The future is now. Bring in Nico.

[508mikey]

I don’t pretend to be a coach. That’s their job. Anyone can see the issues though and they need to be fixed. Lacking both discipline and talent is unacceptable.

not what I meant - there is no other options this season - poor recruiting is what it boils down to

 

[OldVolMan]

I don’t have the fix all solution, but I can tell you in my opinion the last two games the other team simply had the better qb and better team leader.
I keep hearing what a great leader JM is but I can’t remember him coaching up the team on the sidelines or getting in players faces, did not see it once last night…..did I miss it?
JM thinks his arm will get him in the NFL and it might, but so far it is not getting us where we need to go.

 

[Woke]

To bring on a freshman that is not physically or mentally ready for the situation they are being thrown into could be detrimental to their overall development. I have been very close to a situation where that happened and the biggest impact was on confidence moving forward. It wasn’t a temporary loss of confidence but a permanent one which is devastating for any athlete. IMO playing our future now is not worth the risk.

Bryce Young?? Ever hear of him?

I’m sorry for your past situation but Heup can’t let fears of what could happen dictate his decisions and actions.

Nico is our 5-STAR QB sitting on the bench. If Saban can START his skinny Frosh 5-Star QB in a high profile critical game and WIN then what’s our excuse?

 

[4chrissy]

I believe everybody in America has heard of Bryce Young and I do not appreciate your smart assyness. Saban had a line that could protect his freshman, this year unfortunately we do not.

 

[Tnslim1]

Everybody always talks about building for next season...........when does next season get here? I heard the same talk last year and this team and our coaching staff have regressed. Next season never seems to get here.

 

[Midas]

Bryce Young?? Ever hear of him?

I’m sorry for your past situation but Heup can’t let fears of what could happen dictate his decisions and actions.

Nico is our 5-STAR QB sitting on the bench. If Saban can START his skinny Frosh 5-Star QB in a high profile critical game and WIN then what’s our excuse?

Bryce young didn’t start til his sophomore year…

 

[cyclevol]

Historically, that's kinda the record. We had that magical decade of the 90s, but typically, we're an 8 win program. Compared to the elites of the sport, we don't have nearly the number of 10+ win seasons.
Tennessee Volunteers College Football History, Stats, Records | College Football at Sports-Reference.com

Nope. we will have a better record than UF. They just have something on us. They will suck next week. Write it down.

 

[LWSVOL]

I am afraid to Milton could be JH's JG. He is sticking with him despite knowing that he's not capable of running the entire playbook with him in the game. Maybe he feels like he owes it to him for patiently

g his turn. Maybe he is enamored by the arm strength. But it's a failed experiment. We are going to win 9 games max with Milton at the helm and that's being super optimistic. Every coach that we play just saw the Playbook on how to shut us down offensively and pick us apart defensively. No one considered Milton a threat as a Runner so it's basically 10 versus 11 out there on the field with him playing. He doesn't have legs and he's afraid to take a hit. It's time to move on to the Future.

Nico is going to be green and is going to make a lot of mistakes. But I have to think that at the end of the day he is going to be equally as successful as Milton this season. I don't feel like we're actually going to give up any wins by bringing him in. I don't think this is a case of "scrap the rest of this season and let's get the backup quarterback some experience so that we can have a good next season". I think we will have the same record this season with Milton or Nico. But at least we can build on this season going into next season. Next season should not be a case of sticking Nico in as the starter with very minimal experience. That's just the recipe for another nine win at best season. And to be dead honest, I think the team plays uninspired because they don't truly want Milton starting. He's not the guy they can rally around.

Edit: I am still 100% behind JH. I do not in any way shape or form think he should be "fyred!". I also don't hate Milton. He's shown a ton of class. I just think there is a talent gap. He has Olympic level arm strength paired with my accuracy. It's a shame too. He could have been a legend.

Explain what you've seen that the coaches can't see regarding Nico? They have sent him at practice and they have seen him with live bullets vs Virginia.

Does anyone know how many good or bad reads he made vs Virginia? Coaches do.

Does anyone know if Nico got all the formation calls right against Virginia?

Did he make the right adjustments while playing,?

Each play has multiple options to it, based on the defense did he chose the correct option?

From a fan watching him, I could see nothing he did wrong. But coaches grade him on multiple points in every play. He could have made mistakes without it causing a negative play in that game. But it might in the next game.

There is a ton a fan doesn't know or see in the execution of every play. Executing your responsibilities is not just catching a pass.

 

[TheFlash1971]

I’d play Nico next game to get him some playing time. As in starting him. Milton is going to be Milton very strong arm great if you give him a ton of time to launch ball 60 yds downfield. Anybody can throw bubble screens.

 

[BradentonVol]

I will say that I would not have “Started” Nico in the swamp, not sure about putting him in, later in the game. Some are saying he wouldn’t have helped the defense, well, that’s not always true. Sometimes, a new player can add as a spark to the whole team and get things turned around. I think Saban did that a couple of times.
Also, if you were the Florida DC, what was your game plan? Load the box and make Milton beat you with his arm? Well, that’s pretty much what they did and that makes it hard on the Oline. Granted, O. Lane had a bad game but, for the most, they were outnumbered. You have to have/use a passing attack, can’t be one dimensional.

 

[He_Made_It]

FR/RS FR QBs “thrown into the fire” the past 30 years. I’m sure I missed a bunch more.

1992 - Nebraska- Tommie Frazier

1993 - Florida - Danny Wuerffel

1993 - Arizona State - Jake Plummer

1994 - Tennessee - Peyton Manning

1994 - Texas - James Brown

1995 - UCLA - Cade McNown

1995 - UCF - Dante Culpepper

1995 - Syracuse - Donovan McNabb

1995 - Marshall - Chad Pennington

1996 - Kentucky - Tim Couch

1998 - Mississippi State - Wayne Madkin

1998 - Nebraska - Eric Crouch

1998 - Southern Cal - Carson Palmer

1999 - Virginia Tech - Michael Vick

1999 - Miami (Fl) - Ken Dorsey

2000 - Florida - Rex Grossman

2000 - Tennessee - Casey Clausen

2000 - NC State - Phillip Rivers

2001 - Auburn - Jason Campbell

2001 - Miami (OH) - Ben Rothlisberger

2002 - Vanderbilt - Jay Cutler

2002/03 - Butte CC/Cal - Aaron Rodgers

2003 - Florida - Chris Leak

2003- Texas - Vince Young

2004 - Boston College - Matt Ryan

2005 - West Virginia - Pat White

2006 - Texas - Colt McCoy

2006 - Georgia - Matthew Stafford

2007 - Norte Dame - Jimmy Clausen

2007 - Oklahoma - Sam Bradford

2007 - Washington - Jake Locker

2007 - NC State - Russell Wilson

2008 - Ohio State - Terrelle Pryor

2008 - Baylor - Robert Griffen III

2008 - Boise State - Kellen Moore

2009 - Southern Cal - Matt Barkley

2009 - Stanford - Andrew Luck

2009 - Oklahoma - Landry Jones

2011 - Alabama - AJ McCarron

2012 - TCU - Trevone Boykin

2012 - Texas A&M - Johnny Manziel

2012 - Oregon - Marcus Mariota

2013 - Florida State - Jamies Winston

2013 - TTU/Oklahoma - Baker Mayfield

2013 - Cal - Jared Goff

2014 - Ohio State - JT Barrett

2014 - Clemson - Deshaun Watson

2014 - Texas Tech - Patrick Mahomes

2015 - Missouri - Drew Lock

2015 - Louisville - Lamar Jackson

2016 - Alabama - Jalen Hurts

2016 - Oregon - Justin Herbert

2016 - Southern Cal - Sam Darnold

2017 - Georgia - Jake Fromm

2018 - Clemson - Trevor Lawrence

2021 - Ohio State - CJ Stroud

 

[508mikey]

FR/RS FR QBs “thrown into the fire” the past 30 years. I’m sure I missed a bunch more.

1992 - Nebraska- Tommie Frazier

1993 - Florida - Danny Wuerffel

1993 - Arizona State - Jake Plummer

1994 - Tennessee - Peyton Manning

1994 - Texas - James Brown

1995 - UCLA - Cade McNown

1995 - UCF - Dante Culpepper

1995 - Syracuse - Donovan McNabb

1995 - Marshall - Chad Pennington

1996 - Kentucky - Tim Couch

1998 - Mississippi State - Wayne Madkin

1998 - Nebraska - Eric Crouch

1998 - Southern Cal - Carson Palmer

1999 - Virginia Tech - Michael Vick

1999 - Miami (Fl) - Ken Dorsey

2000 - Florida - Rex Grossman

2000 - Tennessee - Casey Clausen

2000 - NC State - Phillip Rivers

2001 - Auburn - Jason Campbell

2001 - Miami (OH) - Ben Rothlisberger

2002 - Vanderbilt - Jay Cutler

2002/03 - Butte CC/Cal - Aaron Rodgers

2003 - Florida - Chris Leak

2003- Texas - Vince Young

2004 - Boston College - Matt Ryan

2005 - West Virginia - Pat White

2006 - Texas - Colt McCoy

2006 - Georgia - Matthew Stafford

2007 - Norte Dame - Jimmy Clausen

2007 - Oklahoma - Sam Bradford

2007 - Washington - Jake Locker

2007 - NC State - Russell Wilson

2008 - Ohio State - Terrelle Pryor

2008 - Baylor - Robert Griffen III

2008 - Boise State - Kellen Moore

2009 - Southern Cal - Matt Barkley

2009 - Stanford - Andrew Luck

2009 - Oklahoma - Landry Jones

2011 - Alabama - AJ McCarron

2012 - TCU - Trevone Boykin

2012 - Texas A&M - Johnny Manziel

2012 - Oregon - Marcus Mariota

2013 - Florida State - Jamies Winston

2013 - TTU/Oklahoma - Baker Mayfield

2013 - Cal - Jared Goff

2014 - Ohio State - JT Barrett

2014 - Clemson - Deshaun Watson

2014 - Texas Tech - Patrick Mahomes

2015 - Missouri - Drew Lock

2015 - Louisville - Lamar Jackson

2016 - Alabama - Jalen Hurts

2016 - Oregon - Justin Herbert

2016 - Southern Cal - Sam Darnold

2017 - Georgia - Jake Fromm

2018 - Clemson - Trevor Lawrence

2021 - Ohio State - CJ Stroud

2004 Ainge/Schaefer

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Fix the OL ? How ?

Portal

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Bryce Young?? Ever hear of him?

I’m sorry for your past situation but Heup can’t let fears of what could happen dictate his decisions and actions.

Nico is our 5-STAR QB sitting on the bench. If Saban can START his skinny Frosh 5-Star QB in a high profile critical game and WIN then what’s our excuse?

Lol. Right. So you think Bruce Young walked into the same starting situation that Nico would? Your post is dumb. Why? The talent level between us and Bama is VAST. You are trying to compare the lost talented roster in the nation to ours. Make a better argument.

 

[508mikey]

Portal

talkin this season

 

[marcusluvsvols]

HAHAHA.

Is there a single poster who has been on VN a year or 2 that did not KNOW this thread and a dozen like it were coming as soon as we lost the 1st game???

The backup QB is always Chuck Norris Manning to the emotional folks. Ready to win em all!!!

Joe graded out higher than any other player on the team according to PFF...whose jobs are to carefully diagnose tape from an educated perspective. He isnt Hooker...but very few players are. Hendon broke nearly every single season record imaginable last season...probably the best season ever by a QB at UT period. Including Manning, Clausen, and Shuler.

Nico is not ready anyway. physically. Best scenario by far for this program is for Joe to start all season and improve while Nico plays mop up duty in 4 games and redshirts. Or maybe Nico gets to play in more than 4...but unless Joe is injured we need Nico growing and learning the system. Hooker was 6 YEARS OLDER than Nico is last season. This is the SEC and we have a struggling offensive line. Period.

 

[marcusluvsvols]

Lol. Right. So you think Bruce Young walked into the same starting situation that Nico would? Your post is dumb. Why? The talent level between us and Bama is VAST. You are trying to compare the lost talented roster in the nation to ours. Make a better argument.

Bryce started behind 5 NFL offensive linemen...upper classmen too. With NFL receivers...NFL running backs...NFL defense to back him up etc etc.

Our Oline is not good right now. At all. Nico would get killed in this next 6 game gauntlet we are about to run...bama and LSU among others have defensive lines that will live in our backfield like the gators did.

 

[butchna]

Bryce Young?? Ever hear of him?

I’m sorry for your past situation but Heup can’t let fears of what could happen dictate his decisions and actions.

Nico is our 5-STAR QB sitting on the bench. If Saban can START his skinny Frosh 5-Star QB in a high profile critical game and WIN then what’s our excuse?

Young was a REDSHIRT freshman. Sat his first season.

 

[xpsyclonex2002]

Explain what you've seen that the coaches can't see regarding Nico? They have sent him at practice and they have seen him with live bullets vs Virginia.

Does anyone know how many good or bad reads he made vs Virginia? Coaches do.

Does anyone know if Nico got all the formation calls right against Virginia?

Did he make the right adjustments while playing,?

Each play has multiple options to it, based on the defense did he chose the correct option?

From a fan watching him, I could see nothing he did wrong. But coaches grade him on multiple points in every play. He could have made mistakes without it causing a negative play in that game. But it might in the next game.

There is a ton a fan doesn't know or see in the execution of every play. Executing your responsibilities is not just catching a pass.

To that I would respond,
What have the coaches already seen out of Milton?
What has he shown, that after 5 years, he has corrected?
What are the results of him being on the field as far as team production against quality opponents?
At the end of the day, does the offense perform at expected levels while he is at the helm?

The old notion that the "coach knows something we don't know" and "I'll trust the coaches ability to evaluate player over the masses of fans" just doesn't bear out. Look at JG with Jones. Look at JH with Milton in his first year. He had Milton starting over Hooker. I'm not saying JH is a crappy coach but I think that sometimes practice performance doesn't translate to gameday performance. Sometimes coaches get locked in on a player thinking that they can fix them or that they have the most potential. But potential doesn't always develop and sometimes players can't be fixed.

It's easier to give birth than it is to raise the dead..........

 

[LWSVOL]

To that I would respond,
What have the coaches already seen out of Milton?
What has he shown, that after 5 years, he has corrected?
What are the results of him being on the field as far as team production against quality opponents?
At the end of the day, does the offense perform at expected levels while he is at the helm?

The old notion that the "coach knows something we don't know" and "I'll trust the coaches ability to evaluate player over the masses of fans" just doesn't bear out. Look at JG with Jones. Look at JH with Milton in his first year. He had Milton starting over Hooker. I'm not saying JH is a crappy coach but I think that sometimes practice performance doesn't translate to gameday performance. Sometimes coaches get locked in on a player thinking that they can fix them or that they have the most potential. But potential doesn't always develop and sometimes players can't be fixed.

It's easier to give birth than it is to raise the dead..........

When Nico is ready to play and help the team win, he will play. I've never doubted that. But him playing is not going to be based on how bad Joe is but how ready Nico is. You're right, Joe is what he is. But a coach is not going to put a kid out there at QB if he can't even get players in the right spots on lineup. Would be bad for the team and the kid.

What I was saying was coaches evaluated his performance in the Virginia game. Was his play in live action (Which is totally different than practices or scrimmages) close enough to expect him to have success going against South Carolina? or was there enough issues that there is too much risk to play him against Austin Peay?

 

[CNeagleVolFan]

Everybody always talks about building for next season...........when does next season get here? I heard the same talk last year and this team and our coaching staff have regressed. Next season never seems to get here.

We literally had a heisman contender at QB who holds multiple school records just after 2 seasons. Turns out replacing him was a bit harder than we thought huh?

 

[cobbwebb0710]

Bryce young didn’t start til his sophomore year…

Doh!

 

[LWSVOL]

Everybody always talks about building for next season...........when does next season get here? I heard the same talk last year and this team and our coaching staff have regressed. Next season never seems to get here.

if you check the roster, 2024 is more likely to be worse than 2023 for Tennessee. Youth will be everywhere.. the stumble really happens next year.