This hire is what could bring Arch Manning to TN in a few years. The Manning family is very close to the Cutcliffe family. I have no clue what benefit he could possibly bring to the program other than a potential direct pipeline to one of the most sought after quarterbacks in a long while.

The state of TN football is not in a great place and it won't be for a while. I believe Alabama fans have become a bit to comfortable sitting at the top. If Saban gets Drew Brees to the Dolphins instead of Culpepper, you would be mopping up Vandy's sloppy seconds at best. Your program was fixing to be in a freefall until he left the NFL. Instead of winning championships in the late 2000s, you'd be swapping coaches every few years. It all comes back around. TN won't be irrelevant forever, just like Saban won't be at Alabama forever. The time will come and it will be glorious. But let's be honest, cause I'm a realist, it's not gonna be anytime soon.

Whichever team can put the most players into the NFL will be the most successful at recruiting. The team that can recruit the best players will win more games, usually. The teams that win the most games with the best players will put the most players into the NFL. Rinse and Repeat. It's very simple. A team's ceiling is based on how well it does this method. A phenomenal quarterback can change a program (Joe Burrow). Saban recruits at the highest level because he flips players so well. This guy has had 33 players get drafted in the first round since he started at Alabama. I don't think TN had 33 players drafted this past decade. The majority of these kids want to play in the NFL after college and nobody can make that happen for them better than Saban. The craziest part is every position (outside of kicker) is out there getting drafted. Some schools claim DBU or QBU, Alabama is All Positions University. I can't stand Alabama but I can't help but respect the hell out of Nick Saban and what he's built there. Can't wait for him to retire.

Does anybody here remember the shape Alabama was in before Saban showed up? They were fixing to spiral out of control. If Brees goes to the Dolphins instead of Culpepper, Saban would still be in the NFL and Alabama would potentially be the punching bag of the SEC. It is difficult to get top tier talent to come coach in the SEC. Especially somewhere like Tennessee where every year you go up against 3-5 top 15 teams. You're signing up for a yearly beat down from some of the top teams in the country until you can get it in order. I don't expect TN stock to rise until Alabama's is on the way down. Which will be after Saban retires. That is the stepping stone for TN.

Best way to not embarrass the SEC in a bowl game is to not play in one. You're welcome.

I don't personally see Tua doing well in the NFL. QBs like him are hard to keep. RGIII being a good example. Once he got injured playing the way he played to win games, it was over. Jackson, Mahomes, and Wilson are the best mobile QBs in the NFL. Tua is already banged up. He's hesitant at times to just take off. I wish him nothing but the best because he's had a tough go with the injuries. Guys like Trask, Jones, and Lawrence are what most NFL teams look for these days. Tua reminds me of Tebow. Phenomenal college quarterback but just couldn't make that transition. I wouldn't be surprised if Tua is being traded at the end of his rookie contract. As far as the Jones/Tua comparison, that's hard to do because those QBs play so differently and had different weapons. a Jalen/Tua comparison is more fair due to the overall similarities. I also think that if JG could throw to somebody like Devonta Smith, UT would be instantly better (and getting rid of Chaney would help too). Devonta Smith is the best player at Alabama right now and it's not even close.

The most intriguing playoff matchup is Alabama vs Ohio State / Florida vs Clemson. IF, Florida can beat Bama in the SECCG and Clemson can beat ND in the ACCCG, then this is how round one should be stacked. Nobody wants to waste a spot on Notre Dame and watch them get smacked in the mouth for 3 hours. Clemson didn't have Trevor in the game they played in earlier this year. He is the IT factor in this game. Ohio State will get a spot and even though I am by no means a fan of Ohio State, they usually deserve that spot. Florida and Alabama have some of the most explosive offensive players in the country. I can't wait to see Trask/Pitts vs Jones/Smith.

Jarrett Guarantano is easily the worst quarterback on this list. He is one of the most experienced but has made the least amount of progress. It's not fair to lump Harrison Bailey into the same group as JG since Pruitt refuses to let him play and improve during this FREE year of eligibility. I'd let him take his bumps and bruises behind an experienced line that will end up being gone next year. TN is the worst team on this list.

I don't believe it's as much as don't want to listen as it is don't want to believe it. Lots of false hope. We want so badly to be just competitive again. Not even going to say great or best in the SEC. Just week in and week out, playing a full 60 minutes of football that's as much of a mind game on the sideline as it is a dogfight on the field. We are losing in both areas every single week. TN is the worst team in the SEC at making halftime adjustments. Point blank.

You do realize that you were an NFL trade away from being irrelevant for the past 2 decades right? If Saban had got Brees to the Dolphins instead of Cunningham, you guys would be the TN of the West today. Let's face it, you're probably a decade away from that anyways. You're gonna keep smacking people in the face till Saban is gone. That's what's going to happen. Everybody knows it. Nick Saban IS Alabama. Look at his coordinators. They can't beat him. He drives that program. When he is done, Alabama is done. It won't happen overnight, but I fully expect a 3-4 loss season right after he retires.

It makes a difference when you have a duo like Sony Michel and Nick Chubb pushing you down the field. It makes you look like some offensive mastermind. Chandler and Gray are good, but not as good as those guys. Chaney is very single minded and everybody knows it. Fulmer started running into the same problem at the end of his coaching career and I believe that lead to him being fired. The biggest difference between teams like Alabama and Tennessee is the Finish Him mentality. Alabama will be up by 50 and if you have a penalty then Saban will eat your lunch. Play for a full 60 minutes. TN pulls back and tries to preserve leads and it rarely works. This is a frustrating fan base to be a part of.

Pruitt is riding the JG train hard and I don't know why. He's put all of his eggs into that basket. This season is a lost cause. Start Bailey and let him take his licks behind a decent line. JG was getting absolutely whooped last year. The O-Line is improved but not on par with where people thought they would be. Bailey has the chance to play some top tier SEC talent in the next 4 weeks and Pruitt would be a fool to let him miss out on that opportunity. What's the worst that can happen other than injury, we lose? That's gonna happen already. Smart > Pruitt. I said it. It hurts to say but I said it. He can coach both sides of the ball and JP is just a defensive mind. I'm not sure Chaney and Martin are good fits in the Pruitt system. Not saying they are bad coaches, just not picking up what JP is putting down. This season is Alabama's to lose in the SEC (insert curse words of choice here).

Tennessee has yet to make a good half time adjustment this entire season. The two games they won they managed to just grind out the rest of the game and hold on. South Carolina was as lucky as it gets and Missouri just hadn't figured themselves out yet. Pruitt should start Bailey the rest of the season. It won't cost him anything. He says he doesn't want HB to get banged up. He realizes this isn't tennis right? There are other teams in the SEC that have the same issue but they have better talent and more depth to keep them competitive. And I swear, if Chaney keeps calling runs up the middle, I think I am going to lose it. Somebody needs to tell him that the opponents have figured out the game plan.

Grammar*

Tennessee SHOULD win this game. But, if JG can't improve his accuracy and they don't convert more that one 3rd down, then this is Missouri's game to lose. I fully expect this to be a one score game by the end. 31-27 TN.

I completely forgot about that guy. Probably because he never made it to week one. It's mind boggling when you look back on some of these coaching hires. Some had no business being hired to coach at these top tier programs. Sometimes, D2 or the PAC 12 is exactly where you belong. They are one in the same, right???

We get it. You don't get a Nick Saban without hiring a Mike Shula or Mike Dubose. Jones and Dooley are our equivalents.

Ranking teams before a single game is ridiculous. You can usually have a good idea of which teams are better than others but not to the extent of putting them in a definitive order. Some of these teams in the teens/twenties might show out and beat a bunch of teams they shouldn't, but they will end up having to fight their way to the top of the list. Then, at the end of the season, if the playoff committee doesn't like them then it didn't matter anyway. Also, I believe this list was put together for talking points more than anything. After a few teams don't play week one then they will get booted from the list. If they left Ohio State off of this list, just try and imagine the sh!t show that that would've started.

And even with Bryce Thompson returning, we don't stand a chance even if you played like you did against Miami. JG is just plain awful and your DL is going to make his day miserable.

What about Aaron Hernandez? I don't ever remember him getting suspended while at Florida. His shenanigans were overshadowed by Tebow's kneeling. I believe there were players just last year that threatened students with airsoft guns painted to look real and frying pans because they here being heckled for losing. I don't remember those guys being suspended at all. UF has more players arrested than any other program in the country. Can we at least agree that Nick Saban is the worst when it comes to punishing players?

It's unfortunate that Tennessee's only area that you don't have to worry about is the kicking game. Saturday would have been much worse without a kicker like Cimaglia being able to put it through the uprights consistently. And everybody wants to be able to produce the best QBs, DBs, WRs, etc., Tennessee is over here putting punters into the NFL at a crazy rate. Currently 4 on rosters. Guess that's bound to happen when they get that many reps. Alabama should just go for 2 every single time. You'd have a better conversion rate than field goal percentage.