damn excited!

I'm sure they will take that into consideration.

 

[Sea Ray]

I do not, but I'll stick my neck out and say.....
I'm sure Hype knows how many games his guys can play in and still redshirt.
I could be wrong but I did stay at a Holiday Inn..

Fair enough. I seriously can't find anything definitive on this which is strange. As for Hype, has he said anything on the matter? Has he said that Nico will play? Has he said that he wants to keep his red shirt?

 

[Emperor VOLpatine]

I think it's incredibly unlikely they tell the 5th year Senior Florida native he won't start the bowl game in Orlando

 

[Zues1]

Fair enough. I seriously can't find anything definitive on this which is strange. As for Hype, has he said anything on the matter? Has he said that Nico will play? Has he said that he wants to keep his red shirt?

Seems I recall earlier in the season CJH said they were not planning to redshirt Nico, but as the season played out everything pointed to him being redshirted.
Personally I don't think he was ready to take over.

 

[volfan411]

Seems I recall earlier in the season CJH said they were not planning to redshirt Nico, but as the season played out everything pointed to him being redshirted.
Personally I don't think he was ready to take over.

Get ready to get flamed!! You do know Nico was a 5 star and those 5 stars automatically means he will be a candidate for the Heisman.

I actually agree with you that Nico wasn't ready to start this year. He needs to add some mass to his frame to endure the beating the SEC will give him.

 

[whobethis16]

It's a losing mentality to start Joe simply because "he's from that area" or "he earned it."

He's had two chances at being the starter for this program. This first was a failure. The second, some of you might not consider it a failure, but he fell short of his goal to win the East, and falling short of your goals = failure.

The future is now. Loyalty in this scenario is what losing programs do. You think Saban was worried about hurting Jalen Hurts' feelings when he benched him and shipped him off for Tua? Get your young talent experience in a meaningless game. We've got a 2-3 window with our "franchise" QB. Why would now not be the time to invest everything into making a run in '24, '25, '26?

So, did Hooker fail since he didn't win the East last year? And if that wasn't a goal, is he a failure because he had such low goals?

 

[Volfan39]

I know Joe has been practicing by I also know Nico has been getting at least some first team reps….