Recruiting Forum Football Talk IV

[volfaninpa]

I wish we could play the “What if?…” game to see how reality would have unfolded differently if certain variables were changed. Single plays, injuries or coaching hires could have changed everything. Some less common ones many wouldn’t think of…

Riley Ferguson wasn’t injured and went in ahead of Dobbs at Bama.

Tyler Bray and Justin Hunter didn’t get injured during Dooley’s year two

Butch didn’t fire Lawson

What if Chuck Webb never gets hurt?

What if Fulmer takes the Arkansas job?

What if Heath Shuler stays for his Sr. season? ((Manning redshirts?)

What if Jerry Colquitt never gets hurt?

What if Tennessee blocks Alex Brown in 1999?

What if Rohan Davey doesn't get hurt in 2001?

What if UT holds off LSU in the 2007 SEC title game? (Does that give Fulmer more time?)

What if...UT hires a different coach going all the way back to the hiring of Dave Clawson over Mike DeBord? Gary Patterson or Brian Kelly instead of Kiffin? Kippy Brown as an interim over Dooley? Charlie Strong instead of Butch? Mike Leach over Pruitt? (I'd say it's too soon to say someone over Heupel)

What if Rod Wilks was given his choice of starting positions the moment he stepped foot on campus?

What if Gerald Williams got into UT the first time?

This is fun. I hope some other answers come in.

 

[Nashvegas31]

Ratings weren't great for the NC game.

If was first matchup head to head of season ratings would have been higher. General public just doesn’t get into rematches that don’t have much time between them.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

he's a total douche nozzle.

View attachment 427737

It's sad that a brown town rocket like Pruitt is walking around with millions of $s in the bank. . . and it sucks knowing we helped put it there.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

I wish we could play the “What if?…” game to see how reality would have unfolded differently if certain variables were changed. Single plays, injuries or coaching hires could have changed everything. Some less common ones many wouldn’t think of…

Riley Ferguson wasn’t injured and went in ahead of Dobbs at Bama.

Tyler Bray and Justin Hunter didn’t get injured during Dooley’s year two

Butch didn’t fire Lawson

 

[volinbama256]

Basketball, we have good players, but we have a bad team. They don't play well together as a team. Not sure why.

coaching

 

[Enki_Amenra]

coaching

 

[Big Orange#1]

Still thankful that TooToo didn’t get a championship.

 

[Vols4us]

Lol I like several of your posts and I too am a lifelong Cardinal fan, which means I absolutely HATE the effing Cubs.

As a lifelong Reds fan, I hate both of you and your posts.










(Not really )

 

[SoilVol]

What if Chuck Webb never gets hurt?

What if Fulmer takes the Arkansas job?

What if Heath Shuler stays for his Sr. season? ((Manning redshirts?)

What if Jerry Colquitt never gets hurt?

What if Tennessee blocks Alex Brown in 1999?

What if Rohan Davey doesn't get hurt in 2001?

What if UT holds off LSU in the 2007 SEC title game? (Does that give Fulmer more time?)

What if...UT hires a different coach going all the way back to the hiring of Dave Clawson over Mike DeBord? Gary Patterson or Brian Kelly instead of Kiffin? Kippy Brown as an interim over Dooley? Charlie Strong instead of Butch? Mike Leach over Pruitt? (I'd say it's too soon to say someone over Heupel)

What if Rod Wilks was given his choice of starting positions the moment he stepped foot on campus?

What if Gerald Williams got into UT the first time?

This is fun. I hope some other answers come in.

What if Daniel Lincoln's kick wasn't blocked and Kiffin stayed? Would that have slowed Saban's/Bama's rise? Would we have major sanctions?

 

[bignewt]

fart in a skillet

 

[vol9799]

What if Chuck Webb never gets hurt?

What if Fulmer takes the Arkansas job?

What if Heath Shuler stays for his Sr. season? ((Manning redshirts?)

What if Jerry Colquitt never gets hurt?

What if Tennessee blocks Alex Brown in 1999?

What if Rohan Davey doesn't get hurt in 2001?

What if UT holds off LSU in the 2007 SEC title game? (Does that give Fulmer more time?)

What if...UT hires a different coach going all the way back to the hiring of Dave Clawson over Mike DeBord? Gary Patterson or Brian Kelly instead of Kiffin? Kippy Brown as an interim over Dooley? Charlie Strong instead of Butch? Mike Leach over Pruitt? (I'd say it's too soon to say someone over Heupel)

What if Rod Wilks was given his choice of starting positions the moment he stepped foot on campus?

What if Gerald Williams got into UT the first time?

This is fun. I hope some other answers come in.

Good questions, here are my completely uninformed answers:

Webb - We have our first Heisman winner, the '90 team beats 'Bama & ND and wins the Natty

Fulmer - Depends on whether Cutcliffe goes with him or stays with Majors

Shuler & Colquitt are both probably the same answer, a 10-2 record in '94 instead of 8-4; but Manning wouldn't have redshirted because I don't think he'd have been here with Majors still as coach which is what the above two scenarios would have resulted in

Alex Brown - Assuming all else stays the same, UT probably gets the rematch with FSU in the Sugar Bowl. The players looking to go pro sorta took it easy the rest of that season after the UF loss. Who knows who wins the rematch...

Davey - We win, play one of the most exciting BCS games ever in the Rose Bowl against Miami. Saban's rise is delayed.

2007 - Would have gotten destroyed in the bowl game because that '07 team had some serious flaws including coaching. Fulmer would have survived '08, but who knows after that

The only way to have had good coaching hires would have been to hire a real AD to follow Dickey instead of Hamilton. If Hamilton was still there, he'd have found a way to screw up all the football hires.

This is like trying to predict the transfer portal...

 

[MoCo_Vol]

What if Chuck Webb never gets hurt?

What if Fulmer takes the Arkansas job?

What if Heath Shuler stays for his Sr. season? ((Manning redshirts?)

What if Jerry Colquitt never gets hurt?

What if Tennessee blocks Alex Brown in 1999?

What if Rohan Davey doesn't get hurt in 2001?

What if UT holds off LSU in the 2007 SEC title game? (Does that give Fulmer more time?)

What if...UT hires a different coach going all the way back to the hiring of Dave Clawson over Mike DeBord? Gary Patterson or Brian Kelly instead of Kiffin? Kippy Brown as an interim over Dooley? Charlie Strong instead of Butch? Mike Leach over Pruitt? (I'd say it's too soon to say someone over Heupel)

What if Rod Wilks was given his choice of starting positions the moment he stepped foot on campus?

What if Gerald Williams got into UT the first time?

This is fun. I hope some other answers come in.

This one is interesting to me...now that we know Brian Kelly wanted to be in the SEC, makes ya wonder if he had been the hire instead of Kiffin would we be sitting in a better spot and him still here? Or did the realization that the SEC is the place to be just come to him after grinding at Notre Dame so long.

 

[BigSteve09]

Alright, you guys that said UGA winning would be the worst thing ever are right.

2 days in and their fans are just getting started, but they're already the worst.

 

[SpringBokVol]

Where would our B ball team be if Bruce would have stayed as coach?

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Where would our B ball team be if Bruce would have stayed as coach?

Assuming no NCAA investigation etc., I think we would have seen a Final Four run under Pearl.

 

[Leeleesteeth]

Alright, you guys that said UGA winning would be the worst thing ever are right.

2 days in and their fans are just getting started, but they're already the worst.

They can't possibly be worse than they already are without going to jail. Barking right in someone's face tends to lead to an a$$ whipping.

 

[Vols4us]

My baseline is 16-0, 15-0 if they don’t expand playoffs. I am not bashing anyone, but I just can’t call a game an automatic loss. (Not counting the kif/dool/butch/pruitt years.) Those years are best left behind. I grew up in the Majors era. Every game was a heart attack waiting to happen. But I never doubted the effort by the team. The above mentioned stains on our past did not evoke a winning competitive culture. When your coach fosters a give up when behind attitude, it filters down quickly. When you hear nothing but negative teachings from coaches, it affects you greatly and negatively.
We now have a coaching staff in the mold of Neyland/Majors/Fulmer. Never concede a game, a quarter, a play. Give max effort whether its practice or a game. Not once this year did I see any player with that glazed quitter look on the sideline. It’s so refreshing to return to a place where I feel awesome to see any and every game. I don’t ever want our Vols to suffer through the ineptitude of those coaches again. We have a winning attitude team again. I am so thankful for AD DW and CJH and staff that it’s almost indescribable. Did anyone here think that they could “change the culture” in 3 months (or less evidently)? I personally thought it would take a couple years. Now I see that the bad culture element left with the fired coaching staff and transfers. Anyone who is transferring out may be indicative of an attitude that doesn’t correlate with our new awesome culture. I feel sorry for those players because they have a chance to change their lives instead of running away.

In conclusion: Go Big Orange!
15-0

This ^^^^ right here. Spot on and well done, doc. Listen up, folks. TL;dr - but going to do it anyway.

It's OK to fire people when they do not accomplish the mission or struggle with the relationships aspect. You are doing what is best for the bigger entity as well as for the person who needs fired. They need a restart and a new perspective as well. It's not easy to lead others. Tough people make tough decisions. As a leader, when you are no longer willing to take on the tough decisions and difficult situations, it is time to quit and move out of the way.

That's why some of us gray hairs keep saying that the program was messed up from the top of the food chain down. We lived and were fans/donors when it wasn't. We had tough leaders from the system President through the AD. They made tough calls, especially when they had hired the wrong coach in a sport and/or had to fire somebody. When Johnson and Dickey retired, they were replaced by incompetence who just played political games within the state, university and donor base. Down went the programs over time.

We are past that now. Gone - finally. Embrace the fresh air and enjoy the ride. The coaches in the primary sports will be stable for a good while to come. No more blowing with the wind unless an individual coach has a melt down. That stability will bring a much happier and winning atmosphere. It's the long term view. The short term view, which is to do as everybody else currently is doing, sets up failure. UT needs to be UT - do it our way. We have a real shot at getting our identity back that Doc describes. We can be innovative throughout the athletic department, just as Heup's offense has proven to be. But it also applies to how the university does things overall.

FWIW - I totally disagree with the comments on Jimbo. He wears a natty ring while using a talented, but complete buffoon at QB. That's not incompetence. His team beat Bama this season with a back-up gimpy legged QB. That's not incompetence. He leveraged his donor base to buy a 5* football team using the cutting edge NIL to do it. That's not incompetence. Now he has the tools in his belt to beat the best. Will see if he can build the team culture aspect over the course of the next few years. It will be a challenge, but my gut says he will be wearing another natty ring in a few years.

We can do the same thing. Just do it our way. I'm excited for the future now.

 

[Enki_Amenra]

Where would our B ball team be if Bruce would have stayed as coach?

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

This is a line of scrimmage league if you want to win championships. I love our offense but we have to learn how to play power ball in short yard situations and around the goal line. We have got to have the ability to slow down at times and get the tough yards when needed. Offense is important but at the end of the day you have to be able to play great defense in this league too. You got to be able to run and pass effectively and on D you got to be able to get pressure on quarterback. You have to be solid at it all. That is not changing. GBO

 

[Pridedad]

Alright, you guys that said UGA winning would be the worst thing ever are right.

2 days in and their fans are just getting started, but they're already the worst.

It's just gonna make stomping their stub nose short leg poor excuse for a dog a$$es on the field next year so much sweeter!

 

[BucVol98]

Alright, you guys that said UGA winning would be the worst thing ever are right.

2 days in and their fans are just getting started, but they're already the worst.

 

[BigSteve09]

Man they are the worst

 

[BucVol98]

Man they are the worst

UGA literally are the only fans that I about get in a fight with EVERYTIME I attend the game, I mean Bama, UF, and all them are annoying but nothings worse than d*mn georgia idiots

 

[triadvolfan]

Good questions, here are my completely uninformed answers:

Webb - We have our first Heisman winner, the '90 team beats 'Bama & ND and wins the Natty

Fulmer - Depends on whether Cutcliffe goes with him or stays with Majors

Shuler & Colquitt are both probably the same answer, a 10-2 record in '94 instead of 8-4; but Manning wouldn't have redshirted because I don't think he'd have been here with Majors still as coach which is what the above two scenarios would have resulted in

Alex Brown - Assuming all else stays the same, UT probably gets the rematch with FSU in the Sugar Bowl. The players looking to go pro sorta took it easy the rest of that season after the UF loss. Who knows who wins the rematch...

Davey - We win, play one of the most exciting BCS games ever in the Rose Bowl against Miami. Saban's rise is delayed.

2007 - Would have gotten destroyed in the bowl game because that '07 team had some serious flaws including coaching. Fulmer would have survived '08, but who knows after that

The only way to have had good coaching hires would have been to hire a real AD to follow Dickey instead of Hamilton. If Hamilton was still there, he'd have found a way to screw up all the football hires.

This is like trying to predict the transfer portal...

Good thoughts. In particular on Chuck Webb. The '90 and '91 teams were pretty good. They'd have been national title contenders with Webb for sure.

A few nits:
Fulmer was the coach starting in '93 so Shuler staying or Colquitt not getting injured in '94 wouldn't have impacted Majors time at Tennessee. I can't remember the ins and outs of Manning's recruitment though so I'm not sure if Shuler staying would have impacted him coming to Tennessee or not. I don't think we get an extra year from Manning though even if he redshirted in '94.

That 2001 Miami team was loaded. We had a lot of firepower but I just can't imagine hanging with them. Especially given how crappy our coaching was in the SEC championship that year.

 

[peaygolf]

What if Daniel Lincoln's kick wasn't blocked and Kiffin stayed? Would that have slowed Saban's/Bama's rise? Would we have major sanctions?

What if granny had balls?




she’d be grandpa