Will Butch Jones restore Tennessee to Greatness?

#26
#26
I don't feel that he will...now it's up to him to prove me wrong.

But hopefully he at least has better clock management skills that the last guy.:birgits_giggle:
 
#27
#27
I'm optimistic, but not so much for him bringing his whole staff with him. Why? because if nothing else, it makes his job that much harder when recruiting. Selling them that you shared the Big East title 4 out of 6 yrs only get's you so far, when you are going up against Bama, UGA, UF, LSU, FSU, OSU, etc...all for the same guy.

I fully understand him bringing his OC. That makes sense, someone who knows his offensive system. But on defense? There is no reason to overlook guys like Randy Shannon and Ron Zook, who are monsters at recruiting, too.
 
#28
#28
I am going to wait until I see the product he puts on the field before making a judgement but I don't have a lot of confidence that we improved very much at all, hope I am proved wrong.
 
#29
#29
Will he return us to greatness none of us know but we a have coach on the sidelines now instead of a lawyer.
 
#31
#31
As good as chance as any other so called sexy hire. Idk why everyone pretends we were so called greatness. Yes we won the NC in 98, and had many 10 win seasons. We also beat up on Bama when they were down, and Florida still had Fulmer's number. People also forget the blown opportunity we had with some of the most talented rosters ever seen on the hill. Nebraska making us look like a Jr high team. I'm not complaining, but if someone could point out these years of beating both Bama and Florida and winning the east consistently without backing in to the game, fill me in. That being said I think Butch Jones may do better than any of the hotshots who we all wanted, myself included. Just guessing like all of us are, but he appears to have a team approach not a me approach. Let's get behind this guy and support this team. Quit trashing our players like Bray and others, idk care what the hell you think it. You can be critical without being an ass.
 
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#32
#32
I'm very concerned about the lack of diversity on this staff. Other schools will have a field day recruiting against us. We shall see in the few weeks.
 
#34
#34
I'm on the wait and see fence. The only chance he has is surround himself around great coaching staff and so far that isn't happening. I hope he can win but bringing all those Cincy coaches isn't good news.
 
#35
#35
If we're talking about the New Greatness of 7-5 and a low-tier bowl, then I believe we're solid. If we're talking about the Traditional Greatness of winning championships, I'm gonna say that he won't be here long enough to do that.
 
#36
#36
As you can see I very rarely post in here but there is something that I think everyone must remember. When UT was in it "greatness" as many of you think, we lost to Florida almost every year. We were not the conference champions every year nor were we in the National Championship picture every year. Those pipe dreams were dashed each year as Fulmer lost to Spurrier on the third game of the season. What I read the most is the people are scared that Coach Jones will only get us to the middle of the pack in the SEC, but I would say Florida & LSU are middle of the pack SEC teams as they are were not playing for the conference title this year. Alabama's run of conference titles is remarkable and likely not to be repeated any time soon, they are bound to come back to earth sooner or later. ( I believe sooner as TAM showed everyone) The question to ask is would you be happy winning an average of 9 games per year while playing in the SEC? If the answer is NO then I think should reevaluate your expectations. LSU has averaged just over 9 wins per year over the last decade. Alabama has averaged 8.9 wins per year from 2000 - 2010. Please do not forget they were 6-6 in 2006 and 7-6 in 2007 which is not that long ago.

Last point, please Remember, the "greatness" that was Tennessee came the last time we fielded a team with a dual threat QB.
 
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#37
#37
Like others, I'll wait and see. At least record wise he is a vast improvement over Dooley, but it remains to be seen whether his record in the MAC and Big East will translate over to the SEC.
 
#38
#38
No. We will be seeing 4-8, 5-7, 6-6 seasons under his leadership. He does not have D1 major program expereince, and his recruitinf of 2 and 3 stars will stink up the program... We will discover that "Jones Soda" is too much like Doolaide.

GBO................. anyway.
 
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#39
#39
utkell65 said:
Like others, I'll wait and see. At least record wise he is a vast improvement over Dooley, but it remains to be seen whether his record in the MAC and Big East will translate over to the SEC.
Click to expand...

Why the concern about the MAC.....did Myers record from Utah convert to the SEC?
 
#40
#40
hopefully, he can outrecruit and outcoach saban, muschamp, richt and miles in the sec.
 
#41
#41
neostig said:
As good as chance as any other so called sexy hire. Idk why everyone pretends we were so called greatness. Yes we won the NC in 98, and had many 10 win seasons. We also beat up on Bama when they were down, and Florida still had Fulmer's number. People also forget the blown opportunity we had with some of the most talented rosters ever seen on the hill. Nebraska making us look like a Jr high team. I'm not complaining, but if someone could point out these years of beating both Bama and Florida and winning the east consistently without backing in to the game, fill me in. That being said I think Butch Jones may do better than any of the hotshots who we all wanted, myself included. Just guessing like all of us are, but he appears to have a team approach not a me approach. Let's get behind this guy and support this team. Quit trashing our players like Bray and others, idk care what the hell you think it. You can be critical without being an ass.
Click to expand...

I am in the same boat as you....what "greatness" are these people talking about? It is not like we were dominating everyone in the 90's. We were simply a good team who beat up the teams we were supposed to and won about 50% of the other games. We got hammered in the Orange Bowl against Nebraska, even in our National Title year we needed a fluke fumble and a bad pass interference call to go undefeated.
 
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#42
#42
Yes...and here's why.

This fanbase has never seen something like this happen so automatically not many are going to believe that good coaches...not famous ones...could possibly translate to wins.

The last 2 change overs we had had 2 coaches that went out and got big names and put together good staffs on paper. What we didn't have was a staff that was always on the same page, differing styles, they weren't loyal to each other and in turn were not loyal to UT. With the money we have, Coach Jones could have pieced together a staff with individual resumes filled with players they coached...done that before. Instead, the guy gets a staff that has 1 thing in common when together...WINNING, and some fans are complaining because that's not how the last 2 staffs were put together...how'd that work out for everybody?

He'll win because that's all he's done wherever he's been, and I believe his process works...and there's no reason it won't work even better here.
 
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#43
#43
Wait and see. Also by greatness do you mean NC? Because I don't see us making it there this decade unless the conference collapses.
 
#45
#45
utkell65 said:
Yes it did, but is Jones on the same level as Myers? His record in the SEC will answer that question.
Click to expand...

The level of player is better in the SEC than it is in the MAC but do not forget he is not bringing his team with him. UT has SEC players to compete against SEC players. They simply need the scheme and coaching to do so. When Fulmer was winning he brought in 3 * players and coached them to 5 * players, then he stopped coaching and found out what happens. Dooley could not coach anyone to become a better player. Hopefully Coach Jones can.
 
#46
#46
Our talent level will drop next year, and unlike other SEC programs, we had no real impact freshmen this year. Dooley underachieved with a lot of talent and Jones will have to overachieve with less. Jones has never recruited or coached in the SEC, and so far, he seems to be trying to recreate the Cincy staff and system here. If he pulls a top class that fills our deficiencies with immediate impact players, then we'll see what he can do. Otherwise, next year's schedule will magnify every flaw.
 
#47
#47
Sure, it's easy to be a fence rider and take the wait and see approach, but since I am not I am going to say yes! I think BJ will be successful for several reasons. I think he is smart enough to surround himself with capable staff members and recruiters which is a must. Two, he has plays a successful brand of football and will adapt to the nuances of winning in the SEC. And lastly, I believe players play harder for coaches they respect. He will demand it unlike Dooley.
 
#48
#48
Here is Fulmer’s record broken down by tier of opponent during our “greatness” years.

First-tier opponents are teams that had a winning percentage of .750 or better

Second tier were .500 to .749

Third tier opponents were .250 to .499

Fourth tier opponents were .249 and below.

Tier Wins Losses Pct. Avg. Scored Avg. Allowed
First 23 26 .469 22 24
Second 50 16 .758 30 21
Third 53 3 .946 34 15
Fourth 21 0 1.000 42 11
As you can see Fulmer did not fare so well against the best teams in the country. He simply beat the crap out of the teams he was supposed to. During his tenure there were more teams in the SEC that he was supposed to beat than ones in the first tier. I believe he would struggle now as a coach in the SEC.
 
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#50
#50
SouthFlorida_Vol said:
The level of player is better in the SEC than it is in the MAC but do not forget he is not bringing his team with him. UT has SEC players to compete against SEC players. They simply need the scheme and coaching to do so. When Fulmer was winning he brought in 3 * players and coached them to 5 * players, then he stopped coaching and found out what happens. Dooley could not coach anyone to become a better player. Hopefully Coach Jones can.
Click to expand...

I'll agree that he will pull in better players than he had at Cincy, but the question remains whether or not he can pull in top 10 classes, because if he can't then he will not catch up to the talent level of Bama, UF, UGA, LSU or even SC.

Right now we are behind every one of these schools in talent level at most roster spots. We are not even close to having the two deep talent of any of those schools, so that leaves him in the position of either out recruiting those schools (which will be hard considering our record the past few years and the fact that we don't have near the in-state talent as those schools enjoy ) or out coaching them.

I'm not saying he can't get it done, but he will have to claw his way to get there and it's not going to happen in a year or two. If the team can show improvement from year to year, then he will be given the chance to continue to reach the level we all want for our program, but he can't get to 8 or even 9 win seasons and then level out. If he does, then he'll be handing off the team to the next coach to try reach the next level.
 
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