Recruiting Forum Football Talk LVI

[Ulysees E. McGill]

I’m telling you guys to buckle up. The 2018 season is going to be just as bumpy a ride as this recruiting cycle. I can see that coming a mile away....

I told ya'll it was going to be like this. :hi:

 

[VolGee4]

Those numbers mean nothing to me. Here are the numbers that really tell you more about the measure of talent on this team...0-8 and 4-8. Until I see otherwise out of them, and they start playing up to those HS rankings, that is all the evidence that matters to me...It is just a team full of busts.

Play calling was terrible. Sure, we barely beat Ga. Tech and UMass, but there is no dispute that we have better overall talent than both. We were a couple of terrible play calls away from beating Florida and Carolina, and we were a dropped INT away from beating UK.

There is enough talent on this team to have a winning season.

 

[vol2002]

Absolutely. Unfortunately, Pruitt is inheriting a decade and a half of the fanbase's anxiety about the state of the program.

Yeah I think we hit an inflection point next year where if we drop the WVU and UF games, people just check out. Sadly I don’t think Pruitt will get much of a honeymoon in terms of people blindly showing up and hoping for the best like Butch did in 2013. But i don’t think it will all be negative fire Pruitt stuff. I just think fans are on the verge of not caring anymore. I hear that sentiment a bunch.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

Play calling was terrible. Sure, we barely beat Ga. Tech and UMass, but there is no dispute that we have better overall talent than both. We were a couple of terrible play calls away from beating Florida and Carolina, and we were a dropped INT away from beating UK.

There is enough talent on this team to have a winning season.

I hope so, but all I saw was a 100+ ranked defense and offense....total garbage. The absolute worst team in Tennessee history.

 

[drvenner]

I've got my bullet proof cup, so I'm good.

How have I never seen this GIF? It is classic!!

 

[Jimmy Football]

Yeah I think we hit an inflection point next year where if we drop the WVU and UF games, people just check out. Sadly I don’t think Pruitt will get much of a honeymoon in terms of people blindly showing up and hoping for the best like Butch did in 2013. But i don’t think it will all be negative fire Pruitt stuff. I just think fans are on the verge of not caring anymore. I hear that sentiment a bunch.

Yep. UT took a bunch of loans out on the fanbase's goodwill and, in its arrogance, hasn't paid any of it back.

They expect the fans to just keep shelling out, but what can't go on forever won't go on forever.

 

[The Breakerboy]

Absolutely. Unfortunately, Pruitt is inheriting a decade and a half of the fanbase's anxiety about the state of the program.

I’ll say this, he wanted the job BAD. He wanted the job when he couldn’t get an interview at first. That’s a complete fact.

 

[GoBigOrange86]

Yeah I think we hit an inflection point next year where if we drop the WVU and UF games, people just check out. Sadly I don’t think Pruitt will get much of a honeymoon in terms of people blindly showing up and hoping for the best like Butch did in 2013. But i don’t think it will all be negative fire Pruitt stuff. I just think fans are on the verge of not caring anymore. I hear that sentiment a bunch.

My father still hasn't decided if he's renewing season tickets. He likes Pruitt alright but no longer has much faith in Tennessee.

Ditto my older brother. The most die hard VFL I know. When we were talking at Christmas, I asked him how he felt and he said, "Who knows? I used to think it was only a matter of time before we got back to competing for national titles, and now I no longer have any confidence we will ever get to that level again."

I think that sentiment is actually quite common. I know I share it.

 

[Catbone]

That space x launch was epic.

 

[rocktopper16]

That space x launch was epic.

How’ve you been CB?

 

[volfanCLT]

That space x launch was epic.

Was actually pretty cool. Glad I watched

 

[butchna]

Those numbers mean nothing to me. Here are the numbers that really tell you more about the measure of talent on this team...0-8 and 4-8. Until I see otherwise out of them, and they start playing up to those HS rankings, that is all the evidence that matters to me...It is just a team full of busts.

3 of our losses were last second. Florida,SC and Kentucky. How more talented are we if those go the other way?

 

[VolGee4]

I hope so, but all I saw was a 100+ ranked defense and offense....total garbage. The absolute worst team in Tennessee history.

Coaching was part of the problem. We weren't 4-8 bad. You have to be able to coach up your talent.

Doug Pederson could probably win 7 games with our team, and I am not even an Eagles fan.

 

[butchna]

My father still hasn't decided if he's renewing season tickets. He likes Pruitt alright but no longer has much faith in Tennessee.

Ditto my older brother. The most die hard VFL I know. When we were talking at Christmas, I asked him how he felt and he said, "Who knows? I used to think it was only a matter of time before we got back to competing for national titles, and now I no longer have any confidence we will ever get to that level again."

I think that sentiment is actually quite common. I know I share it.

Need to chaffe out the inferior wheat from time to time.

 

[Jimmy Football]

I’ll say this, he wanted the job BAD. He wanted the job when he couldn’t get an interview at first. That’s a complete fact.

That's good! I just wish he didn't have to contend with all the negative energy our inept administration has fostered within the fanbase over the last 10-15 years. He won't get the grace that even Butch got during his tenure.

 

[GoBigOrange86]

Need to chaffe out the inferior wheat from time to time.

Well, we can't all be as awesome as you, that's for sure.

 

[volfaninpa]

So 4PM VQ Hubbs projections


Trending to UT
Flowers
Gooden
Mincey

Better than Zero Chance
ITS

Unsure
Walker

Seemingly Solid
JJ Peterson

 

[LaagerVol]

Those numbers mean nothing to me. Here are the numbers that really tell you more about the measure of talent on this team...0-8 and 4-8. Until I see otherwise out of them, and they start playing up to those HS rankings, that is all the evidence that matters to me...It is just a team full of busts.

Which do you really think is more likely.....

We have a team FULL of busts. All those highly rated kids just suck

Or

While maybe not as much talented as we thought, the real problem with the roster is extreme lack of development and horrible coaching

 

[LA Vol]

So 4PM VQ Hubbs projections


Trending to UT
Flowers
Gooden
Mincey

Better than Zero Chance
ITS

Unsure
Walker

Seemingly Solid
JJ Peterson

Odds favor Peterson and Walker playing together, which means UT probably ends up with both.

 

[volfanCLT]

Odds favor Peterson and Walker playing together, which means UT probably ends up with both.

Did one or both of them mention this at one point? I think I missed that

 

[vol2002]

My father still hasn't decided if he's renewing season tickets. He likes Pruitt alright but no longer has much faith in Tennessee.

Ditto my older brother. The most die hard VFL I know. When we were talking at Christmas, I asked him how he felt and he said, "Who knows? I used to think it was only a matter of time before we got back to competing for national titles, and now I no longer have any confidence we will ever get to that level again."

I think that sentiment is actually quite common. I know I share it.

Bingo. I have this exact conversation almost weekly in Atlanta. I meet Vols fans all the time and we say the same thing. Just had this conversation yesterday in fact.

To be honest it may be what the program needs. A coach that can labor in relative obscurity for a few years and build something without the pressure of fan expectations.

 

[Big Gucci Sosa]

I know many have a sad trombone feeling right now, but a couple things...

* It's easy to forget the success Tennessee had in the early signing period. Don't. The Vols had the biggest jump in the rankings and landed impact players like DWA, Alontae Taylor and Jeremy Banks.

* Barring a signing day stunner, JJ Peterson is signing with UT tomorrow.

* Finally — and most importantly — information (for all the actual reporters trying to cover this class) has been REALLY HARD to come by for prospects right now. Staffs have closed ranks and parents and kids have shut it down. This leads to all sorts of rumors, rampant speculation and more tea leave reading than is responsible. That is not to discount all info. Some sources are legit. It's simply been a tough month to cover sifting through all the movement though. Fluidity is the name of the game, and it's clear with this class, that there's several more chapters to be written before this book publishes tomorrow. I said buckle up, and I meant it. Guys like Walker and Copeland have been enigmas the entire process. Neither kid were ever going to be slam dunks anywhere — Tennessee or somewhere else. As always, we'll do our best to keep y'all abreast on everything we know.

-Simonton

 

[vol2002]

I’ll say this, he wanted the job BAD. He wanted the job when he couldn’t get an interview at first. That’s a complete fact.

Yep. I’m glad and I like him for it. He will give it everything he has. I like that he told the media at Bama’s playoff press conference he wants to get Tennessee to that level. That’s what we need in a coach.

 

[scvolfan7]

-Simonton

All of this

 

[LA Vol]

Did one or both of them mention this at one point? I think I missed that

Yep, a while back. Probably not a dealbreaker if one really wanted to go elsewhere... but Peterson seems solid and hopefully, that seals the deal for Walker.