Recent Comments
It might not feel like it, but this is the biggest Florida-Tennessee game in a decade
Let's not sugar coat it, there is no Jekyll and Hyde here. They are both bad football teams right now, and the only thing either can really hang their hat on is that at least they aren't Arkansas. UF gets dominated physically by Kentucky. WVU stomps UT. UF beats an FCS school 47. UT beats an FCS school by 56. UF beats one of the worst teams in the country by 38 thanks mostly to defense and special teams (UF's offense, and Franks, are nothing short of awful right now). UT beats one of the worst teams in the country in a shutout by 24, while out gaining them by almost 400 yards. All in all, those seem pretty darn similar to me...With all of that said, and if the last decade is any indication, UT will find a way to make Franks look like a competent player and lose in heartbreak after 3.5 quarters of thinking they might pull out the win.
West Virginia will score points, unless Grier goes down (If he does, they may as well hang it up for next year). Sills is a legit NFL prospect and deserves the pre-season hype. Those 2 guys would start at 99% of the schools in the NCAA...the rest of the roster, not so much. Their OLine should be good, but they aren't great. The RBs are average/serviceable at best. WR unit could legitimately be one of the top 5 in the country. The defense is where your "best starting 22" statement completely falls apart. The DLine was horrible last year. One of the worst units in the Power 5. Their linebackers are undersized and average at best. DBs were just as awful as the Dline. Their total team defensive ranking in 2017 was 106....As awful as Tennessee was they were still 25 spots higher than WVU in total team ranking. On paper, across the board, Tennessee has a more talented roster. Now whether Coach Pruitt can correct Lyle's deficiencies in a single spring/fall camp, is yet to be seen. I wouldn't be surprised if WVU wins, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Pruitt and Helton find a way to control the clock and keep Grier and Sills on the sideline as much as possible to grind out a win.
Yeah, definitely a fumble. I think our Arkansas friend is misinterpreting the "ground can't cause a fumble" part of the rule.
Some writer from CBS...or Fox Sports....I don't remember exactly, picked them 3rd behind UGA and USC. It was one of the dozen or so "standings" articles that have been posted in last couple of weeks.
He started the spring with the DBs. They moved him back to receiver.
Moving Byrd to DB is music to my ears. His athletic abilities were being completely wasted in the slot (and by Jones surprise, surprise). He should have been in the secondary from day 1.
Honestly the staff didn't do bad, considering everything that happened, and the amount of time they had to salvage the class. When Pruitt took over, the class was sitting at something like 50th on 247. Getting them to 20th, with the circus that is UT athletics was a borderline miracle. They certainly whiffed on a handful of prospects, but I suspect that will be different next year.
Whenever I think of him, the first thing that comes to mind is the Halloween game against SC, when they came back out in black after warm ups. Montario had a monster night.
Very surprising. I hope he does well, but I can't imagine he's going to get drafted very high. Bust may be too strong of a word, but I don't think he ever reached his potential.
I'm confused, is there some history here that I'm not aware of, or is this guy just trying to make himself feel better about their horrible hire?
**cough**BS**cough**
I agree 100%. Solid coach. Great defensive mind. Good recruiter. It won't be the splashy hire, and it's not a huge name for a lot of the fan base, but UT could do much, much worse. Especially considering the last week and a half of continuous embarrassments...
I'm not going to say Haslam is the only reason UT athletics is in the position it is, but he is the evil, not so mysterious mastermind. Haslam may be extraordinarily wealthy, but he is not the only 7 figure donor at UT. The Haslam's can stick it...well, you know the rest. The whole Schiano thing was his direct doing. There are literally other people, high up people, in the AD that had no idea about Schiano even being a serious target. There is also a lot of smoke floating around that a number of big donors, who were tired of the last decade of incompetence had volunteered up to $20 million for a big time hire and his potential staff, but Currie, being Haslam's lap dog, worked with Schiano on the side. I don't care what the media says, the root of UT's problems isn't the fans (not to say that there aren't some loud, obnoxious, and seriously out of touch fans out there....there are). It's Haslam and his cronies on the Hill. The reaction from fans on Sunday is a result of 10 years of incompetence and destruction of the athletic department. 10 years ago football was still contending in the east, men's basketball could play with anyone in the country, women's basketball was a national powerhouse, the baseball team was always a threat to make the CWS, and softball was a national power as well....10 years later, we have softball, and that's it. The AD completely botched the Lady Vols situation. After all of this, John Currie comes in, mishandles the Butch Jones situation, then promises a candidate that is "big, expensive, and explosive", and then wants to roll out the red carpet for Greg Schiano? A guy who is a well known jerk, and in the grand scheme of things, an average coach, who likes to micromanage....sound familiar? So I'll say it one more time, Haslam, and his family can stick it.
Haslam. Haslam is the answer to all of your questions.
I've read some conflicting information that this was a little premature, and that Brohm was actually out recruiting for Purdue today. He has been contacted, and has shown interest, but that it's not close to a sure thing yet....With the last 96 hours of UT coaching news, I'm not believing anything until someone is standing in front of a podium with that Power T on his shirt.
I'm all Vol, but there is some hard truths in what Crist says. It's been a decade since we've been relevant on a national scale, and a decade and a half removed from being considered elite. It's not just football. Yesterday was the culmination of a decades worth of being mediocre or worse across the entire athletic department. 10-15 years ago, UT was very good or elite in multiple sports. UT athletics is a shell of what it used to be and of what it is capable of. With that said, Crist does seem to take some joy in being unforgiving, or almost spiteful when discussing UT football. Definitely comes across as having a kick 'em when they're down attitude. I'm sure it is just his style of writing, and recently we've probably been an easier target than most...but still, it stings enough without the extra jabs haha
Because that would make sense, and we wouldn't want something reasonable to happen, or it wouldn't match up with the last decade of UT football.
I don't think it's as much about X's and O's. I'm sure he is a perfectly capable football coach. I mean, he turned Rutgers into a decent program, which is no small feat, considering how abysmal they were. There is, however, a lot of smoke that points to him knowing about what went down at Penn State when he was on staff, and not doing anything to stop it, or bring it to light. You can't have that be the face of your program. Whether he knew or not, the doubts are there. It's not worth the risk. If the AD isn't going to try and hold itself to some type of moral standard, they may as well go throw the bank at Petrino....At least he would win.
In my opinion, Brett Bielema is a poor example. Wisconsin has essentially been plug and play when it comes to who the head coach is for the last decade and a half. Alvarez laid that foundation, and depending on who you believe, is still the one supporting that foundation. I agree that the SEC is a different animal than the west coast, but I don't think you would find many people who would disagree with Peterson being a home run hire, regardless of where the school is located. He's a top 10 coach, and probably close to top 5.
Forget Jon Gruden. Forget Chip Kelly. If Currie can somehow lure Peterson away from the west coast, that would be huge. UT has more money, better resources, and much more exposure (for good and bad) than Washington could ever give. His youngest son, based on everything I've read, is a senior in high school and doesn't have the level of health issues that he once did. As a poster on one of the other coach search articles said, Mullen would be a solid triple, and I agree with that 100%. I would be perfectly content with Mullen on the Hill. But Peterson would be the home run in the bottom of the 9th to clench the pennant.
I think it's painfully obvious now how much Dobbs made up for deficiencies in other position groups/coaching. I don't think that JG will be the same type of physical runner Dobbs was, but hopefully he brings enough speed and elusiveness to effectively run the read option, and scramble out of situations.
As a Tennessee fan, I basically have zero faith in the administration, BoT, BoD, or the big money donors to make the right call. I have watched UT go from being competitive in multiple sports, to being average at best in everything outside of softball. If seeing is believing, I haven't seen a lot over the last 10 years to make me believe anything is really going to change.
I don't know how well they will play, but they'll look good doing it. I really like the smokey grey uniforms.
What Needs work? Literally everything and everyone not named John Kelly.
John Kelly was clearly the best player on the field, for either team. I would really love to hear a non-coach speak answer as to why in the world you don't go under center, and turn around and hand it to him, 4 times if needed, when you have 1st and goal, inches from the goal line.
I know it's nitpicking, but Butch Jones has never lost to Kentucky while at Tennessee. I'm sure you meant South Carolina.
I guess the drug incident was "handled internally".... You can try to spin it however you like, but there's certainly a lot of smoke surrounding him for there not to be some fire, even if the fire is just him not being the brightest crayon in the box.
How many learning opportunities is Callaway going to get?
8 4-star and 1 5-star, per 24/7.
