Will getting better be enough...

[235lbVol]

All the above....patience is now the order of the day for Vol fans. It may be 3-4-5 years before we are able to compete for any type of championship...it takes time when you are at the very bottom of the SEC. This year is going to be rough however, with possibly no more than 4 possibly 5 wins at most

I disagree. 4 -5 wins? I see 7-5 very doable, and thats with us not winning any of those big games. Oregon, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, S.Carolina. If we do steal one if those, it could be even better. Missouri, Vandy, Auburn we "should" win.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

If you believe Clay Travis, Franklin was approached by us, as well as Auburn and Arky. So we can't say he hasn't been approached by a marquis program. We can say he is a fool for staying in Nashville.

As you suggest, that is an important disclaimer or qualifier that you used as an introductory remark. Regardless of precisely wherein the truth resides on that front, you are absolutely correct in your concluding sentence. Franklin will learn that for himself as his schedule becomes tougher and Butch consistently implements his "build-a-fence-around-the-state-of-Tennessee" policy.

 

[rocktopper16]

i won't go into detail, but like alabama, the florida d-coordinator is meaningless. it's muschamp'

as long as muschamp is at florida, the defense is going to be very good and 2013 will be no exception

I agree with you. On defense. Offensively i believe it'll be a struggle at the start.. It'll be a good game in gainsville this year though.

 

[iluvsmesumdooley]

I think simply just getting better will be enough. We will never dominate Bama and UGA like we did in the 90s because they have Nicky and Richt instead of Dubose and Goff. Their recruiting bases are just too tough, so we can only hope to beat these teams every now and then. A&M has a fine coach and should also dominate us annually in recruiting, but at least we just play them every now and then. Same with LSU, even though Miles is a blithering idiot. Still, he's a good recruiter. There is no excuse in Carolina being better than us, however. Even with Visor Boy. Their state is very small, and they split it with Clemson. It's embarrassing that they are better.
But UF is in play right now because I think Sillie Willie ain't all that. Good recruiter, but Strong beeeochslapped him hard in that bowl. The Gayfers are in play.
So a 9-3 average should be the expectation, if you ask me. Don't think that's too much to ask.

 

[Vol_Maul]

As a Texas native (although I consider myself a Tennessean), I take some comfort from the fact that lots and lots of kids in Texas are raised to absolutely HATE aTm. So, maybe the ability to play in the SEC and still beat aTm would be a good draw for Tennessee in certain years.

They can be part of the only UT that gets to beat the Aggies.

 

[99gator]

I agree with you. On defense. Offensively i believe it'll be a struggle at the start.. It'll be a good game in gainsville this year though.

they will have a very good offensive line with a lot of depth.

they will have people to carry the rock.

passing game may still leave a lot to be desired, but the pass protection won't exhibit the same matador technique

 

[vol-un-tear]

Florida UGA and USCe will all be worse than last season, though not by much.
They will still be much better off than us, but anything can happen.
I think we steal 1 of the above 3 games, but only time will tell.

I don't think any of the above teams are trending down, i just think they will have some growing pains and things to prove in areas that they excelled in last season.

Georgia will have an awesome offense. They did lose quite a bit on defense. I

 

[dan4vols]

The Vols going back to a 4-3 look IMO will have more to do with a win in the Gator game than anything. If we'd been running the 4-3 IMO the Vols beat the Gators last year. I will say this to be fair Driskell IMO is a very tough out, he breaks my heart on those 3rd and 6 down when he scrambles and makes the 1st downs by a foot.

 

[ACvol3]

Florida UGA and USCe will all be worse than last season, though not by much.
They will still be much better off than us, but anything can happen.
I think we steal 1 of the above 3 games, but only time will tell.

I don't think any of the above teams are trending down, i just think they will have some growing pains and things to prove in areas that they excelled in last season.

They weren't much better than us last year.. We gave them all everything they wanted and could've just as easily beat usce and uga if we had even an average coach.

 

[butchna]

I agree. Georgia will most likely win the east .

I think we steal the USCe game in Knoxville.

Spurrier's crew has tried to gift us a game for three years now...time we accept
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[Vol8188]

We almost beat Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

I think us getting better, by having a competent coach finally, will be plenty.

 

[Vol8188]

Our rise will come at the expense of South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Georgia for the most part, and possibly Clemson and the North Carolina schools to some degree, although it will be hard to tell. I'm sure there will be recruiting battles with Bama and LSU, as always, but those states are so stocked with talent that it's less of a zero-sum game. Just look at our tradional recruiting areas, and you can tell who we will be pulling talent away from.

I think A&M may have a pretty interesting impact on the West, but I wonder if they will hurt our ability to pull the occasional prized kid out of Texas.

Georgia has more talent than Alabama or Louisiana, but beyond that, I agree with you.

Anytime someone rises it comes at the expense of others, because there's only so many games to be won and so many top recruits to be signed.

 

[volger]

Our rise will come at the expense of South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Georgia for the most part, and possibly Clemson and the North Carolina schools to some degree, although it will be hard to tell. I'm sure there will be recruiting battles with Bama and LSU, as always, but those states are so stocked with talent that it's less of a zero-sum game. Just look at our tradional recruiting areas, and you can tell who we will be pulling talent away from.

I think A&M may have a pretty interesting impact on the West, but I wonder if they will hurt our ability to pull the occasional prized kid out of Texas.

Never hurt MU.

 

[BornonRockyTop]

I guess baby steps have to be taken to recover from this trainwreck, but within short order I demand a Texas A&M esq rise to stardom.

 

[Grayvol]

I really am amazed at the percentage of fans who seem to have forgotten how close we were to a great record last year. If we show ANY improvement and mix in some better coaching decisions and overall team effort, this season and many to follow could be extremely successful.

 

[99gator]

I really am amazed at the percentage of fans who seem to have forgotten how close we were to a great record last year. If we show ANY improvement and mix in some better coaching decisions and overall team effort, this season and many to follow could be extremely successful.

not sure if serious

 

[Grayvol]

Absolutely serious. Not in WL's but in number of plays. Drops, FG's, drops, fumbles, etc.

 

[rocktopper16]

Absolutely serious. Not in WL's but in number of plays. Drops, FG's, drops, fumbles, etc.

All of those players who made us that good are gone. Cp and bray being two of em.

 

[jasonvol18]

Florida UGA and USCe will all be worse than last season, though not by much.
They will still be much better off than us, but anything can happen.
I think we steal 1 of the above 3 games, but only time will tell.

I don't think any of the above teams are trending down, i just think they will have some growing pains and things to prove in areas that they excelled in last season.

Not sure about that. UF was very young last year and should be better. Georgia is always loaded and has as much talent or almost as much as Ala and LSU but CMR is not the gameday Coach Saban is nor Miles.SC will be worse and we definitely have a shot at beating them and GA with them being home games. Not saying we beat them but Kiffin beat them both to death with inferior talent. UF had growing pain last season, especially on Offense.

 

[jasonvol18]

All of those players who made us that good are gone. Cp and bray being two of em.

Your right, but we can potentially be better because of the huge increase in Coaching ability.We will be fine on offense and should be dramatically improved on D, which is the most important in the SEC.

 

[Volosaurus rex]

There are so many variables at play that, quite simply, it is difficult to project how it will all wash out. I do believe that we have a significant upgrade in coaching; we also should have a much more motivated and disciplined team. On the other hand, we lost so much firepower offensively and it is difficult to project how much improvement to expect defensively from the 3-4 debacle. I believe that Butch was shooting very straight from the hip when he said that we can be a good football team, but that we have VERY little margin for error.

 

[rocktopper16]

Your right, but we can potentially be better because of the huge increase in Coaching ability.We will be fine on offense and should be dramatically improved on D, which is the most important in the SEC.

Inexperienced Qbs. Questionable run game. Inexperienced Wrs.

OLine is a definitly good.

Defensively We can only go up. D Line will vastly improve with the 4-3 as will our Linebackers. Corners will be a concern while the safety postion *should* be okay with Moore and Randolph.

I believe we'll see more effort and kids playing harder and for the first time in years we'll have a damn coach.

 

[Rudy123]

or will we have to rely on other teams getting worse? I just think about the ebb and flow of college football and it seems that when you see certain programs on the rise, other programs start to decline. That was certainly the case with us. As we were were declining, programs like LSU, Auburn, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia were getting better. My question is, if we expect to get back to the glory days, do other programs need to decline and if so, who do you see fitting that role?

As soon, as some S.E.C. teams get on probation or they lose their good coach, we can really make a move. For now, we need to get our roster improved and develope our players, so that we are in striking distance, once the top few teams stumble.

With a little help, like in 2007, I see us returning to Atlanta for the S.E.C. Championship game. If we ever have to play Alabama in that game, it will be a long, hard day.

 

[Teeman]

If we get out-talented in some games this year, I'm ok with that. If we get out-coached and out-hustled from week to week, I'm going to lose my mind.

Yes! Win the games you should and be competitive in the others, maybe pulling off an upset.

 

[TAMUVOLS12]

As a Texas native (although I consider myself a Tennessean), I take some comfort from the fact that lots and lots of kids in Texas are raised to absolutely HATE aTm. So, maybe the ability to play in the SEC and still beat aTm would be a good draw for Tennessee in certain years.

What a ridiculous statement, it depends on the area in Texas as to whether you don't like A&M. Obviously a place like Austin is biased. If that's the case then why is A&M right there with or beating the longhorns in recruiting? Kids are going to make their college decision on many factors but staying home and playing for the hottest team in college football is going to be a huge draw. That being said I only root for two teams and that is Tennessee and A&M and I think both teams are going to have success in the near future.