Peyton is an amazing representative. The last time the BaseVols were good was when his teammate and fellow Vol QB played for the baseball team. Helton was QB Jerry Colquitt's backup that year and after Colquitt was injured in the opener Helton became the starting QB with Manning as his backup. Three games later Helton suffered also suffered a knee injury and Peyton was forced to start as a true freshman. The rest is history. Peyton became a HoF QB and Helton a legendary first baseman who will likely end up in the MLB's HoF soon.

White is determined to prove UCF and his past self right. That is a problem, IMO. He is more concerned with making the case that what they did at UCF without playing a full p5 schedule was legit than he is with current needs and demands of the university he is now at.

No one is signing on with the NCAA cloud and an unknown coach. Sure Heupel could generate some buzz during the season if he gets lucky but by then kids have already decided where they are going. Best case scenario is the season brings him 2 or 3 kids who are undecided but there’s no reason to think Vol football will be any good at all next season let alone good enough to generate any buzz. Also the vast majority of the time if a kid is undecided late despite being highly rated he either has grade or character concerns.

You misspelled HASLAM.

I don’t think Simpson was serious even before Pruitt tanked while proving himself too dumb to cheat. That said, I’d rather he ended up someplace other than Bama.

*they are. Ugh, why do the comments not have an edit function for typos?

"Tennessee (insert name of any other regional powers during a low period), please stay down I need you to so that my program can succeed" is how these read every time. The only reason anyone has an urge to tell a long suffering fan base that knows all to well what the situation is within their program is because frankly you have an interest in seeing them stay where there are but it's not your or any fan's duty, let alone right, to tell any team to settle for mediocrity and give up. That's ludicrous and yet it's what this is premised on.

Maurer isn’t the same player he was as a true freshman. He also might’ve been involved in some of the violations if rumors are to be believed. I wouldn’t write him off completely with a new coach but I think his time has passed him by.

That simply isn’t true. The right hire changes things almost instantly for any program so long as the program has money and infrastructure built up to support them. UT has hired exactly one coach with a winning record since Fulmer. They’ve hired on the cheap and gotten the results of doing so but leadership and the right hire flips that quickly.

Fulmer does not have the power you think he does. He can’t make a move without one of our power brokers not named Haslam stepping up and right now none have. UTs AD is not ruled by the AD but by warring factions. Our teams are stuck with a gaggle of useless donors more interested in playing their version of game of thrones than helping them succeed.

If Urban was interested and could be tempted to your school if you threw enough cash his way then you throw that cash his way. He'd bring in the revenue to make up for it almost instantly.

There was nothing fluky about the UGA win. People forget that UGA made a late comeback and thought that was going to seal it but Tennessee had been ahead most of the game.

The extensions isn't a problem. It's an excuse not to act. UT has the money to fire Pruitt and hire a good coach. The question is whether or not they have the willpower. So far the boosters have proven to be pretty inept at everything but infighting and Fulmer can't/won't make a move without getting at least most of them on board.

Look at that play again. There are 3 Auburn defenders and only one Tenn receiver in the area. JG probably checked out of a running play to throw that pick 6.

He hadn't yet realized that he was never meant to be a HC. Pruitt wants to be fired and he's doing everything he can to make it happen. He's a man over his head looking for a way out.

You can tell that Pruitt needs to go by the sheer number of rival fans telling UT to give him more time or explaining how it's too soon when their own programs have made decisions to fire even faster.

Fulmer didn't start with a full slate of options but walked into a search that had already burnt bridges. Once a choice was made regarding the leftovers, he preceded to re-up his NCAA credentials and salvage a recruiting class for Pruitt who was busy coaching in the championship game. Fulmer's got nothing to do with the problem right now. How he acts in the future and what he does or doesn't do will decide that.

Florida paid a ridiculous amount to get the shark humper and then paid a ridiculous amount to make him go away. Programs do this all the time. It's not special.

Beating Missouri doesn't count towards anything. It's a solid win but much like beating Indiana in the bowl game that's about all it is. There's no rivalry there and Mizz wasn't a ranked team. In contrast, Pruitt has already has more blowout losses on his resume than any other UT coach in history and most of those were to actual rivals. Pruitt is a great DC and is a solid X's and O's guy but at present he is not HC material.

Fulmer wasn't in the AD when Schiano was blackballed by the Admin. Currie was the AD and he'd gone rogue. He wasn't in contact with the university the way he was supposed to be and ultimately that caused much of the mess and cost him his job. Fulmer came in afterwards to stabilize the situation but he had nothing whatsoever to do with Schiano getting hired or nixed.

Ugh autocorrect changed Fulmer to Fuller.

Fuller had limited choices in that search. Currie had already burnt tons of bridges before Fuller was called in to help stabilize things. He made the best of what was left and has give. Pruitt the money and staff support to succeed unlike prior ADs who didn’t setup coaches for success. The failure is 100 percent on Pruitt. Fulmer otoh needs to go against his natural inclination to be overly loyal and fire Pruitt now.

UT has had Chaney as OC under Kiffin, Dooley, and now Pruitt. This isn’t Chaney. It’s Pruitt. He reverted to the offense he forced Helton to run in year one. Kirby is guilty of similar sins on O but UGA has the talent to pull off running this antique defensive coordinator’s dream offense. Tennessee does not and Pruitt has failed in too many other areas. Chaney was his do over after he trotted this same offense out upon arrival.

Time for Pruitt to go. Don’t string it out another year unless something drastic changes over the remaining games.

It’s not Chaney or Weinke. This is all Pruitt. It’s the same 1980s offense Pruitt had in year 1 with Helton. Make no mistake, Pruitt is the problem on offense. He needs to go.

The Vols won't get over the hump until they find a QB.

FPI is putting waaaaaay too much emphasis on home field advantage in a year where that's going to matter very little.

Honestly, I wanted him to stay but felt like he should go and make some money. I'm thrilled that he decided to return. He's not just a great OL, he is an enormous motivator/personality on the team and will probably be our heart and soul next season.

I don't think it's that unusual given that the Mays family has been around football and they know how it works. Of course, they are going to bring an attorney on board.

The timing of telling every reporter about it is spiteful. That's the issue.