Many of you know that the mood around Knoxville regarding Tennessee’s football team has not been a positive one. Coming off of a 5-6 season which inlcuded no post season bowl game will have that effect on fans, especially in a season where expectations were so high.So here we are, the week leading up to the Orange and White game, a new season if you will. Out with the old and in with the new, right? New players, new coaches, and a renewed sense of commitment is what the fans want to see.
We expect to see some improvement from our offense that was so painful to watch last season. We expect to see more discipline on the team to help erase our memories of players throwing helmets and spitting in cameras. We expect to see some fire from a team and a staff that lost to Vanderbilt. I can hardly type that without gettting angry. Someone has to pay.
All of that said, let us not all get our hopes up that we are going to see drastic changes in this spring game. It is only a spring game and we do have some key players that are injured and will not participate. We have several new coaches and players in key positions and that will take some time to show results.
The bottom line fellow Vol fans is let’s not make the same mistake we made last season and set our expecations too high, especially at this early point. I can tell you that there will be some good and some bad in the scrimmage on Saturday. I can also tell you that we won’t be nearly as bad as the worst plays we make and we won’t be nearly as good as the best plays we make this weekend.
This game is a time for the coaches to evaluate talent and make some key personnel decisions. There are no championships and no jobs on the line yet. Fulmer and company will not get a raise because of how the team looks in this game and no coaches will be dismissed if their unit plays poorly. Keep that in mind while you enjoy a final glimpse of the Big Orange before the long summer drought.