Tennessee Will Never Be Elite Again

#1
UCVOL

UCVOL

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#1
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#8
#8
"...this program will never again win like it did in the golden years of Phil Fulmer and Peyton Manning and Tee Martin and Al Wilson. Never."

In his defense, he was right, we may actually be winning in a more elite way:

1998 Scoring Margin and PPG (18.4) (33.2)
2022 Scoring Margin and PPG (28.4) (49.4)
 
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#9
#9
Let's all be honest. Many here act like we expected this season all along. 2 years ago, we were in the wilderness with a cone-head cornbread Bama Mole as a coach. Of course our stadium is awesome and the infrastructure is there, but I didn't see this coming.

I didn't use the word "Never" though. For the use of that word, he deserves some shame. I'm 65 and thought I might not see it. I thought Saban would retire before we ever beat him.

Go back 2 years and find someone saying we'd be ranked number one, and I'd say you've found a drunk or a liar. It's refreshing that we are now. Let's enjoy it. Heupel ending up being a home run hire.
 
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#15
#15
ptcarter said:
Let's all be honest. Many here act like we expected this season all along. 2 years ago, we were in the wilderness with a cone-head cornbread Bama Mole as a coach. Of course our stadium is awesome and the infrastructure is there, but I didn't see this coming.

I didn't use the word "Never" though. For the use of that word, he deserves some shame. I'm 65 and thought I might not see it. I thought Saban would retire before we ever beat him.

Go back 2 years and find someone saying we'd be ranked number one, and I'd say you've found a drunk or a liar. It's refreshing that we are now. Let's enjoy it. Heupel ending up being a home run hire.
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Yep. More like grand-slam, once in a lifetime the way it's looking so far. My dad told me this past spring he didn't think he'd ever see TN on top again in his lifetime (he's 76). My parents were visiting us and we watched the KY game together. He said, "It's hard to believe how they've turned it around. It's fun to watch!"
 
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#16
#16
ptcarter said:
Let's all be honest. Many here act like we expected this season all along. 2 years ago, we were in the wilderness with a cone-head cornbread Bama Mole as a coach. Of course our stadium is awesome and the infrastructure is there, but I didn't see this coming.

I didn't use the word "Never" though. For the use of that word, he deserves some shame. I'm 65 and thought I might not see it. I thought Saban would retire before we ever beat him.

Go back 2 years and find someone saying we'd be ranked number one, and I'd say you've found a drunk or a liar. It's refreshing that we are now. Let's enjoy it. Heupel ending up being a home run hire.
Click to expand...

Oh no, I seriously doubt anyone who is honest thought we'd be a national title contender in Year 2. But declaring we'd NEVER be elite again....yeah that's too much.
 
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#17
#17
That was a superficial take from someone who doesn't understand how fast things can change in college athletics when the right hire is finally made. It was also ridiculous to say that there was no draw at Tennessee. For the most part, Tennessee has always recruited pretty well, except under Dooley. The classes have mostly been between 10-15, since 2014. Player development and offensive schemes have been bigger problems. As @ptcarter pointed out above, it is a mistake to speak in absolute terms, such as "Never" when discussing athletic competition. There are way too many variables involved.
 
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#18
#18
volbound1700 said:
These takes are very stupid and I hear them all of the time. Sure, teams have a hard time turning things around but with right coaching Miami, Nebraska, etc. can turn it around.

People were saying the same crap about Alabama pre-Saban.
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His article is even worse when I read it a second time because he seems to be trying to shield himself from criticism by acting like we might have a "fluke" season or 2. So my guess is he's going to wait and if for whatever reason we take a step back next season or 2 he can still proclaim he was right.
 
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#19
#19
Vol_in_NC_1999 said:
Yep. More like grand-slam, once in a lifetime the way it's looking so far. My dad told me this past spring he didn't think he'd ever see TN on top again in his lifetime (he's 76). My parents were visiting us and we watched the KY game together. He said, "It's hard to believe how they've turned it around. It's fun to watch!"
Click to expand...
This. Along with the article saying that there may be "a one-off season where the Vols make the SEC Championship Game". There's nothing at this point to 100% refute this could be the one-off. Yes, it's a lot of fun. Yes, expectations have been exceeded, 8 weeks in 2022 does not mean it's like (or even better) than a whole decade.
 
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#20
#20
BowlBrother85 said:
That was a superficial take from someone who doesn't understand how fast things can change in college athletics when the right hire is finally made. It was also ridiculous to say that there was no draw at Tennessee. For the most part, Tennessee has always recruited pretty well, except under Dooley. The classes have mostly been between 10-15, since 2014. Player development and offensive schemes have been bigger problems. As @ptcarter pointed out above, it is a mistake to speak in absolute terms, such as "Never" when discussing athletic competition. There are way too many variables involved.
Click to expand...

This. As much of a circus places like Nebraska, Miami, and Auburn have been I would never say they NEVER will be elite again.
 
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#21
#21
Matt Hayes is a national college football writer for Saturday Down South. You can hear him daily from 12-3 p.m. on 1010XL in Jacksonville.
 
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#22
#22
Hayes is a Jacksonville Fla. radio hack/SDS trying to throw stuff on the wall to hit a goldmine like Finebomb. Clicks & gossip is the Word in that World always looking for the big gig.
 
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#25
#25
I thought our time had passed, too. I think many Vol fans who have been around a long time didn't see us getting back to being a national contender. I saw seasons of 10-2 being the best but minimum 8 wins being acceptable for most seasons. I would never have said we would "never" be elite again, but after seeing that admin and leadership seemed apathetic (in spite of those people changing), I had accepted the fact that we wouldn't see again what we saw in the glory days. As awesome is this is, it's still not what it was until we see it on a consistent basis like UGA, Bama, OSU, Clemson are doing. If this is a flash in the pan (I don't think it is), I don't think it means "we're back". UT getting back to the 90's and 90's (early 2000's) type of status means winning for a long period of time. Even though I and others thought we may never see this again, we never stopped showing up and we never left.
 
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