Phil Steele comments on Josh and Swain

[volbound1700]

I am cautious optimistic. If I wasn't a Tennessee fan, I would still be high on them. The pieces seem to be there but I think we need to temper expectations.

The road game in Tuscaloosa will be brutal and there is still a talent gap against Georgia although it is closing some.

As Josh Pate is citing, the issue will be the secondary and whether it can improve from 2022.

 

[MEDVOL]

We gonna………

wtfa

 

[Adam Sandler]

You listing Georgia as a toss up is comical!

I see 5 guaranteed wins on that schedule, along with 4 toss ups and 2 likely losses. Georgia is NOT a toss up and KY and USCe are NOT gimmes.

We ain’t goin 8-4

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

How are we beating Georgia? They out talent us at every position. Did we suddenly bring in a plethora of 5 stars on the defensive and offensive lines you know where they have absolutely manhandled us the last two years. Georgia will beat us again cause we won’t be able to handle their blitz packages and lockdown secondary coverage and they have considerable more depth at every key position. We can beat Florida though and get payback on South Carolina and maybe beat A&M but we aren’t beating Georgia.

You would be saying the same thing about Bama but we already beat them. It is very much in the realm of possibility that UT beats Georgia this year.

 

[SpookyAction]

Teams only get so many "miracle on ice" moments. The odds of us beating them this year are very slim.

I agree with your first sentence whole-heartedly, but I don't think we are such big underdogs at this point. Bama will not have Bryce Young saving their bacon all this season.
I give us a 35-40% chance of winning in Tuscaloosa. Pretty good considering recent history.
Definitely not Miracle on Ice level. That would be APSU beating us at home.

That 1980 USA hockey team was all college players and four minor league scrubs versus CCCP military team members that were better than NHL talent at that time, including four future members of the Hockey Hall of Fame and the man considered the best goaltender in the world . The Soviets had not lost an Olympic Hockey Game since 1968.
It does rhyme with our win last season, but I like our chances because I like our players. They believe in each other. We are rising.
First hockey game I ever watched.

 

[KTrain]

You would be saying the same thing about Bama but we already beat them. It is very much in the realm of possibility that UT beats Georgia this year.

I agree with your reply to Voldog , UGA will be great if their QB works they had a seasoned 7 year player, basically coach on the field 26 year old QB last year. The bad for us, good for UGA. We usually play them first Saturday in October , this year Nov. 18TH week before Thanksgiving. By then with the SECs easiest schedule they will have QB spot figured out and with no losses the team will still be a confident team. So it will be a uphill struggle but so was Bama last year and they had best QB in the SEC who made some Houdini plays just to keep that game close. IMO.

 

[bpalmer28]

Star ratings aren't everything but they're about 90% of it. Yes we beat Bama last year and that that was great but it's hard to regularly out-coach teams that have more talent than you.
Instead of saying we "can't beat UGA" a better statement would be were "unlikely" to beat them until we're closer in talent.

We've signed 1 5* player in the last decade and he likely won't play this year unless Milton is hurt. UGA has signed 14-15 in the last three years.

Stars matter....you can't convince me that Kirby is some X & O guru that just out schemes everyone.

There was a study done over a 20 year period and the teams that won the NC had a trailing 4 year recruiting average around 5th in the nation.

One aberration was Auburn with an average of 15 and that was overcome by a once in a generation season by Cam Newton.

To be clear, I am a star gazer. But for different reasons. I 100% believe stars are assigned based on who is pursuing the prospect and how hard. If Heupel continues to win, his classes will continue to improve… not just because the program is more attractive but mainly because the recruiting services will respect his recruits more.

If the recruiting services employed great talent evaluators, you’d see more of them get pulled away to SEC programs. So far the only analyst who’s made the transition is Barton Simmons and he went to Vanderbilt.

I wouldn’t say star ratings are 90% of it. But I’d say talent is 90% of it. The two aren’t directly correlated but stars are the best indicator we have.

 

[pricevol5]

Just picked up my 2023 (Bible). Love the publication & buy it every year, but its impossible to try to cover the entire sport & not miss things. Omari Thomas not being rated as a top 80 draft-eligible DT is obviously an oversight.