Very upsetting performance & lack of execution. Out matched all over the field.

[Godfatha]

When Danny White starts begging for cash make sure everyone ponies up.

Keep paying those $500 ticket prices and the talent fee. Championship prices. 2nd rate performances.

 

[Volwonder1]

As much as I like Heup, I don’t see any reason to believe that he is a championship coach. We’ve had some great wins under him, no doubt. And Tennessee football is the best it has been since Fulmer. Keep things the way they are, don’t make any staff changes, don’t change your approach to player development, don’t change your approach to recruiting, just keep doing the same thing over and over every season, and we’re looking at a ceiling of 10 wins and two losses every season. We will remain a second-tier college football program.

And yes, we most certainly are a second-tier program right now, in my opinion. Good but not great and certainly not a championship contender.

Not one person believed the Vols would be a championship contender this year with a freshman QB. The Vols had just as much reason to be there as half of the teams that made the playoffs. Ohio state at home was just a tough draw for our team and hats off to them.
The worst thing that could have happened was Michigan beating them the last game of the regular season imo not just because of the draw we got after that loss but because it really put a spotlight on them and their coaches future with the most money spent on nil in the nation.

 

[tbh]

Meh. It's just a game. The mattress was shat upon early and often during the course of the game...but in the end, it's still just a game.

 

[Hank Bukowski]

As much as I like Heup, I don’t see any reason to believe that he is a championship coach. We’ve had some great wins under him, no doubt. And Tennessee football is the best it has been since Fulmer. Keep things the way they are, don’t make any staff changes, don’t change your approach to player development, don’t change your approach to recruiting, just keep doing the same thing over and over every season, and we’re looking at a ceiling of 10 wins and two losses every season. We will remain a second-tier college football program.

And yes, we most certainly are a second-tier program right now, in my opinion. Good but not great and certainly not a championship contender.

Tennessee has a talent gap problem and more overreactions from CFP rout vs Ohio State

Tennessee football took a beatdown loss at Ohio State, falling 42-17 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday.

www.knoxnews.com

 

[Hank Bukowski]

Not one person believed the Vols would be a championship contender this year with a freshman QB. The Vols had just as much reason to be there as half of the teams that made the playoffs. Ohio state at home was just a tough draw for our team and hats off to them.
The worst thing that could have happened was Michigan beating them the last game of the regular season imo not just because of the draw we got after that loss but because it really put a spotlight on them and their coaches future with the most money spent on nil in the nation.

Tennessee has a talent gap problem and more overreactions from CFP rout vs Ohio State

Tennessee football took a beatdown loss at Ohio State, falling 42-17 in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday.

www.knoxnews.com

 

[cdb88]

We need speed at linebacker glaringly obvious. Speed is what we need all over the place.

 

[0059862]

OSU passes and the WR is wide open

Vols pass and there are 3 DBs within 1 yrd of him

that's not talent. That's coaching schemes

Hendon Hooker is the only qb that could run Heupel's offense effectively at the SEC level. At this point, it doesn't even look like a hurry up offense anymore. The team gives up quickly when there's no confidence in the qb's ability to execute.

 

[LowKey]

Streamrolled? Wtf?

 

[Majors]

We don’t have one WR that would crack OSUs two deep.

Hard to win with backups as starters.

 

[Majors]

Hendon Hooker is the only qb that could run Heupel's offense effectively at the SEC level. At this point, it doesn't even look like a hurry up offense anymore. The team gives up quickly when there's no confidence in the qb's ability to execute.

Hooker also had the key to the offense in Hyatt. If you can’t take the top off with someone downfield, you don’t get the full playbook.

 

[jasonvol18]

This is extremely embarrassing and something has to change. We have squeaked by all season long… 1,000 of you can say “we are 10-3, you don’t know football” “you negavols are blaaaah blah”…

We aren’t just out coached. We are out talented at every position on the field. Our WR’s and OL are dog water. We are NOT a playoff team, records are deceiving and that has been proven 3 times today. Nico gets ZERO help from the line and his receivers. He’s not given the opportunity to build confidence.

Are the underclassmen this bad? Do we really have to run out a limping squirrel white and a hurt Thornton? Brazzel is terrible. Dayne Davis and Lampley???


M. Matthews and McCoy will enter the portal before Christmas is my guess.

You're guess would be wrong. M. Mathews nor J.McCoy are going anywhere, I can assure you of that.

 

[jasonvol18]

Nico is part of the problem. At this point he is not a good QB.

Incorrect. He was the ONLY one that came to play last night and played with heart. He had no time to throw. His Oline got him killed, WR's couldn't get open, he was our running game. He's actually a really good QB, especially to only be a RS FR QB

 

[utkk82]

This is extremely embarrassing and something has to change. We have squeaked by all season long… 1,000 of you can say “we are 10-3, you don’t know football” “you negavols are blaaaah blah”…

We aren’t just out coached. We are out talented at every position on the field. Our WR’s and OL are dog water. We are NOT a playoff team, records are deceiving and that has been proven 3 times today. Nico gets ZERO help from the line and his receivers. He’s not given the opportunity to build confidence.

Are the underclassmen this bad? Do we really have to run out a limping squirrel white and a hurt Thornton? Brazzel is terrible. Dayne Davis and Lampley???


M. Matthews and McCoy will enter the portal before Christmas is my guess.

I will make this prediction for 2025. If UT DOES NOT hit the transfer portal hard by December 28th and bring in elite transfers at OL, WR, RB, LB and DB UT will drop to the lower level in the conference and finish around 8th-10th place. Apparently, we CAN'T RECRUIT quality OL, WR, LB and DB. Name one OL or WR that this staff has recruited out of high school in the last 4 years that has started or is a game changer that has produced on the field. It's funny that OLE MISS, LSU, A&M, GEORGIA and other SEC teams are upgrading their rosters with elite players and we have 1 3 star transfer OL so far.

 

[SamuraiVol74]

Our Vols got mollywhomped. Period. End of a great season and one that we probably overachieved expectations. It is disheartening the way they lost, but they exceeded everyone's expectations for the season. Now let's build on this and grow.

 

[JMSqb11]

I will make this prediction for 2025. If UT DOES NOT hit the transfer portal hard by December 28th and bring in elite transfers at OL, WR, RB, LB and DB UT will drop to the lower level in the conference and finish around 8th-10th place. Apparently, we CAN'T RECRUIT quality OL, WR, LB and DB. Name one OL or WR that this staff has recruited out of high school in the last 4 years that has started or is a game changer that has produced on the field. It's funny that OLE MISS, LSU, A&M, GEORGIA and other SEC teams are upgrading their rosters with elite players and we have 1 3 star transfer OL so far.

The one thing Ole Miss had going for them is Lane is a very decent play caller, but not a good game manager. The reason I invoke play caller is because he was in his 3rd or 4th year with Jaxon Dart.... Any offensive head coach who can have a 2-3 year run with the same QB is usually in a very good spot to worry about filling out the rest of the roster. Ole Miss should regress some as I'm not aware they have a firm Post Dart QB plan.

With that said, Heupel needs to continue to go all in on Nico. This was his first full year as a starter with all of his meaningful career playing time coming in the last 12 months. The other big thing Heupel HAS to do is have a very serious conversation with his staff.... There is usually a point where a head coach is at a pivot point in their careers... I believe Heupel is at his now. The conversation after last night is going to be about his ceiling being 10-11 wins with nothing real to show for it in the post season.

He has to realize this is a business and upgrading his staff by firing some members who are close to him is not a personal offense.

We are officially 4 years into the Heupel experiment. It pains me that our offensive line continues to be very inconsistent and that our secondary continues to get cut into swiss.

Fixing it starts with staff changes.

 

[utkk82]

Incorrect. He was the ONLY one that came to play last night and played with heart. He had no time to throw. His Oline got him killed, WR's couldn't get open, he was our running game. He's actually a really good QB, especially to only be a RS FR QB

It is not his fault. No time to throw and no one is open. Heupel is not the answer. Not sure who is. Tennessee was overrated.

Heupel needs to upgrade his coaching staff now if he wants to keep his job. Remember Phil Fulmer would not upgrade his staff and you see how that ended.

 

[lefthander]

Incorrect. He was the ONLY one that came to play last night and played with heart. He had no time to throw. His Oline got him killed, WR's couldn't get open, he was our running game. He's actually a really good QB, especially to only be a RS FR QB

You are not correct. He may have played hard vs the majority of the squad and that is to be commended. However he is not a good qb now and I am not sure he is going to be. His accuracy is bad and has been all year. Cannot be trusted to throw in the middle of the field because of that. Do you not think other teams know this based on a full year of film?
Currently I would put the money spent on him in the Heard Campbell category. He was not even close to a major factor in the loss last night but I have no expectation that he will be a force in the next seasons.

 

[lefthander]

The one thing Ole Miss had going for them is Lane is a very decent play caller, but not a good game manager. The reason I invoke play caller is because he was in his 3rd or 4th year with Jaxon Dart.... Any offensive head coach who can have a 2-3 year run with the same QB is usually in a very good spot to worry about filling out the rest of the roster. Ole Miss should regress some as I'm not aware they have a firm Post Dart QB plan.

With that said, Heupel needs to continue to go all in on Nico. This was his first full year as a starter with all of his meaningful career playing time coming in the last 12 months. The other big thing Heupel HAS to do is have a very serious conversation with his staff.... There is usually a point where a head coach is at a pivot point in their careers... I believe Heupel is at his now. The conversation after last night is going to be about his ceiling being 10-11 wins with nothing real to show for it in the post season.

He has to realize this is a business and upgrading his staff by firing some members who are close to him is not a personal offense.

We are officially 4 years into the Heupel experiment. It pains me that our offensive line continues to be very inconsistent and that our secondary continues to get cut into swiss.

Fixing it starts with staff changes.

Ceiling may be lower with Nico as qb..

 

[JMSqb11]

You are not correct. He may have played hard vs the majority of the squad and that is to be commended. However he is not a good qb now and I am not sure he is going to be. His accuracy is bad and has been all year. Cannot be trusted to throw in the middle of the field because of that. Do you not think other teams know this based on a full year of film?
Currently I would put the money spent on him in the Heard Campbell category. He was not even close to a major factor in the loss last night but I have no expectation that he will be a force in the next seasons.

I for one can't believe people were legitimately expecting Nico to put up Dart or Beck or Top Tier numbers in his first year here..... Amazing

 

[JMSqb11]

Ceiling may be lower with Nico as qb..

So a guy in his first year with 2-3 seasons in his future has been predestined and predetermined? Can you also tell me what the winning mega millions numbers are since the 944 million jackpot gets drawn on Tuesday?

 

[DooleyOrangePants]

I am not upset. I knew we would lose. I didn’t expect to get blown out like this. But this is what happens when you have a team that has VASTLY more talent than the other. It is what it is.

Debatable. tOSU has more players, but if you can’t develop the talent or call plays, then having an entire roster of 5 stars isn’t going to help you in some cases. You WILL get beat eventually by another team that is prepared, develops players, and can call plays above a room temperature IQ.

I expected a loss but was hoping for a close, competitive game and maybe we could squeak one out. But what we got is out entire season distilled into one game. No development, terrible playcalling, and zero adjustments or preparation. Something is way off with this staff and team.

 

[BeardedVol]

OSU passes and the WR is wide open

Vols pass and there are 3 DBs within 1 yrd of him

that's not talent. That's coaching schemes

Pope and Martinez both make players worse over time.

 

[utkk82]

The one thing Ole Miss had going for them is Lane is a very decent play caller, but not a good game manager. The reason I invoke play caller is because he was in his 3rd or 4th year with Jaxon Dart.... Any offensive head coach who can have a 2-3 year run with the same QB is usually in a very good spot to worry about filling out the rest of the roster. Ole Miss should regress some as I'm not aware they have a firm Post Dart QB plan.

With that said, Heupel needs to continue to go all in on Nico. This was his first full year as a starter with all of his meaningful career playing time coming in the last 12 months. The other big thing Heupel HAS to do is have a very serious conversation with his staff.... There is usually a point where a head coach is at a pivot point in their careers... I believe Heupel is at his now. The conversation after last night is going to be about his ceiling being 10-11 wins with nothing real to show for it in the post season.

He has to realize this is a business and upgrading his staff by firing some members who are close to him is not a personal offense.

We are officially 4 years into the Heupel experiment. It pains me that our offensive line continues to be very inconsistent and that our secondary continues to get cut into swiss.

Fixing it starts with staff changes.

I think we need a coaching upgrade at OC and OL. Since Alex Golesh left our offense has regressed big time.

 

[SamuraiVol74]

Pope and Martinez both make players worse over time.

Agreed. I have taken "garbage" on this take more times than I can count but the proof is on the field when Tennessee is playing top level schools.

 

[utkk82]

Of course the 2022 team was better, but they had LESS TALENT you're missing the point call me names for no reason like a smooth brain low IQ drunk. I will post the link, go look at the talent for 2022 vs 2024 and see we have more talent now and are playing worse, just go look, you admitted we are playing worse with more talent proving my point that the coaching is the issue. https://247sports.com/Season/2024-Football/CollegeTeamTalentComposite/

when Alex Golesh left that was the beginning of the decline of the offense. He was a much better play caller than what UT has now.