Recruiting Forum Football Talk [RIP 9.3.2019]

[millst987]

Let’s don’t pretend this team is on the same level as UK and Gonzaga, teams that we’ve beaten this year. We come out and play our game, we should win it.

 

[zhangliao04]

Yeah because you've set the bar far too high already. We played and won during the softest/easiest part of our schedule and you bought into this team going to the Championship or BUST basically.

When they play at their best they can play without anyone in the country, we all know that. But it's a bit unfair to call this season quite low with a team that went 15-3 in the SEC, beat Kentucky twice, made our 2nd straight SEC championship game, and is a 2 seed (only the 2nd time that's happened in program history as well) that is now 31-5 with a chance to win the most games ever by a team and potentially make our 2nd ever Elite Eight.

I'm just saying the adjusted expectations are unrealistic...they've done as well as anyone could hope for honestly. I hope they keep winning too, but I'm not going to act like this season is a failure either if Purdue beats us.

My expectations are not unhealthy, as you clearly mention in your post. In the beginning of the year I would have said an Sweet 16 is a great get, but this team is definitely an E8 or F4 contender. That never changed throughout the season. We all knew this team was going to be good. We we're #1 for 3-4 weeks. That's a great accomplishment, but it doesn't earn you any brass. Banners are what people remember. Nobody cares you beat Kentucky 2 out of 3 times this year because it isn't something you hang up in the rafters. This team has expectations which seem higher than your own and that's okay. Your expectations for this team can be different for mine. However, I don't believe that mine have ever been too unhealthy for this year. A 30+ winning UT team that won no brass from that season is going to have a huge smudge on it's record because of that.

I will always have huge pride in this team. I had so much fun watching them play and will always consider them great. But to use history as a means to brush off what this team has the ability to do is not right. All my opinion, of course. It's always going to be a great season and considered one of the best teams in UT history. However, that shouldn't be a crutch. Next year expectations will be lower than this year because we have some key pieces moving on.

FTR, an unhealthy expectation would be people expecting 10 wins in football this season. Which I'm sure there are some.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

My expectations are not unhealthy, as you clearly mention in your post. In the beginning of the year I would have said an Sweet 16 is a great get, but this team is definitely an E8 or F4 contender. That never changed throughout the season. We all knew this team was going to be good. We we're #1 for 3-4 weeks. That's a great accomplishment, but it doesn't earn you any brass. Banners are what people remember. Nobody cares you beat Kentucky 2 out of 3 times this year because it isn't something you hang up in the rafters. This team has expectations which seem higher than your own and that's okay. Your expectations for this team can be different for mine. However, I don't believe that mine have ever been too unhealthy for this year. A 30+ winning UT team that won no brass from that season is going to have a huge smudge on it's record because of that.

I will always have huge pride in this team. I had so much fun watching them play and will always consider them great. But to use history as a means to brush off what this team has the ability to do is not right. All my opinion, of course. It's always going to be a great season and considered one of the best teams in UT history. However, that shouldn't be a crutch. Next year expectations will be lower than this year because we have some key pieces moving on.

FTR, an unhealthy expectation would be people expecting 10 wins in football this season. Which I'm sure there are some.

This team definitely has set the bar for themselves higher than most fans and myself. Also I never said anything about your expectations being unhealthy, and the last Elite Eight team didn't win any brass.

15-3 is the 2nd best SEC record in team history. Just a crazy weird season LSU had the perfect combination of schedule & talent to manage 16-2 and then unfortunately the team played KY before the championship match-up with Auburn who to their credit got hot at the right time of the year (on a 10 win streak at the moment). You're welcome to whatever opinion or expectation you want for this team.

I'm content with what they've done though, hoping they hang the ultimate banner though because they are good enough to do it and without a doubt the most deserving group of young men to bring hope a championship.

 

[chargervol]

My expectations are not unhealthy, as you clearly mention in your post. In the beginning of the year I would have said an Sweet 16 is a great get, but this team is definitely an E8 or F4 contender. That never changed throughout the season. We all knew this team was going to be good. We we're #1 for 3-4 weeks. That's a great accomplishment, but it doesn't earn you any brass. Banners are what people remember. Nobody cares you beat Kentucky 2 out of 3 times this year because it isn't something you hang up in the rafters. This team has expectations which seem higher than your own and that's okay. Your expectations for this team can be different for mine. However, I don't believe that mine have ever been too unhealthy for this year. A 30+ winning UT team that won no brass from that season is going to have a huge smudge on it's record because of that.

I will always have huge pride in this team. I had so much fun watching them play and will always consider them great. But to use history as a means to brush off what this team has the ability to do is not right. All my opinion, of course. It's always going to be a great season and considered one of the best teams in UT history. However, that shouldn't be a crutch. Next year expectations will be lower than this year because we have some key pieces moving on.

FTR, an unhealthy expectation would be people expecting 10 wins in football this season. Which I'm sure there are some.

If this were best of 5 or 7, NBA style, I'd be more inclined to agree.
But in single elimination, where you can't even have 1 bad game, key foul out or injury, I just can't.

Respect and understand your opinion but personally, I won't consider this year a failure based on the possibility of 1 single bad game (*IF we lost)
Hope that makes sense.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

so I just realized something looking at the bracket

Tennessee could beat Purdue then VA and face Auburn in the Final Four, talk about a potential revenge game! Auburn would have to beat UNC and then Houston/KY to get there though.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

If this were best of 5 or 7, NBA style, I'd be more inclined to agree.
But in single elimination, where you can't even have 1 bad game, key foul out or injury, I just can't.

Respect and understand your opinion but personally, I won't consider this year a failure based on the possibility of 1 single bad game (*IF we lost)
Hope that makes sense.

Shoot we almost blew it with one bad half....it's very, very difficult to win the NCAA basketball tournament.

 

[mr.checkerboards]

so I just realized something looking at the bracket

Tennessee could beat Purdue then VA and face Auburn in the Final Four, talk about a potential revenge game! Auburn would have to beat UNC and then Houston/KY to get there though.

Could you imagine how upset the meida would be if half the FF was the Sec or even if 3 teams made it.

 

[LA Vol]

IMO, UT fans set expectations too low. Many fans are happy with so much less than UT teams can achieve. The whole culture of UT has changed dramatically since the 90s. UT fans used to expect to win-- the entire sports world expected UT to win. And in the past two decades, it has become the opposite. UT fans think a great season is overachieving and a mediocre season is achieving the norm.

 

[zhangliao04]

This team definitely has set the bar for themselves higher than most fans and myself. Also I never said anything about your expectations being unhealthy, and the last Elite Eight team didn't win any brass.

15-3 is the 2nd best SEC record in team history. Just a crazy weird season LSU had the perfect combination of schedule & talent to manage 16-2 and then unfortunately the team played KY before the championship match-up with Auburn who to their credit got hot at the right time of the year (on a 10 win streak at the moment). You're welcome to whatever opinion or expectation you want for this team.

I'm content with what they've done though, hoping they hang the ultimate banner though because they are good enough to do it and without a doubt the most deserving group of young men to bring hope a championship.

You said in your previous post that my expectations were too high. I just used a different word expressing the same thing. It's all good though. We both have our opinions about the expectations for this season. I won't consider this year a failure at all. A failure would have been never making the tournament. There is a lot of gray and it's not just black and white. There are some good stuff from this year, but there are also some bad things.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Could you imagine how upset the meida would be if half the FF was the Sec or even if 3 teams made it.

I think SEC can technically get 3 in the Final Four still...lol Honestly I'd love to see 4 in the Elite Eight. Auburn & Kentucky having a dog fight to make the Final Four and UT curb stomping whoever survives!!!

 

[Big Gucci Sosa]

So did Kyle Phillips talk **** about butch in his athletic interview?

 

[zhangliao04]

If this were best of 5 or 7, NBA style, I'd be more inclined to agree.
But in single elimination, where you can't even have 1 bad game, key foul out or injury, I just can't.

Respect and understand your opinion but personally, I won't consider this year a failure based on the possibility of 1 single bad game (*IF we lost)
Hope that makes sense.

Makes complete sense. And I respect everyone's opinion. And I'm not saying that it's either great or pure failure. A lot of this is purely dynamic and the 3 biggest things for this year we're 1) win the SEC regular season title 2) win the SEC tournament title and 3) go very far in the NCAA tournament. When the first two didn't happen, by many reasons, it places a lot of emphasis on the last one. I still love this team and think this was a great season. Just has some smudges on it.

 

[NochNoch]

So did Kyle Phillips talk **** about butch in his athletic interview?

No

 

[MoCo_Vol]

IMO, UT fans set expectations too low. Many fans are happy with so much less than UT teams can achieve. The whole culture of UT has changed dramatically since the 90s. UT fans used to expect to win-- the entire sports world expected UT to win. And in the past two decades, it has become the opposite. UT fans think a great season is overachieving and a mediocre season is achieving the norm.

Before Pearl I don't ever recall UT fans expecting much of anything from basketball. I honestly can't recall many UT basketball fans period, Bruce managed to awaken the fanbase.

I mean let's all be honest, UT was a 2 sport juggernaut football & Lady Vols Basketball. But we only made 2 NCAA tournaments in the 90s. Wade Houston was awful even with his son being one of our greatest players, never hit 20 wins. Kevin O'Neill was terrible as well. They hired a solid guy in Jerry Green and despite taking us going to 4 straight NCAAs he got let go. Buzz was then terrible and finally we had a legit winner in Pearl.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Exert from an old article about Jerry Green:

"There's enough money to get it done," Green said. "There's enough seats in the arena to get it done, and there's enough talent around the state to get it done."

"You've got two huge programs there that people appear to love and enjoy in the football team and Lady Vols basketball team. I just question if the campus community really, really wants a third program to be at the top level. From my experience there and some of the decisions that have been made, I'm not sure in my own mind that it does."

Green, now living in North Carolina, said he still can't get over losing his job after such a successful tenure.

"I've never been through anything in my life like those four years at Tennessee," he said. "It's probably as screwed up a situation, with what we did and the number of wins we had, as any I've ever heard of."

Green received a $1.1 million buyout of his contract and will receive his final installment of $210,000 from Tennessee next January.

"I might not be winning as many games as I did back then, but I still get my check from them the first day of every year," he said.

Basketball coaches haven't been the only changes at Tennessee since Green left. J. Wade Gilley was UT president then and hired Peterson before he was forced to leave amid scandal. Gilley's successor John Shumaker left after there were questions about his lavish spending. John Petersen was named UT's new president last year.

"I don't know how good they were for the university and especially for the men's basketball program," Green said of the previous presidents.

What he called a "football mentality" also hurts the men's program.

"I don't know how that's affected Buzz, but it's a reality," Green said. "You hear the 'Let's get rid of the offensive coordinator and let's get rid of the defensive coordinator,' and that atmosphere goes over into whether they keep the basketball coach or not. That's just the way it is there."

Green had trouble relating to fans, one time saying on a radio show the fans could go to Kmart if they didn't want to attend games. The Vols lost 10 of their last 16 games in his final season after being ranked as high as fourth in the polls.

"I just never was sure what the administration wanted, what the campus community wanted, what the big-time boosters wanted," Green said.

Green said he began to feel his job was in trouble when he got a cool reception from board of trustee member and booster Jim Haslam before the NCAA tournament.

"He would not look me in the eye," Green said. "That was the only time I'd ever known Jim Haslam not to look me in the eye, and my wheels started to spin."

 

[Jimmy Football]

Before Pearl I don't ever recall UT fans expecting much of anything from basketball. I honestly can't recall many UT basketball fans period, Bruce managed to awaken the fanbase.

I mean let's all be honest, UT was a 2 sport juggernaut football & Lady Vols Basketball. But we only made 2 NCAA tournaments in the 90s. Wade Houston was awful even with his son being one of our greatest players, never hit 20 wins. Kevin O'Neill was terrible as well. They hired a solid guy in Jerry Green and despite taking us going to 4 straight NCAAs he got let go. Buzz was then terrible and finally we had a legit winner in Pearl.

Jerry was a great recruiter, but an absolute joke of a coach. Essentially the basketball version of Ron Zook.

You would laugh seeing some of his practices vs Barnes' practices.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I'd be interested to pick a guy like Ron Slay's brain on the folding of that last team Jerry Green coached. He also never coached basketball again after his time at UT.

Team was 16-1 going into Rupp that season and ranked in the top 10 until losing their 5th game to Arkansas . Finished the year going 6-10 and lost to Charlotte in the first round.


Vincent Yarbrough, Ron Slay, Isiah Victor, Tony Harris, Jon Higgins, Marcus Haislip...team should have been pushing 30 wins I think.

 

[mrorange211]

Natty or bust

 

[NeverWe'llSever]

IMO, UT fans set expectations too low. Many fans are happy with so much less than UT teams can achieve. The whole culture of UT has changed dramatically since the 90s. UT fans used to expect to win-- the entire sports world expected UT to win. And in the past two decades, it has become the opposite. UT fans think a great season is overachieving and a mediocre season is achieving the norm.

We’ve kind of been forced to. I, personally, just try to just set realistic expectations. I really only care about the big 3 sports: football, basketball and baseball, in that order. Precipitous decline in caring between each. Football will probably win 7-8 games. That’s not a good season for football, but it’s meeting expectations. We need another great recruiting class or two to win at the level Vol fans expect. Basketball is elite and it was second weekend or bust this year for me. We’ve accomplished that. So I at least won’t look at this season as a bust, but going to the elite 8 really validates this team to me. I expect us to continue to be a tournament team for awhile under CRB and to eventually reach a Final 4. It could happen this year. Baseball has sucked for a long time, but could finish in the middle of the SEC this year. It’s all about showing progress, for me.

 

[bignewt]

Natty or bust

go to a meeting

 

[Pepe_Silvia]

IMO, UT fans set expectations too low. Many fans are happy with so much less than UT teams can achieve. The whole culture of UT has changed dramatically since the 90s. UT fans used to expect to win-- the entire sports world expected UT to win. And in the past two decades, it has become the opposite. UT fans think a great season is overachieving and a mediocre season is achieving the norm.

Just the way it's going be until our teams start winning consistently at a high level.

 

[3rdDegreeVol]

Holly by the numbers if anyone cares. The yellow row is her first year.

 

[JohnnyD1024]

 

[Nash_Vol97]

 

[Big Gucci Sosa]

Phenix City is stacked with D1 kids this year