Why the heck not?

[jeff1vol]

You may be forgetting the heupel and co get to watch nico every day. So they know what we have and they must not believe he’s ready. If it starts getting out of hand that’s when we may see him to give us a spark.

Not sure about this staff can see. This staff started Milton over Hooker and apparently couldn't tell that HH was a FAR better QB. If Milton didn't get hurt, who knows how '22 turns out.

 

[jeff1vol]

For the 6 reasons I mentioned earlier at a minimum. There are a lot of really good "why nots". Some have to do with what's best for the future of Nico and the program. Some have to do with who the coaches believe give the Vols their best chance of success now.

It isn't just that they're smarter and more qualified than you to make that decision. Even bigger than that is that they have FAR more information than you do. They see the QBs every day in practice.

For me, what Heupel has done since arriving at UT MORE than trumps your credibility to make this criticism.

It is pure ignorance... and you just keep digging. Nico gets reps every day. He's in the film room every day. He needs S&C. Heupel knows much more than YOU about developing QBs. Can we agree to that? He is working a plan for this team and Nico.

Yeah... Kinda like they did last year with HH and Milton? Unfortunately, for you... the facts are that this staff started Milton over HH in '22 when it was pretty obvious to the rest of the WORLD that HH is far superior at the position. Maybe Hooker and Milton had different "reps" in practice. So I'm not sold that this "staff" knows exactly WHAT they are seeing in practice.

 

[aRmo]

Not sure about this staff can see. This staff started Milton over Hooker and apparently couldn't tell that HH was a FAR better QB. If Milton didn't get hurt, who knows how '22 turns out.

Thats probably not as accurate as you make it seem. This staff had 15 practices with 3 QBs, 2 of which were here in the spring and still learning the offense. There wasnt much seperation between the 3. The staff went with Joe because they felt his arm Talent would have developed and taken their offense to the next level. When he got hurt Hooker still wasnt the clear #2 it was a choice between him and Harrison Bailey. All QBs were still learning the offense at the time.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Wait a second... I thought the "stupidity on this board" had no bounds? Glad someone else has some semblance of foresight. If Nico doesn't get experience, we're starting ALL OVER next Fall. Give him Missouri, Kentucky and even UGA at home. He could be a real gamer.

If Nico goes in and gets shelled by the D behind our less than consistent O Line and throws a few picks, takes some sacks, makes freshman mistakes....... then loses his belief in himself, what happens next year?

We start from less than zero next year.

If he balls out, then gets hurt, you go back to Joe who knows he's been replaced for the 3rd time and has completely checked out because he doesn't have another season to be "the guy." If Milton is replaced, he's done.

The risk isn't worth the reward.

 

[jeff1vol]

Thats probably not as accurate as you make it seem. This staff had 15 practices with 3 QBs, 2 of which were here in the spring and still learning the offense. There wasnt much seperation between the 3. The staff went with Joe because they felt his arm Talent would have developed and taken their offense to the next level. When he got hurt Hooker still wasnt the clear #2 it was a choice between him and Harrison Bailey. All QBs were still learning the offense at the time.

Fair enough. But to my point, practices aren't games and you cannot simulate real game experience in practice. And if Nico doesn't get more real game time, we're back to square one with an inexperienced QB leading the charge in '24.

 

[volfan102455]

Some of you seem to be "okay" with giving up on the current year in the hopes that it makes next year better. Are you okay with that philosophy every time we replace a new QB?

It is a long time until next year. Injuries happen, bad games can destroy confidence with damage that may never be overcome. SMH

 

[aRmo]

Fair enough. But to my point, practices aren't games and you cannot simulate real game experience in practice. And if Nico doesn't get more real game time, we're back to square one with an inexperienced QB leading the charge in '24.

I get this too, but there has only been 1 QB that didnt practice well but balled out in games and thats Josh Dobbs. Is it uncommon for a QB to play worse than he practices? no its not. But are you prepared to send Nico out there? Are you 100% positive hes better than Joe? Noone has seen him. I trust this coaching staff. If they say he isnt ready, then hes not ready. Its that simple. Is it frustrating to watch? ABSOLUTELY. But im not prepared to send my 8 million dollar QB out to the wolves and possibly get him hurt and put a long hault on his college career. PLUS you have WRs who are running the wrong routes, Who are not running through the catch, who are not catching the easy passes. The only thing that is working right now is our running game. Trust the staff. Just know its not only on Joe. Him being blind to cover 3 is on Joe. but these darn WRs that were Hyped up all off season need to step the hell up.

 

[DD4ME]

I keep hearing everyone say that it would be foolish to start a true freshman in Tuscaloosa and my question is "Why?" He is a 5 Star and he is getting paid big money to deliver big performances like SEC road wins. The truth is we have no clue what he is capable of playing meaningful snaps with the starters. What would it hurt to roll the dice and start him the first drive and see what he can do? We know what we have with Joe. He is struggling. It is what it is. But Nico is still an intriguing mystery.

So many flashbacks to why not.... More importantly, we are 5-1. No pros, all cons at 5-1.

 

[volfan102455]

There is a good reason why some of you in this thread are not candidates to coach a SEC football team.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Umm do you not remember Dobbs? He was buried on the depth chart and probably would never have played if injuries didn't force him to play, and he ended up being great and key in our bowl seasons under Butch. My point is we have no clue what Nico has until he is given meaningful snaps with the starting offense. He hasn't been given that opportunity. My other point is those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it and that's what is happening now. I'm seeing shades of Peterman and Guarantano.

We're not getting paid to coach the team. Do you really believe Heupel should listen to the fans? Just stop

 

[EZE]

Care to expand or just throw out brainless insults?

Making those conclusions about a true freshman who hasn’t played any real football at this level is ridiculous.

Nico may ultimately prove to be overrated, but the mere fact that he is not playing right now is not conclusive in making that assumption.

Is Arch Manning a bust merely because he isn’t starting at Texas? Answer is “no.” For the same reasons.

I suspect we will see a 10-20 pound heavier Nico next fall who will play well for a sophomore.

 

[EZE]

How well do you REALLY think a team would do if coaches made a habit of starting players that didn't perform as well in practice?

Milton blew EVERYONE away. Anyone who saw practice from media to former players to current players to coaches all said Milton was "the guy" and it wasn't close. Milton went out and laid an egg in the first game and not much better in the 2nd before getting nicked up. Hooker showed that he was a gamer... he excelled at things that you CANNOT simulate in practice. Heupel gave him the next start without naming him #1... and then named him #1.

Truth is if you start the guy who performs better in practice you're going to have the right starter over 90% of the time. There are no certainties about how a player will translate practice into games but it is your best bet to start the guys who practice best.

So again, do you really think coaches that start guys who practice worse are likely to succeed? What does that do to team moral and motivation to practice hard?

Please stop. You are making way to much sense for this crew!

 

[volfan102455]

Yeah... Kinda like they did last year with HH and Milton? Unfortunately, for you... the facts are that this staff started Milton over HH in '22 when it was pretty obvious to the rest of the WORLD that HH is far superior at the position. Maybe Hooker and Milton had different "reps" in practice. So I'm not sold that this "staff" knows exactly WHAT they are seeing in practice.

It was not obvious to the world until after the fact - unless some of you have the ability to predict the future. Neither of these players had any game day experience with Tennessee under the CJH offense for a comparison - so practice is used to determine the starter which is what should have happened.

Seriously there is a whole thread on here from 2021 about how Harrison Bailey should have been given a chance in place of JM and HH.

If you don't like the coach, just say that.

 

[BACKDOC]

I keep hearing everyone say that it would be foolish to start a true freshman in Tuscaloosa and my question is "Why?" He is a 5 Star and he is getting paid big money to deliver big performances like SEC road wins. The truth is we have no clue what he is capable of playing meaningful snaps with the starters. What would it hurt to roll the dice and start him the first drive and see what he can do? We know what we have with Joe. He is struggling. It is what it is. But Nico is still an intriguing mystery.

According to Volquest Bama players didn't like it when Saban didn't start Milroe.........you could lose the team........we've only lost one game you know.

 

[jeff1vol]

It was not obvious to the world until after the fact - unless some of you have the ability to predict the future. Neither of these players had any game day experience with Tennessee under the CJH offense for a comparison - so practice is used to determine the starter which is what should have happened.

Seriously there is a whole thread on here from 2021 about how Harrison Bailey should have been given a chance in place of JM and HH.

If you don't like the coach, just say that.

I never said it was obvious before the fact. That's my point. It's the coaches job to determine who is better through practice, right? Well... whatever they were doing must not have been a good enough gauge, because when HH got the chance, it was obvious. That's my issue. I'd never ask a coach to try and predict the future. BTW... I don't have a problem with CJH. However, he hasn't proven to me that he is the savior of the program either. He's got plenty of room to grow as a coach.

 

[jeff1vol]

I get this too, but there has only been 1 QB that didnt practice well but balled out in games and thats Josh Dobbs. Is it uncommon for a QB to play worse than he practices? no its not. But are you prepared to send Nico out there? Are you 100% positive hes better than Joe? Noone has seen him. I trust this coaching staff. If they say he isnt ready, then hes not ready. Its that simple. Is it frustrating to watch? ABSOLUTELY. But im not prepared to send my 8 million dollar QB out to the wolves and possibly get him hurt and put a long hault on his college career. PLUS you have WRs who are running the wrong routes, Who are not running through the catch, who are not catching the easy passes. The only thing that is working right now is our running game. Trust the staff. Just know its not only on Joe. Him being blind to cover 3 is on Joe. but these darn WRs that were Hyped up all off season need to step the hell up.

I get it. At the end of the day, it's a gamble either way. And you are 100% correct... We need our WR's to grow up fast.

 

[whobethis16]

Yeah... Kinda like they did last year with HH and Milton? Unfortunately, for you... the facts are that this staff started Milton over HH in '22 when it was pretty obvious to the rest of the WORLD that HH is far superior at the position. Maybe Hooker and Milton had different "reps" in practice. So I'm not sold that this "staff" knows exactly WHAT they are seeing in practice.

Ummm...Hooker started every game in 2022 up until he got hurt in Columbia. Milton did start in 2021, but that was before "it was pretty obvious to the rest of the world".

 

[RockyTop140]

Not sure about this staff can see. This staff started Milton over Hooker and apparently couldn't tell that HH was a FAR better QB. If Milton didn't get hurt, who knows how '22 turns out.

They couldn’t tell until we was thrown into the game after an injury from Joe. Sometimes that’s how things happen. if hooker wasn’t looking great in practice it’s hard to blame the staff for that. I agree that Milton is not playing well, but to just assume nico is a gamer and will come in and do well is a risky bet that would probably end up being wrong 80% of the time. If nico were to be put in and struggle heavily you have hurt his confidence, Milton’s confidence, and the team overall.

 

[Big Al Orange]

Right because guys never improve. They never leave one situation and flourish in another. Interesting that you ignored the logic except for this.

So now you are suggesting that different rules be applied to different players? Yeah. That's good for a team culture too. And you cannot ignore two things about Hooker. One, he couldn't claim the job starting in spring. Two, his past didn't scream "start me" either. Just like Milton, he transferred to UT because he had been benched in favor of another guy at VT.

So you have two guys like that and you are NOT supposed to start the guy who blew the others away in August?

Hindsight is 20/20 but at the point that decision was made... there was no other decision that could have been made.

Right now there are still a LOT of reasons not to start Nico. I think the positive reasons to start Milton are diminishing. The passing game isn't good and a lot of it lays at his feet. But that does not mean that the best decision is to replace him with Nico... and they can't really replace him with Moore.


So IMO the answer is to have more designed runs for Milton. If he can't pass well enough to keep D's honest then he has to be a running threat.

And they can’t really replace him with Moore. Why would you say that ? CH must have seen something in him or he wouldn’t be here. I’m not trying to be a smart azz but just wondering why.

 

[sjt18]

And they can’t really replace him with Moore. Why would you say that ? CH must have seen something in him or he wouldn’t be here. I’m not trying to be a smart azz but just wondering why.

What does it do to Nico if they promote Moore? Kind of invites a QB controversy and questions. Either Moore plays poorly and everyone asks why Heupel didn't play Nico from the start or he plays well and makes people question Nico starting next fall.

I just think the risk of creating unnecessary drama is too large.

 

[cgrish]

So CJH should have started the QB that did not win that position on the practice field? Why have practices if you are not using those to prepare for the games? You are also assuming that CJH would not have given Hooker a shot in some games even if Milton had not gotten hurt. None of us know how it would have played out.

What you are saying is that you really don't think CJH is a good coach.

I think Hype is a very good coach. I just have an opinion that he won't give Nico a chance to play any meaningful snaps unless Milton gets hurt, regardless of how bad he plays. And I also realize the importance of locker room unity, which could be why Milton will play the rest of the year. Milton is very well thought of by the players, and to pull him would probably divide the locker room. And imo Hooker would not have been give a chance if Milton had not got injured.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Not sure about this staff can see. This staff started Milton over Hooker and apparently couldn't tell that HH was a FAR better QB. If Milton didn't get hurt, who knows how '22 turns out.

But you know better?

 

[jeff1vol]

But you know better?

Don't we all?

 

[jeff1vol]

Ummm...Hooker started every game in 2022 up until he got hurt in Columbia. Milton did start in 2021, but that was before "it was pretty obvious to the rest of the world".

My mistake on the dates. I'm pretty sure you got my drift. But maybe not.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

You mean the same guys that were seeing Hooker every day in practice two years ago and thought Milton was better? Those infallible perfect coaches?

Maybe just maybe Hooker improved to win the job. Hooker wasn’t a true freshman that still needed to fill out and had experience as well. But to all the barristers of the quarterback position oh here carry on. I will stand behind the coaches who see them everyday. But by all means keep at it. GBO!