The Best Team before the 2022 Team?

#26
#26
volbound1700 said:
Great Memory! I hated that. Kelly Washington sound like a moron. Rumors are that he ran off Donte Stallworth who was a more solid WR. Still, a lot of that is on coaching. The snap issues and lack of discipline on the offense. We had the talent in 2002 to win the SEC but we did NOT put it together.

1998 and 2007 are contenders for Fulmer's best years as well. 2007 started out very rough with ugly losses to Cal and Florida to start 1-2 but we still won the SEC East. 1998 was supposed to be a rebuilding year but they won the National Title.

1999, 2002, and 2005 were Fulmer's worse years coaching. Not sure how 2008 would have played out if there wasn't the meltdown after the UCLA loss. The UCLA game in 2008 ended Fulmer's career because everyone knew that UCLA team was garbage and we should NOT have loss to them. (UCLA went 3-9 that year). In hindsight, the fanbase should have had more patience with Fulmer and the 2008 team. We had Clawson as a first year OC and he could have probably turned things around. We got antsy and pulled the trigger and started the downfall.

I don't see Tennessee winning a title with Fulmer but I don't see us falling off the map like we did with Kiffin, Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt.
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I remember the offseason after 2001 and there was a big discussion about which wideout was coming back. There was some sort of weird play going on w/ Stallworth and Washington . KW became a diva WR and I think had a negative effect on that team. Fulmer was a much better coach when we were the underdog and we played w/ a chip on our shoulder .

That 2008 debacle was obviously the final straw. So much went wrong, and like you said, the opener vs UCLA. I think Crompton threw the ball 40+ times that game. In no way shape or form should Crompton have ever thrown the ball that many times . He killed whatever the ant and worm population of the Rose Bowl was at that time. He wasn’t ready to be a starting QB.
 
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#28
#28
RDU VOL#14 said:
I remember the offseason after 2001 and there was a big discussion about which wideout was coming back. There was some sort of weird play going on w/ Stallworth and Washington . KW became a diva WR and I think had a negative effect on that team. Fulmer was a much better coach when we were the underdog and we played w/ a chip on our shoulder .

That 2008 debacle was obviously the final straw. So much went wrong, and like you said, the opener vs UCLA. I think Crompton threw the ball 40+ times that game. In no way shape or form should Crompton have ever thrown the ball that many times . He killed whatever the ant and worm population of the Rose Bowl was at that time. He wasn’t ready to be a starting QB.
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This is what I feel like we are missing sometimes with the current Heupel regime. We should have came into Athens with that mentality but I felt like we came in and played our normal game. Our normal game was never going to beat Georgia in Athens. It gave them a ball game because we are a good team but it didn't win the game. We needed to change stuff up to win that game and we didn't. We relied on players executing and winning the line of scrimmage but we just didn't have the talent to do that (plus I think teams get a boost on those areas being at home).
 
#29
#29
volbound1700 said:
This is what I feel like we are missing sometimes with the current Heupel regime. We should have came into Athens with that mentality but I felt like we came in and played our normal game. Our normal game was never going to beat Georgia in Athens. It gave them a ball game because we are a good team but it didn't win the game. We needed to change stuff up to win that game and we didn't. We relied on players executing and winning the line of scrimmage but we just didn't have the talent to do that (plus I think teams get a boost on those areas being at home).
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I agree that we played conservatively this past weekend. It’s served us well so far this season playing the kicking game and then the defense getting stops, not allowing the opposing teams put together long drives. That didn’t happen. UGA had huge drives and shrunk the game bc we couldn’t get them off of the field. Everyone keeps pointing to the offense not scoring in the second half, which is true, but I blame the defense just as much for not creating those opportunities for the offense. I thought we were really balanced, but just too many critical mistakes or a big drop. If we put it all together at the same time just once, we can beat anyone .
 
#32
#32
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
No, but if someone says “Fulmer should have retired because he choked against LSU and turned around to get dismantled in the Cotton Bowl in the next game,” it makes them sound ignorant.
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Good point. He didn’t coach up to the talent level on the roster, but he shouldn’t have been fired or retired in 2001. Hindsight is 20-20 and nobody anticipated the drop off from 2001. The 05 team was loaded w/ preseason ranking @ # 3.
 
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#33
#33
I will say this, talent-wise, I actually think 2016 Tennessee was the best team post-Fulmer. The coaching wasn't on par with Heupel era, though.

2001 Tennessee is the most talented team that I have seen in my life time.

I think the 1998 and 2022 teams are the "best" teams that I have seen in my life time. 2022 Tennessee overachieved.
 
#34
#34
BernardKingGOAT said:
Ah yes! Alabama twice on the road. Florida twice on the road. Notre Dame once in the road. 3 of those were when he was a sophomore. Miami, Florida and Bama on the road when he was a senior. That 4th and 19 throw at Bama was a thing of beauty. Deluxe moxey and big time gamer
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Yep, I wrote a 12 bar blues song in honor of that play. Wrote it from a Bama fan's perspective. "I Got the 4th and 19 Blues."
 
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#37
#37
RDU VOL#14 said:
I remember the offseason after 2001 and there was a big discussion about which wideout was coming back. There was some sort of weird play going on w/ Stallworth and Washington . KW became a diva WR and I think had a negative effect on that team. Fulmer was a much better coach when we were the underdog and we played w/ a chip on our shoulder .

That 2008 debacle was obviously the final straw. So much went wrong, and like you said, the opener vs UCLA. I think Crompton threw the ball 40+ times that game. In no way shape or form should Crompton have ever thrown the ball that many times . He killed whatever the ant and worm population of the Rose Bowl was at that time. He wasn’t ready to be a starting QB.
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2005 probably should have been the final straw. At a minimum, that season should have prompted Hamilton to start developing a list and gauging interest. Instead, he kept his head in the sand and then pushed Fulmer out the door with no plan in place to move forward after 2008.
 
#38
#38
deatojl said:
2005 probably should have been the final straw. At a minimum, that season should have prompted Hamilton to start developing a list and gauging interest. Instead, he kept his head in the sand and then pushed Fulmer out the door with no plan in place to move forward after 2008.
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I don’t think you could fire a national championship winning coach after his first losing season. I blame Mike Hamilton more than anyone for our demise than anyone else, Including Fulmer.
 
#40
#40
The 90-91 Vols were the most talented teams in Tennessee history. Majors amassed this great collection of talent and then squandered it away by being too conservative in big games. A lot of NFL talent on those two teams. The 95-98 Vols would be the 2nd most talented collection of talent in Vols history. That is talking about just talent. The two best teams in Tennessee history since 1960 are the 98 Vols and the 85 Vols. Those two teams just refused to lose when it counted........85 team suffered thru 2 ties due to Majors coaching not to lose.


Clausen is an overrated QB in UT history. Like many older athletes, the older he gets, the better he was. Lost to a mediocre Zook coached Florida team in Knoxville in 02 (30-13). He fumbled so many snaps, it almost makes you wonder. Was 0-3 vs UGA including a turnover plagued game in a blow out loss in his Sr yr at Neyland. Got blown out in back to back Peach Bowls by average Clemson and Maryland teams.

He was good but some of y'all try to make it sound like he was one of the great QBs in UT history, He wasn't all of that.
 
#41
#41
Golfprovol said:
The 2001 team was better than the 1998 team. Although it should have been Fulmer's last year, he should have retired after the SEC championship game debacle. Finished 2000 getting hammered in the Cotton bowl, then blows the 2001 SEC title game, then the 8-5 2002 disaster.

2001 also started the 20 year voodoo root.
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Don’t let the LSU back up QB come in and win the game in SECGM.
 
#42
#42
Most recent was 2015. Should have finished 11-1 regular season with only loss at Bama and even that game was winnable. It takes a special kind of talent to give away games to Florida, Oklahoma and Ark when we had a 99% chance to close those games old. Butch played scared, ultra conservative and not to lose vs closing those games out. A bit concerned about current coaching staff with same mentality. 2001 certainly. People forget that we should have beaten GA earlier in the year in 2001 but thanks to Fulmer calling a pooch kick, we lost that one. Drives me nuts when our coaches have single handedly lost easily winnable games due to not playing to win, including Heupel.
 
#44
#44
BigOrangeTrain said:
Eh I guess you can say that.

2001- 17/25 169 1 TD and 2 INTs

2003- 12/23 235 1 TD and 1 INT

He threw more picks than TDs. These are JG type of numbers. I will never understand why Clausen gets so much hype for those games. We won in spite of Clausen. Not because of him.
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You must not have watched those games. You're too enamored with stats when assessing former players. He was a gamer. Too many people who know more than you agree with that assessment. Those games are easily available to watch via YouTube. His field general traits were huge in those games. He checked to the run on both of Stephens' big runs in Gainesville
 
#47
#47
I still get a kick out of the people that bought into the media narrative about Kelley Washington. He was older than most on the team, he was the hardest worker. He knew exactly what it took to be successful.

The kids he was beating out in practice (making better btw) gave the press the kind of comments that they could spin into drama and many bought it.

He and Stallworth talked about going pro together. Stallworth declared and got an agent. Kelley having already played baseball knew the ins and outs and decided that he would be better served to come back, and he wasn’t wrong.

The game after 9-11 vs LSU was an amazing night of Vol History. “The Future” moniker came from the ESPN article where he said that NFL receivers like him would be the future of the position. He wasn’t wrong in that big tall strong receivers have been a big part of the NFL.

He played through a stress fracture for most of the end of the first season. A lot of the cancer to the team stuff came from the young DBs he was beating on the practice field. Fulmer didn’t mind the noise, he felt like it was driving the DBs and making them better.

He’s a successful real estate investor and also has coached several current nfl stars on how to prepare and get ready for the NFL.

Good article here if you wanna catch up on him.

Click here to read.
 
#49
#49
LegionnaireOfTheMiserable said:
Lol we hammered Michigan after the SEC Championship loss. We lost the Cotton Bowl the year before. Crazy that you have convinced yourself otherwise
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Yup, then Spurrier resigned at UF just a day or two after the New Years Bowls

Fate determined that I happened to be in Gainesville that day. Was like a funeral. Was awesome lol.
 
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#50
#50
volbound1700 said:
I will say this, talent-wise, I actually think 2016 Tennessee was the best team post-Fulmer. The coaching wasn't on par with Heupel era, though.

2001 Tennessee is the most talented team that I have seen in my life time.

I think the 1998 and 2022 teams are the "best" teams that I have seen in my life time. 2022 Tennessee overachieved.
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I think 2022 was more talented than 2016.
 
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