Redshirting (or lack of it)

[ThreatLevelOrange]

Another disadvantage we have is that we have few if any 5th year Seniors. Hood is the only 5th year player in the 2 deep.

The attrition we've experienced over the past 4-5 years have forced us to play too many true freshmen. And rather than benefitting from the experience, they remain slow to develop due to constant turnover on the staff, including the strength coach.

This is another reason we need some stability and patience before this gets any better.

 

[CA_Vol]

Awesome, more patience. If patience were a requirement of success, we would be National Champs.

 

[CA_Vol]

Btw, I would guess the vast majority of our players were more highly regarded recruits than UMs and they made our team look down right pathetic. I hadn't seen a team that uninterested in playing since 2011 Kentucky, and I thought that was rock bottom. Jones was right, and I think was polite, when he said we got owned on each side of the ball and we have a lot of players on each line that have played a ton of football.

 

[steelejacs]

Go Vols. Yay!

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Awesome, more patience. If patience were a requirement of success, we would be National Champs.

Yes every top program has went through the same thing we have in the past five years and succeeded. Another unrealistic Vol fan.

 

[keckjm]

Walls is also a fifth year senior.

 

[ThreatLevelOrange]

Walls is also a fifth year senior.

That he is. Sorry for the oversight!

 

[CA_Vol]

Yes every top program has went through the same thing we have in the past five years and succeeded. Another unrealistic Vol fan.

I'm realistic, but what happened last night needs to be called out for what it was. Pathetic.

I'm not sure of these other top programs you speak of, since you didn't care to mention any, but we have talent on this team that just got smoked by players much less regarded as recruits, by and large. It wasn't the loss that people are reacting to, so much as pissing away all of the positive momentum earned following the UGA & USC games.

Bama was to be expected unfortunately, but I refuse to accept we are the team that was on the field last night. That was a significant step back from an effort perspective and the fanbase has every right to call it for what it is.

 

[volKano]

Awesome, more patience. If patience were a requirement of success, we would be National Champs.

If patience were a requirement you will still be a moron.

 

[CA_Vol]

If patience were a requirement you will still be a moron.

Very insightful. Stunning how many sunshine pumpers on this forum fail to ever put forth even anecdotal evidence to support why we should grinning ear to ear about this rebuilding project, but rather prefer to call anyone with whom they disagree morons and not real fans.

 

[MOOOOONEY]

I'm realistic, but what happened last night needs to be called out for what it was. Pathetic.

I'm not sure of these other top programs you speak of, since you didn't care to mention any, but we have talent on this team that just got smoked by players much less regarded as recruits, by and large. It wasn't the loss that people are reacting to, so much as pissing away all of the positive momentum earned following the UGA & USC games.

Bama was to be expected unfortunately, but I refuse to accept we are the team that was on the field last night. That was a significant step back from an effort perspective and the fanbase has every right to call it for what it is.

It was pathetic and unacceptable we now that anyone who watched the game knows that but what is your solution? you are stating the obvious that everyone knows, I just want to know what you think needs to be done? fire CBJ? or recruit better players?

I keep hearing about all this top notch talent we have, were is it? who is it? I see a lot of promising Freshman and a few sophomores who pass the eye test and can tell has some talent like North and Sutton, but you don't see that one player that just pops out and you think that dudes got it like an EB, CP, Al Wilson or a Meachem, our kicker is probably the best player on the team at this point.

 

[CornDontGrow]

^^^ This.

So much moaning and groaning and for what? What do you expect to happen? A rebuilding doesn't happen overnight, it takes years. Why are all these people so expectant to see us in national prominence when we just won our first game against a ranked opponent in 4 years 3 weeks ago?

It is unrealistic to expect us to win more than 6 games this year. Next year we should see more improvement and cohesion to the system. Year 3 and on is where the ball really starts rolling. Until then save your breath, we realize that we aren't great. We WILL get better.

And if you don't believe that we will get better I hear the bandwagon making another round, I'm sure you can still hop on it.

 

[MSME Vol]

It was pathetic and unacceptable we now that anyone who watched the game knows that but what is your solution? you are stating the obvious that everyone knows, I just want to know what you think needs to be done? fire CBJ? or recruit better players?

I keep hearing about all this top notch talent we have, were is it? who is it? I see a lot of promising Freshman and a few sophomores who pass the eye test and can tell has some talent like North and Sutton, but you don't see that one player that just pops out and you think that dudes got it like an EB, CP, Al Wilson or a Meachem, our kicker is probably the best player on the team at this point.

Eric Berry's are extremely rare. Almost no on comes in as a true freshman and does what he did. Patterson, Wilson, and Menachem were all well into college when they shined. As long as the young ones stick around and progress we'll be ok. They can be ranked talent now on occasion. A little work in conditioning and coaching and it will become the norm.

 

[Slingshot]

When I watched the Missouri game it appeared to me that our younger guys like Dobbs, North, Vereen, Howard, Sutton played like they had some fire under them.

I was extremely disappointed in our veterans. I won't say all but it seemed that most of our veterans were just going through the motions. They were not playing with the intensity that you have to have on the road.

Very disappointed in our play this night but extremely optimistic for our future. Our younger guys are playing hard and want to win.

Also I did not mention him but Devron Young played well too.

 

[SaintLouisVol]

Btw, I would guess the vast majority of our players were more highly regarded recruits than UMs and they made our team look down right pathetic. . . .

. . . we have talent on this team that just got smoked by players much less regarded as recruits, by and large. . . .

I'm not picking on any one in particular, but I see these sorts of posts over and over, and it just doesn't represent reality. I think the 24/7 internet and college football recruiting coverage has ruined people's perspective.

"Talent" is an elusive word. In the college football arena, it is almost synonymous to "potential." It just doesn't translate directly to the next level. There is no guarantee whatsoever that a "talented" recruit is going to a GOOD football player. Very, very few of them show up that way. They have to be made into a good football player.

Unless you are one of the top 2-3 percent that are freakishly gifted athletically, it's going to take some training and development to be competitive at the D-I level - no matter how many stars you had by your name in high school.

There's just so much more to it than your stars. Those stars offer no insight at all into your work ethic, toughness, perseverance, mental aptitude, character, emotional stability, etc. There are very few players signing to play D1 that weren't the best player on their team in HS. Many were the best player in their league. For most all of them, they dominated at the HS level with almost no effort. Every time you move up, some excel, other digress. Something is going to be exposed. You see the same phenomena from college to the NFL.

Any player who has been in the UT program for the last few years has been tugged every which way. Each new set of coaches has new language and different expectations. Just think of how much time has been lost with each transition. How much lifting and running do you think was missed by many when they didn't even know who the coach was going to be?

There is a LOT of value the stability of a program and a particular "system." If someone can't at least consider that a 3-star player with 3-5 years of training, lifting and practice in the same system might have a competitive advantage over a 4 or 5 star player with 1-2 years training and one year in a system, then they don't have a lot of applicable experience with the game of football.