'25 Portal Thread

[CamVol8]

Regardless of if we get Jefferson or not I still think we need to add 1 more WR.

Ideally I would love our portal class to look like

Skilled and experienced WR
Interior OL
Backup DT
Safety who can push for a starting spot

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Don’t need any unless all of our WRs left the team last night under the cover of darkness. Need to play the guys we have.

Seems some posters want 70 gazillion upperclassmen transfers, but blow a gasket when a freshman wants to leave because said upperclassmen transfers took their snaps.

So we couldn’t use one explosive experienced WR? Yeah not buying it. I think Heupel is waiting for one he wants.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

I was last year but not as much this year/moving forward... Our offense stalling/looking vanilla all season and so predictable teams schemed against it, along with glaring issues at two position groups, and seemingly dragging our feet again in the portal again, I don't get the warm and fuzzies i had with him the first 2-3 seasons. We'll see soon enough!

Yet we won 10 games

 

[Jackcrevol]

Yet we won 10 games

Id like to add that Florida AND Alabama can both suck it.




All of you.

 

[CAVPUT]

This post is to no one in particular, but I would ask RF portal thread posters to look in the mirror and see if the shoe fits.
We were a playoff team this year. We have had very good back to back recruiting classes. We have won 30 games in the last 3 years.
We are now firmly relevant on the national stage. And this was done in less than four years while on scholarship restrictions.
After 15 years of darkness and turmoil in our athletic department and particularly our football program,
we finally have stability in, and unified support for, our program from the top (President. Chancellor, AD, HC) all the way down. We have the financial support and the institutional support.
We have a cutting edge NIL program. We took the NCAA to the woodshed and showed the country how we Volunteers stick up for our student athletes.
The leadership team, coaches., players and support staff want to take that next step. More than us fans, believe it or not. And they are working hard to do so, every day.
The AD/Football program only leaks what they want out. How refreshing that is in today's world.
And on some levels that bothers the average fan, because we want to know!, but that is how it should be. Loose lips sink ships. And our ship is very well afloat, and moving forward.

So to the persistent/echo-chamber hand wringers and wanna be talent scout/coaches that seem to think they know better than those in charge: you can bellyache, piss, moan and complain till the cows come home, turkeys start falling out of the sky, or the second coming of Catbone magically appears. It won't change a damn thing. Maybe it makes you feel better or important to vent such gas so often. But you are not impressing anyone other than your small group of like-minded non-believers.

To the rest of the massive Volnation, ignore the noise, enjoy this era of TN Athletics and.....Go Big Orange. Win em All!

 

[deatojl]

Yet we won 10 games

And rushed for almost 3,000 yards with what many have called a terrible OL.

 

[deatojl]

squirrel can only run straight line. He literally has zero ability to make people miss


this branch kid atleast has legit open field ability...one look at his college tape and you can see Squirrel isnt near as explosive as this guy

And yet, Squirrel had a higher YPC this season than Branch. I get it, Branch may be great, but he has yet to do anything at the college level to back up his perceived explosive ability.

 

[volinbama256]

Yet we won 10 games

Yes we did. It was great.

unless we replace/upgrade what we lost, we will not next season.

there are plenty on here, which is fine, that are good with 10 wins... I would like us to take the next step and get to the championship level, so I'd like to get to a point to where we are winning more than that... We can't and we won't unless we continue to play the NIL game and replenish the roster each season like other teams at the top are currently doing.

 

[RiseToTheTop]

And yet, Squirrel had a higher YPC this season than Branch. I get it, Branch may be great, but he has yet to do anything at the college level to back up his perceived explosive ability.

you would be alone thinking coaching staffs would rather have White over Branch

LOL at "perceived" when theres actual video evidence of him doing things squirrel could never do on a football field.



all you can do with squirrel is run a go route and even then he jumps to catch every pass. You cant even flip a screen out to him bc hes not making anyone miss. Just has zero lateral ability which means he can never do the things in the return game that Branch can do/has done. He impacts the game other ways which is a huge bonus.

 

[Blake25p]

Freshman this year 7 carries 53 yards. 3 star in the 24 class

 

[Jackcrevol]

Freshman this year 7 carries 53 yards. 3 star in the 24 class

Por favor!!

 

[PowerT.]

On USC Emmanuel Pregon

Although Emmanuel Pregnon had accepted USC’s NIL offer last month and played in the Las Vegas Bowl, I learned today that he was offered 150k more from Oregon.

There may be another school in the mix like Tennessee, but definitely Oregon.

That’s the latest I’ve got.

- USC on3 mod

Let’s see if Spyre can make something happen

 

[RikidyBones]

Come to Tennessee my friend.

 

[Adam Sandler]

I'm willing to develop some patience, but I'm not willing to wait for it!

 

[Adam Sandler]

man, some if you all legit need to inquire with UTAD. As much time as you spend follerin' the Porthole, should legit get paid to be an analyst

Why would they pay someone to analyze something they don’t plan on utilizing?

Jk. Couldn’t resist.

 

[TGMT]

And rushed for almost 3,000 yards with what many have called a terrible OL.

The rush numbers had more to do with defensive alignment and how we’re being defended now with light boxes. Sampson is also a great player. If the OL was better, this season could have been different.

 

[Adam Sandler]

The snarkyness is why I cancelled years ago. Switched to 247 but Callahan/Rucker turned me off as well. I just have a problem with paying to be disrespected.

Matt Ray is the only one I appreciate.

Also, side note, I find it odd that local reporters like those of KNS and similar are more negative than others that cover us. We might be one of the only places where our local news reporters are negas. Just don’t understand it.

 

[lfvol]

you would be alone thinking coaching staffs would rather have White over Branch

LOL at "perceived" when theres actual video evidence of him doing things squirrel could never do on a football field.



all you can do with squirrel is run a go route and even then he jumps to catch every pass. You cant even flip a screen out to him bc hes not making anyone miss. Just has zero lateral ability which means he can never do the things in the return game that Branch can do/has done

He is a poor blocker which factors into our awesome WR screen game

 

[Blake25p]

On USC Emmanuel Pregon


- USC on3 mod

Let’s see if Spyre can make something happen

If we weren’t willing to pay Thompson then why would be willing to play this guy?

 

[deatojl]

you would be alone thinking coaching staffs would rather have White over Branch

LOL at "perceived" when theres actual video evidence of him doing things squirrel could never do on a football field.



all you can do with squirrel is run a go route and even then he jumps to catch every pass. You cant even flip a screen out to him bc hes not making anyone miss. Just has zero lateral ability which means he can never do the things in the return game that Branch can do/has done

I never said coaching staffs would prefer White over Branch. You are touting Branch as an explosive playmaker. You started by citing his speed, which is very similar to Squirrel's speed. You then pivoted to his explosive playmaking ability and referenced college tape that shows that. If he is such an explosive playmaker, why did he average just over 10 yards per catch this season? Shouldn't that explosive playmaking ability kick in at some point and allow him to make some defenders miss? To add to this, Branch had 6 catches for 106(17.6 YPC) in one game against middling Washington, so the rest of his season consisted of 41 catches for 397 yards(9.68 YPC). In his two year college career, he has averaged right at 10.5 YPC and his longest career reception is 42 yards. Possessing the ability to be explosive is great but, if it doesn't translate into actual results, what difference does it make? Squirrel White, to this point, has been a much more productive receiver than Branch, has averaged more than 3 yards more per catch for his career(including a higher YPC this year with shoulder injuries), and has very comparable speed. White also had at least one reception each year here that was longer than Brach's career long. Squirrel White hit the transfer portal and nobody here batted an eye. We don't land Zachariah Branch and you, along with several others, are seemingly having a bit of a meltdown.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Freshman this year 7 carries 53 yards. 3 star in the 24 class

Did we recruit this kid heavily out of HS??

Noticed Vol football and Coach Sims follows him.

Wonder if we found our RB @KingVFL

 

[Adam Sandler]

This post is to no one in particular, but I would ask RF portal thread posters to look in the mirror and see if the shoe fits.
We were a playoff team this year. We have had very good back to back recruiting classes. We have won 30 games in the last 3 years.
We are now firmly relevant on the national stage. And this was done in less than four years while on scholarship restrictions.
After 15 years of darkness and turmoil in our athletic department and particularly our football program,
we finally have stability in, and unified support for, our program from the top (President. Chancellor, AD, HC) all the way down. We have the financial support and the institutional support.
We have a cutting edge NIL program. We took the NCAA to the woodshed and showed the country how we Volunteers stick up for our student athletes.
The leadership team, coaches., players and support staff want to take that next step. More than us fans, believe it or not. And they are working hard to do so, every day.
The AD/Football program only leaks what they want out. How refreshing that is in today's world.
And on some levels that bothers the average fan, because we want to know!, but that is how it should be. Loose lips sink ships. And our ship is very well afloat, and moving forward.

So to the persistent/echo-chamber hand wringers and wanna be talent scout/coaches that seem to think they know better than those in charge: you can bellyache, piss, moan and complain till the cows come home, turkeys start falling out of the sky, or the second coming of Catbone magically appears. It won't change a damn thing. Maybe it makes you feel better or important to vent such gas so often. But you are not impressing anyone other than your small group of like-minded non-believers.

To the rest of the massive Volnation, ignore the noise, enjoy this era of TN Athletics and.....Go Big Orange. Win em All!

You lost me at looking in the mirror to see if a shoe fits. If I put the shoe on I know if it fits. Heck, I don’t even own a full length mirror so I don’t know how I’d be able to accomplish this request.

 

[lfvol]

How can you be unprepared when Florida showed you how to beat them? Beck showed he hated pressure, banks never sent it; some of that was fear of lack of speed at safety.

Stats say he blitzed almost 40% of drop backs. We were awful at it and of course their patched up OL owned our DL.

 

[Blake25p]

Did we recruit this kid heavily out of HS??

Noticed Vol football and Coach Sims follows him.

Wonder if we found our RB @KingVFL

Probably recruited him at Cincinnati

 

[CAVPUT]

He is a poor blocker which factors into our awesome WR screen game

Jamal Lewis says "hold my beer".