Up to this point of their Vol career, what letter grade would you give coach Heupel and coach Barnes?

#26
#26
Heupel - A
Barnes - A

It's that simple. No one thought 8-4 would feel like a "bad" season this soon. Guy is way ahead of schedule no matter how unrealistic our fanbase's expectations get - which is ALWAYS happens, especially with recency bias. Big picture of Josh's 3 years - nothing short of an A.

Barnes has us perennially in the top 10 recruiting and playing in March. Only thing lacking is getting hot at the right time, which is extremely hard to do in basketball. All you want is a chance in March at the end of the year, and there's absolutely no question he's put an irrelevant basketball program on the map. Unrealistic expectations have been circulating for quite some time, but there's no one I'd rather have on the sideline. We're so far removed from the bubble-life, it's not even funny.
 
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#27
#27
A- for Huepel just for the 11-2 finish last year. I would say A+ if not for the second half against Alabama this year and the Missouri game in general. As mentioned earlier,any program in Tennessee's shape before Huepel would love to have a season like this following last year. Next year should tell a lot with Nico at the helm as QB.

As far as Barnes, I'd give him an A+ if it was just for the regular season because he's probably one of the best at getting his teams to the tourney. That being said, id say A- for now until he reaches the Final Four. This year, they have a solid offense to go with Barnes type of defense so I could it happening this year.
 
#28
#28
Hey have done a great job with what they inherited. Be nice if one of these days we can win a championship in something.
 
#29
#29
A- for both. They have both been tremendously stabilizing forces for programs in flux. Both have injected enthusiasm, class, and pride back into the programs. Both still have work to do.
 
#32
#32
Grandpa Barnes gets ya to the Dance and leaves early cause its his bed time.
Nice Guy, decent Coach but just like being 8-3 9-2 by his buddy Heupel, that IS the pennacle.
 
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#34
#34
bigorangecrush89 said:
B. Neither are elite but are also too good to fire. At least for now. Same for Vitello. They all seem to have solid, competetive programs. I hope one of them wins the big one one day. Barnes prob wont coach much longer. TV has the best shot IMO.
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Vitello is an elite coach. He’s taken his team to Omaha 2 of the past 3 years.
 
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#36
#36
I give Heupel a B- can’t excuse the USCjr, FL, and Mizzou losses. That was bad.

Barnes a B+. He’ll get an A if he can take a team beyond the sweet 16.
 
#38
#38
given the state of basketball at Tenn for the pass 50 years, I would rate Barnes an A.

As far Heupel, all the test scores are not in yet. Too soon to grade.
 
#42
#42
RDU VOL#14 said:
Think about where you were in January 2021 and now imagine bitching about potentially being 8 or 9-4 this year after 11-2 last year and seeing it as a down year.
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Amen. A big reason why I’m shaking my head at these guys giving Heupel less than a B or making posts like “last year was a fluke because of Hooker, Golesh, etc.” Seriously? Come on people.
 
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#43
#43
How does one grant a grade of an A without a championship season being part of it? If you win a championship either SEC or NC, what grade do you assign then, a double secret probation A???? GMAFB Hand out participation trophies and hang banners for our 8-4 season then.
 
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#44
#44
Heupel C+, Barnes B+. Heupel was a B+ after last year, but game planning, lack of adjustments, poor play calling, lack of team energy, and not addressing the defense this year has dropped him a full grade. Barnes post season issues are keeping him from an A.
 
#47
#47
Barnes A

Heupel gets an A+ - he is way ahead of where anyone rational and level headed should expect this absolute dumpster fire of a football program to be three short years later. I mean he already has people upset at an 8-4 season … with a shot to beat UGA still on the table. He’s done the best coaching job I think I’ve ever seen- and I’ve been watching this sport very closely for almost 5 decades. It isn’t like Fulmer taking over a Ferrari or Urban taking over a Florida team with talent everywhere and an easy recruiting situation, etc etc - he took over a team under a massive NCAA cloud for Christmas sake ….and made lemonade out of raccoon piss.
Hell- look how long it took Sweeney to get clemson into position in the easiest job in America…. Or the Hat at LSU… etc etc -
I’ll say it again- Heupel gets an A+ and outta get coach of the year — which I suspect he might get in a couple of years when he wins a crystal football.
 
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#50
#50
utfantilidie said:
Heupel B Barnes A-
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Barnes is ungradeable. He was easily the all time best hire we have made based on the coach’s prior record/experience. He was brought here to stabilize the program, turn the roster over, and maybe make one last hoorah in his last decade of coaching. He’s far exceeded every reasonable fan’s expectation here.

I can’t. Grade the guy because any grade underrated the Job he has done here. People don’t truly realize what he walked into.

I also find some comparisons to the job he walked into as the job Heupel walked into.

At this point in Heupel’s career here, he’s won 25 games in just under 3 years and likely to get to 26-27 wins come season’s end.

The reason for posting that? It took a full 8 seasons of Butch and Pruitt for our program to reach 50 wins…. Heupel is halfway there in just 2.5 seasons all while not having a fully turned over roster…

Heupel, i can’t grade but I can say this. His seat is going to be ice cold for atleast 1, if not, 2 more seasons.
 
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