Time for reflection

[Vol8188]

Its nothing to laugh at. He could be right! There are certainly earmarks indicating that it might be the case!

It’s for sure, 100% something to laugh at. In four years, we think he’s peaked because he’s not went 11-1 yet?

Yeah, that should absolutely be laughed at

 

[Brave Volunteer]

It’s for sure, 100% something to laugh at. In four years, we think he’s peaked because he’s not went 11-1 yet?

Yeah, that should absolutely be laughed at

You have to pay attention to more than the W/L record and see where our program is trending. You have to look at the recruiting. You have to look at the portal activity. You have to look at player development and see where this staff is in terms of putting guys in the league. The trends right now do not favor this program continuing to be on an elevated trajectory. Despite it being sunny today, the long-term weather forecast doesnt look great.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

But the wide splits are a big reason why the running game is so successful in CJH's offense. It basically takes the corners out of the play.

It's sort of fool's gold though because when we get up against someone with a talented front 7, they can usually keep the running game from being dominant.

 

[Vol8188]

You have to pay attention to more than the W/L record and see where our program is trending. You have to look at the recruiting. You have to look at the portal activity. You have to look at player development and see where this staff is in terms of putting guys in the league. The trends right now do not favor this program continuing to be on an elevated trajectory. Despite it being sunny today, the long-term weather forecast doesnt look great.

Recruiting has been trending up. What trends aren’t favoring us?

You’re losing me here….

 

[KTrain]

You know darn well our record was an indication of VERY fortunate circumstances. We were fortunate that Oklahoma was down this year. We were fortunate that Florida had not yet figured things out with their QB. We were fortunate that we caught Alabama in a transition year. We were fortunate that we didn't have to play Texas or South Carolina or Ole Miss. We were fortunate that ALL of our out of conference opponents were awful. In reality, we were an 8-4 team who played a 10-2 schedule. We won't be so lucky next year.

Oklahoma routed Bama the 1st team out of playoffs. Actually higher than that because of the 4 Champion autos. Every team in SEC has OOC game we are not the only one. SEC is the best top to bottom and beat up on each other, the other conferences are top heavy. We were not juggernauts everyone knew that, we relied heavily on Sampson getting 100+ a game and we had injuries to our already suspect receiving guys. Ergo, putting more pressure on Sampson who basically sat out the OSU road game along with Squirrel and Donte. Add that up and you take a beating which we did.
This was a barely reliable team with a fragile side no top side depth on offense being led by a RS Freshman who has not lived up to the hype so far but we can hope it clicks next year.

 

[TikiVol]

Recruiting has been trending up. What trends aren’t favoring us?

You’re losing me here….

Not winning night games on the road, almost all SEC wins were quite ugly, OL in year 4 shows no progress, CFP trip to woodshed. Coach has taken us far from the dumpster fire he inherited, but he needs to make some changes to get to the next level. If you don’t understand that after the OSU game, I don’t know what to tell you.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Not winning night games on the road, almost all SEC wins were quite ugly, OL in year 4 shows no progress, CFP trip to woodshed. Coach has taken us far from the dumpster fire he inherited, but he needs to make some changes to get to the next level. If you don’t understand that after the OSU game, I don’t know what to tell you.

That's where I'm at too. OSU should be a wake up call to fans as to just how far away we still are from being legitimate contenders.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

The season is over. Even though the majority on here don’t like evaluating how the season has gone and who are valid contributors (players & coaches) going forward, I feel it needs to be done. Fans don’t like the negativity but coaches do this with players at the end of every season.
OL - Either talent evaluation or coaching is sorely lacking. In 4 years CJH has not had 1 HS signee start on the Offensive line. Even more alarming is the portal guys have not been that reliable. Living in the portal for any team group is playing with fire and OL is the worst. It never allows to build depth because nobody good is coming to play behind someone else, and many times you only get 1 or 2 years max.
WR - Here I think it is more coaching than talent evaluation. Speed is not the issue. There are probably 2 or 3 WRers faster than Hyatt was. The signees are sought after by many top schools so I think the talent is there to be coached. The starters this year had a bad case of drops. Why were players like Matthews and Staley not playing more and at least given a game chance. They preferred playing injured players over these guys.
QB - Where to start? Again coaching or talent evaluation? They are paying a reported $2M per year (current $4M invested) for a QB who averages a tad over 200 ypg passing. Can’t throw an accurate deep ball. All this after 14 starts, playing mop up last year, and has been through 3 bowl / post season practices.
Head coach OC - Why has the offense slowed down and why continue to play the wide splits? Considering 22 was the best season of his tenure, why slow down. They were not just winning, they were dominating foes. Defensive depth is better, WRers are faster with more system experience, RBs have experience, but stats are down. While use the splits if you are playing a slower pace and not taking advantage of confusing the defense.

My opinion is talent evaluation. I think Nico is over rated. He is probably a better QB for a pro style system. Problem will be not being able to play the current and incoming QBs due to the money invested. High school O linemen are apparently not SEC ready even after 2 years in the system.
Many are bragging arguing about winning 10 games this year. Of those 10 wins, I believe only 3 teams had a better than .500 record and Ala lost 3 games and is a shell of their former self.

MY God, how many soul searching evaluations must we endure by folks not close enough to the practice fields, true injury status, weight room, and team meetings to make such assessments?

It is one thing to accurately discuss this year’s obvious shortcomings, they are on film, but another to determine the true root causes of those very shortcomings from the stands and living rooms.

Pretty dang embarrassing to put REAL evidence of arrogance personified out there for equally uninformed talking heads to use as evidence of lack of character and resolve by our OVERALL fanbase.

Sadly this minuscule number of talk show participants and board jockeys provide the clickbait seekers fodder for the off season about our fanbases positions. I will use season ticket renewals and spring ball attendance. May have to add NIL INVESTMENT trajectory and NET transfer portal success through spring.

I am going to support this staff as constructed and modified by CJH as they deal with this new world year round roster management fight.

Not buying our QB has reached his ceiling after his one year of playing. Can’t really know how a reasonably healthy WR room would have modified game plans and success, or how the young guys in our last two HS classes on OL and other groups have advanced, or even the impact SOME of the 20 or so guys that are EE’s out of this years class I am thrilled with.

Just like The A Team, I like it whe a plan comes together, not so much when it does not, but for sure there is ZERO value add to having folks in 151 ORANGE joining the ranks of the trailer trash era.

Too many pronouncements and not enough non-rhetorical questions. Soul searching by seemingly emotionally challenged folks is not a plus. The first page of this board is a sad display.
Hopefully I am right and it is not an accurate reflection of a fanbase following a good but not great season. A currently spoiled fanbase at that. Some must feel entitled since baseball and basketball cycled up and excelled.

 

[atilla]

This week has not been very fun guys. Luckily the holiday has brought some much better cheer and respite from the doom and gloom.

I'm sure ALL of us will feel much better about the season in March than we do 4 days removed from a thorough butt whooping.

Thankfully, there are about 7 Playoff games left if my math is correct Odds are that at least one of those seven is going to be bigger spanking than we received a few days ago. Pretty good odds of it anyway and I'll take those odds. What do we have to lose at this point? Lol.

I agree, and quite frankly, if OSU plays like they should with all that talent, Oregon is dead meat.

 

[Delmar]

MY God, how many soul searching evaluations must we endure by folks not close enough to the practice fields, true injury status, weight room, and team meetings to make such assessments?

It is one thing to accurately discuss this year’s obvious shortcomings, they are on film, but another to determine the true root causes of those very shortcomings from the stands and living rooms.

Pretty dang embarrassing to put REAL evidence of arrogance personified out there for equally uninformed talking heads to use as evidence of lack of character and resolve by our OVERALL fanbase.

Sadly this minuscule number of talk show participants and board jockeys provide the clickbait seekers fodder for the off season about our fanbases positions. I will use season ticket renewals and spring ball attendance. May have to add NIL INVESTMENT trajectory and NET transfer portal success through spring.

I am going to support this staff as constructed and modified by CJH as they deal with this new world year round roster management fight.

Not buying our QB has reached his ceiling after his one year of playing. Can’t really know how a reasonably healthy WR room would have modified game plans and success, or how the young guys in our last two HS classes on OL and other groups have advanced, or even the impact SOME of the 20 or so guys that are EE’s out of this years class I am thrilled with.

Just like The A Team, I like it whe a plan comes together, not so much when it does not, but for sure there is ZERO value add to having folks in 151 ORANGE joining the ranks of the trailer trash era.

Too many pronouncements and not enough non-rhetorical questions. Soul searching by seemingly emotionally challenged folks is not a plus. The first page of this board is a sad display.
Hopefully I am right and it is not an accurate reflection of a fanbase following a good but not great season. A currently spoiled fanbase at that. Some must feel entitled since baseball and basketball cycled up and excelled.

Come on man. Don’t you know that the talk show “experts” and couch coaches in Mama’s basement know more than Josh? I mean he only resurrected a dumpster fire in an amazingly short period of time and under scholarship limitations. What could he possibly know?

 

[tatervol]

6. 6 wins in the SEC. The other 4 wins were bullsh_t games.

Nc state is not a ******** game. **** man

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

6. 6 wins in the SEC. The other 4 wins were bullsh_t games.

Spoken by a guy who should know BS from experience.

 

[volbound1700]

You know darn well our record was an indication of VERY fortunate circumstances. We were fortunate that Oklahoma was down this year. We were fortunate that Florida had not yet figured things out with their QB. We were fortunate that we caught Alabama in a transition year. We were fortunate that we didn't have to play Texas or South Carolina or Ole Miss. We were fortunate that ALL of our out of conference opponents were awful. In reality, we were an 8-4 team who played a 10-2 schedule. We won't be so lucky next year.

Florida was definitely up and healthy when they played us. I think the run between. UCF to Georgia was Florida at its most healthy and best setup.

 

[DaddyChad]

Its nothing to laugh at. He could be right! There are certainly earmarks indicating that it might be the case!

Oh it’s certainly fine to laugh at you clowns.

 

[KeyVol14]

You have to pay attention to more than the W/L record and see where our program is trending. You have to look at the recruiting. You have to look at the portal activity. You have to look at player development and see where this staff is in terms of putting guys in the league. The trends right now do not favor this program continuing to be on an elevated trajectory. Despite it being sunny today, the long-term weather forecast doesnt look great.

Recruiting is top 10 and the difference between classes 6-10 is such a small margin. We just won 10 games with a freshman QB and receivers that were subpar all year. I agree that staff changes need to be made but to say the trajectory has peaked is far fetched.

 

[claimjumper steve]

Should rename this one “The Thread For Whiners” so all the Eeyore’s can reside here. Make the 12 team playoff and some folks just can’t find a way to enjoy the journey. There’s 122 other teams that would have gladly traded places. Deal with it.

Inevitable whining! We won 10 games and made the playoffs. Our 4 star players could not quite complete with OSUs 5 stars. Why the dumping on Heupel. Do you want Cornbread back? We're doing fine. With some good recruits we will be a 9 or 10 win team for quite some time. Occasionally knocking on the door for a NG!

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Some of you guys are really good at being ostriches. You'll see next season. Sorry for your future bad day.

 

[PalmettoStateVol]

Its nothing to laugh at. He could be right! There are certainly earmarks indicating that it might be the case!

Josh Heupel should be praised for everything he's done for this program. In four short years he's brought us from the cellar of the SEC, and the country for that matter, to being consistently ranked inside the top 12 and playing in our first CFP game. With the recruiting restrictions from the epic disaster that was the Philip Fulmer/Jeremy Pruitt fiasco, that's actually phenomenal. In reality though, Tennessee truly had nowhere to go but up from an abysmal rock bottom 3 win season before he came to Knoxville. We really were on life support when he got here. Folks should probably temper their expectations and realize that he is currently over achieving based on his resume as a coach. His numbers in his past coaching positions say as much. There's a discernable pattern with Josh Heupel...he starts strong, peaks early, and then ultimately and quite unfortunately fades as the years progress.

At Oklahoma, he had success as their QB coach and offensive coordinator, until he didn't . He was let go after an 8-5 season at the end of year 4 from the program in which he won a National Championship. His offense regressed over 4 years all while Oklahoma was pulling in top recruiting classes. Fluke? Not enough time? Too many injuries? Did recruits and coaches not understand or buy into the system? To many repeat tendencies that defensive coordinators saw first hand? Or, did the Big 12 figure out how to stymie his "high powered" offense after being on film? Sounds kind of familiar.

In 2017 he took over a UCF team from Scott Frost who had just went 13-0 and beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl and ended being ranked #6 in the country. Heupel took an undefeated AAC Champion UCF team back to a 6-4 record in 3 years.Again, fluke? Should the Covid year in 2019 not count? Maybe, but the numbers don't lie; the team regressed from when he took over.

I honestly thought that Tennessee would go 7-5 this year. My reasoning for that was nothing other than Heupel's own coaching history. I was wrong, and to Heupel's credit, we ended up 10-2 and in the CFP. I'll say it again, I WAS WRONG. However, if you're honest with yourself, you know that we were a couple of plays away from that 7-5 record. OU, Florida, and Alabama were all wins that could have easily went the other way. Again, Heupel should be commended, we would've been on the losing end of those games in years past. So, was winning those types of games a sign of Heupel's progress as a coach? Man, I sure wanted to believe that; then the OSU Saturday night massacre happened.

The way this team and coaching staff were completely dominated in every facet of the game was sobering. The fact that they had 3 weeks to prepare for getting their teeth kicked in doesn't bode well for things to come if he's not willing to change the status quo. We looked lost, like we didn't belong on the same field. Truth be told, we didn't. I understand loyalty. I understand and respect rewarding people who work hard, but college football is a dog eat dog world. Just like the players who hit the portal, loyalty be damned! You either go out and get the best support staff you can find, or continue to be content as a pretty good, but far from great program.

Heupel should be appreciated for what he's done in a few short years on the hill. He brought us out of the wilderness and has us being relevant again in college football, but temper your expectations...I think you're witnessing absolute peak Josh Heupel at Tennessee right now. Nothing about his record tells me he has the coaching acumen to reach the upper echelon of the elites in college football.

He's a really good coach...really good. But there's light years difference between really good coaches and elite championship winning coaches.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Josh Heupel should be praised for everything he's done for this program. In four short years he's brought us from the cellar of the SEC, and the country for that matter, to being consistently ranked inside the top 12 and playing in our first CFP game. With the recruiting restrictions from the epic disaster that was the Philip Fulmer/Jeremy Pruitt fiasco, that's actually phenomenal. In reality though, Tennessee truly had nowhere to go but up from an abysmal rock bottom 3 win season before he came to Knoxville. We really were on life support when he got here. Folks should probably temper their expectations and realize that he is currently over achieving based on his resume as a coach. His numbers in his past coaching positions say as much. There's a discernable pattern with Josh Heupel...he starts strong, peaks early, and then ultimately and quite unfortunately fades as the years progress.

At Oklahoma, he had success as their QB coach and offensive coordinator, until he didn't . He was let go after an 8-5 season at the end of year 4 from the program in which he won a National Championship. His offense regressed over 4 years all while Oklahoma was pulling in top recruiting classes. Fluke? Not enough time? Too many injuries? Did recruits and coaches not understand or buy into the system? To many repeat tendencies that defensive coordinators saw first hand? Or, did the Big 12 figure out how to stymie his "high powered" offense after being on film? Sounds kind of familiar.

In 2017 he took over a UCF team from Scott Frost who had just went 13-0 and beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl and ended being ranked #6 in the country. Heupel took an undefeated AAC Champion UCF team back to a 6-4 record in 3 years.Again, fluke? Should the Covid year in 2019 not count? Maybe, but the numbers don't lie; the team regressed from when he took over.

I honestly thought that Tennessee would go 7-5 this year. My reasoning for that was nothing other than Heupel's own history when playing a major coaching roll in a program. I was wrong, and to Heupel's credit, we ended up 10-2 and in the CFP. I'll say it again, I WAS WRONG. However, if you're honest with yourself, you know that we were a couple of plays away from that 7-5 record. OU, Florida, and Alabama were all wins that could have easily went the other way. Again, Heupel should be commended, we would've been on the losing end of those games in years past. So, was winning those types of games a sign of Heupel's progress as a coach? Man, I sure wanted to believe that; then the OSU Saturday night massacre happened.

The way this team and coaching staff were completely dominated in every facet of the game was sobering. The fact that they had 3 weeks to prepare for getting their teeth kicked in doesn't bode well for things to come if he's not willing to change the status quo. We looked lost, like we didn't belong on the same field. Truth be told, we didn't. I understand loyalty. I understand and respect rewarding people who work hard, but college football is a dog eat dog world. Just like the players who hit the portal, loyalty be damned! You either go out and get the best support staff you can find, or continue to be content as a pretty good, but far from great program.

Heupel should be appreciated for what he's done in a few short years on the hill. He brought us out of the wilderness and has us being relevant again in college football, but temper your expectations...I think you're witnessing absolute peak Josh Heupel at Tennessee right now. Nothing about his record tells me he has the coaching acumen to reach the upper echelon of the elites in college football.

He's a really good coach...really good. But there's light years difference between really good coaches and elite championship winning coaches.

He's been ampley appreciated. He's also being ampley compensated. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to identify red flags in his program and discuss them. Some people on here act like "Bagdhad Bob" during the Gulf War and insist nothing is wrong. It's maddening dealing with people like that because they would rather exist in a malaise of blind, naive optimism as opposed to looking at things with their eyes wide open and be objective.

 

[Flipdaddy]

Until Tennessee ponies up the money to match the big 4 on NIL money, we ain’t moving past 9-3, 10-2. If we spend 22m on NIL, that’s about 22 studs on both sides of the ball. Currently we have about 8 suspected studs.

Nico….oh Nico. If he can’t get it done next year, these other quarterbacks are gone if they don’t play.

Coaching…Heupel definitely needs to evaluate these guys I agree.

Huepel…the offense slowed down because he’s not working with a very healthy talented group. The fact that he went 10-2 was amazing… and lucky.

Next year will be the measuring stick on Heupel. Year 5 and if we lose 3 or more, then that’s about all you have with him and don’t get me wrong, Tennessee football is fun again. It’s just are you gonna be in the final 4 year in and year out?

 

[Delmar]

Some of you guys are really good at being ostriches. You'll see next season. Sorry for your future bad day.

The Great Karnak has spoken!

 

[a vol n tears]

Come on man. Don’t you know that the talk show “experts” and couch coaches in Mama’s basement know more than Josh? I mean he only resurrected a dumpster fire in an amazingly short period of time and under scholarship limitations. What could he possibly know?

I’m sure you weren’t one of the many on here that were predicting great things like conference championships when Butch Jones had two 9 wins seasons. Yea he took over for a terrible Derrick Dooley who let the program sink to Titanic levels.
I don’t care what is going on inside the program. I only know what I see. The OL and WR coaching is costing them wins.

 

[Delmar]

A blind man can see that the OL and WR groups have under performed. That’s not the question and those coaches need to be addressed. It’s the second guessing of a good head coach after a playoff season by a bunch of couch potatoes who wouldn’t know a football if it hit them between the eyes.

And surely you just didn’t throw Butch Jones into a discussion about Josh and the obstacles he had to overcome. Their performances are not in the same galaxy.

 

[nomads-11]

My focus tends to be on games against Fla, Ga, AL....OSU. Games you need to compete in to get somewhere, like the SECCG or into the playoffs. Lots of ways/areas to point fingers at. But.

I'll keep it simple. This is year 3 saying fix the OL. This group DOES NOT show up well in the games mentioned above, when you need it the most. Until you "fix" it, any evaluation of the QB is questionable. This would be my #1 priority.

 

[Delmar]

My focus tends to be on games against Fla, Ga, AL....OSU. Games you need to compete in to get somewhere, like the SECCG or into the playoffs. Lots of ways/areas to point fingers at. But.

I'll keep it simple. This is year 3 saying fix the OL. This group DOES NOT show up well in the games mentioned above, when you need it the most. Until you "fix" it, any evaluation of the QB is questionable. This would be my #1 priority.

Agree. It’s pretty obvious that Ellarbee isn’t the answer ans OL coach. And if Josh lets friendship affect that evaluation then you can start to question his judgment. This was a veteran OLine coming back with a 5 star transfer in Heard and I think they believed it would be a strength and why Ellarbee was back this year. Turns out it wasn’t and that discussion needs to be had.