What did people expect?

[GOVOLS 1]

The Saban comparison I think it worn out and kind of needs to stop. The next year, Saban went 12-2 (8-0 SEC) and lost a BCS bowl. Does anybody really think Tennessee has even the slightest chance to do that next year?

The Saban comparison who continue until someone finally gets it

 

[Biopsyman]

A win is a win. I would have loved to have hung 50 on the Jags, but it didn't happen.

Everybody complaining about how we have so much more talent than S. Alabama, are failing to realize that we may have more talent, but not at key positions... mainly the QB position. A good QB makes and breaks an offense. Look at what Cam did at Auburn! He won a terrible coach and a mediocre team, a National Championship!

I like Worley, but he's just not poised to be a top SEC QB. I think a lot of that has to do with stability. That's the whole teams problem. These guys have to learn a different style of play every year, and lets face it, taking beatings by your conference foes doesn't do much for your confidence, either.

S. Alabama may not have a team full of 4* and 5* athletes, but underdogs like them play with a lot of heart and chips on their shoulders. That's why stars don't mean a hill of crap, if a kid is a gamer he's a gamer. Take it from somebody that watched Chris Donald from the time he was in 7th grade until he was recruited by Tennessee as a 5* #3 linebacker in the country. He was an absolute STUD his whole high school career. He was a man among boys, and could play at half speed and completely dominate the game. He got to Tennessee and everybody was just as good as he was. Physically he could play with anybody, but mentally he just couldn't overcome the competition level, and alas his only play at Tennessee was a roughing the kicker penalty. Give me a 3* with something to prove and goes full speed from whistle to whistle as apposed to a 5* that's never had to deal with adversity...

If you want a team full of 3 stars hard workers in the SEC then you will crappy or average team... Sorry the stats prove otherwise....

 

[EZE]

I know today was an ugly win. Yes, Oregon clobbered us and we made lots of mistakes against the Gators. But where did a lot of people honestly think we would be at this point? I would take bets 90 percent of us would have said we would be 3-2 at this point before the season.

Out defense is playing under their third D Coordinator in as many years. Our O-line is learning a whole new blocking scheme. And, as you can tell, we are short on talent in many areas. Not many of Dooley's last class left and Kiffins infamous class has been talked about at length.

Butch is a winner, but this isn't going to happen overnight. The guy was 50-27 in six years at CMU and Cincy. He went 4-8 his first year at Cincy before winning 9 and 10 games and shares of the Big East. And before people say "well that's the MAC and Big East" Urban Meyer and Nick Saban started out winning in the MAC before getting bigger gigs. Saban went 6-7 his first year at Bama.

I understand the frustration, I was frustrated during the second half myself. But we will get there. I still believe Butch is the guy, he has won at other schools and I believe he can do it here too. It's just going to take time, STABILITY, and some quality recruiting classes.

Excellent post. This team will be markedly better next season after he gets at least one recruiting class into the fold. We do need another option at QB, though.

 

[deaconkane]

Here's the problem: guys like Juin, Arnold, Swafford, and Toney have no business playing in the SEC, yet they are being counted on right now. Our Oline is vastly overrated and despite getting 300 yds rushing against a team that started playing football in 2009, Worley was rushed into throws repeatedly which means the pass protection was poor. Neal and Lane are very average and probably wouldn't start for the majority of SEC schools. Our WRs are so underwhelming and inexperienced that 2 true freshman are starting, one being a 2* recruit who is slow and undersized. Our LBs tackle ok, but look like drunks on roller skates in pass coverage and are ssssslllllloooooowwwwwww. To sum it up, our talent is at an all time low. Recruiting and patience will be the only things that will fix this dumpster fire. Recruiting is off to a good start, but I'm not sure if this neanderthal fanbase has the patience to give BJ a fair shot at fixing this.

Count the time from the snap to when our qb makes his reads on play action passing plays. The defense is on him after his first read. 3 sec after the snap. Poor scheme. It is what it is. But our coaches keep using critical thinking skills for all 4 plays we run. I am for our coaches but my Pee wee team runs the same plays.

 

[MedicT]

Well of course you'd like to see some improvement...my point is that it'll be at least 5 years before Tennessee is capable of going 8-0 in conference play, and that's assuming Butch is "the guy" who will take the team there. If Tennessee is still a 5-6 win team in 3 years, the reset button will be pushed again.

There lies the rub. If you took Coach Jones and sat him down in the middle of Cookeville Tennessee and said Coach, make Tennessee Tech an SEC caliber football squad in 3 years everyone would understand exactly what kind of challenge he faced. That is where UT football is today. We have talent, as judged by observation, equivalent with an average OVC or Sun Belt school. VN apparently has difficulty coming to terms with that concept. UT has a very long road ahead to be able to compete in the SEC. If we want to spin the carousel every 3 years then we best understand we may never return to SEC championship competition. On a positive note with the TTU analogy, we have the facilities and tradition and the Coach to make this happen much faster than the aforementioned scenario would need. Be patient or watch the carousel spin and the losing seasons continue for a very long time.:salute:

 

[Roustabout]

Thanks for trying to talk some sense into the McDonalds fans.. they want it quick and now..it takes time to build a program (hence brick by brick) but i'm glad someone sees the bigger picture. GO VOLS!!

You understand that five years ago there was NO south Alabama football team???
Think about that for a minute. This wasn't an SEC team here. Quick? Now?? No one is asking for miracles here. How about learning to defend a simple underneath drag route after your team has already been gashed on it by previous opponents. How about manufacturing some basic passing offense against a hugely inferior opponent??

 

[EZE]

You understand that five years ago there was NO south Alabama football team???
Think about that for a minute. This wasn't an SEC team here. Quick? Now?? No one is asking for miracles here. How about learning to defend a simple underneath drag route after your team has already been gashed on it by previous opponents. How about manufacturing some basic passing offense against a hugely inferior opponent??

Yes, but Butch Jones did not ride this program down to where it is right now. It took around 8 years and three other head coaches to do that. I am not surprised that he hasn't turned us into a good team in just five games and no complete recruiting cycles....

 

[FLVOL_79]

Ill say it like I say it every week..at this juncture in UT football you need to go into each and every weekend with a pessimistic attitude. This does two things for your sanity; you don't freak out when they lose and you are mildly surprised that they won.

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Ill say it like I say it every week..at this juncture in UT football you need to go into each and every weekend with a pessimistic attitude. This does two things for your sanity; you don't freak out when they lose and you are mildly surprised that they won.

I think for the sake of some people's sanity on this board they need to just walk away from Tennessee football for a while.

 

[Ned Ray McWorkher]

Alabama lost to Louisana-Monroe, in 2007, which is Saban's first season. So, getting off to a rocky start is expected when the program is this far down.

Like I have said many times in the past. Majors took about ten seasons before he was winning consistently. Sure he had a few winning seasons in that ten year stretch but he had winning seasons, then a losing season, then a winning season, then two losing seasons, etc.

I expect us to be "Brick by Brick" until 2015!!! Then in 2015, we should have a winning team.

The Saban losing to Monroe analogy is over/misused. And Majors finally won big when he had a record offensive coordinator.

 

[VolsRule]

who knows how butch will do---but he started with almost no talent for this league

 

[mscc1998]

Reminds me of the Troy game last year where we did win (55-48).
Any other "UGLY" or "VERY UGLY" wins you can think of?
I'm sure a Vandy win pops in your mind.