Is UT any good?

[Philly Dawg]

I haven't watched them play a single game this year. Interestingly, I was discussing the games with my nine year old son, and he had no concept of Tennessee being a good program. He was two the last time there was a Tennessee team that won nine or ten games, which was almost every year when I was growing up.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

No they're awful. I don't see how they are going to score much if any against OM. Theyre going to get stomped

 

[FQDawg]

They won't beat OM, if that's what you're really asking...

I think they are getting better under Butch Davis but they've still got a ways to go before they are anywhere near their late 90's level.

 

[futaba.79]

They'll be good at some point..........

but that point is probably a year or two away. They'll compete for a while tomorrow but will get overwhelmed in the second half

 

[MSUDC11]

I don't think they score a touchdown. That offense is pitiful.

The good news for them is that the East will be mediocre enough for the next few years that they should be able to win a good many games in the near future.

 

[HD6]

It's funny, they are 4 points from being 2-0 and the front runner in the East, but they aren't going to beat Ole Miss unless Mr. Wallace shows up and brings 10 friends.

 

[PBRME]

Their oline is absolutely horrible. OM's dline may have a career day tomorrow.

 

[uptowndawg]

I watched their game against UGA. And learned that they can definitely be a competitive team. The game was won when UGA recovered a fumble in the endzone after UT got pinned back there late in the 4th quarter - so UGA goes up by 10 with 4 minutes left. UT still came back and got 7, lost by 3.

 

[WayboDawg]

I guess I didn't realize how long Tennessee has been down either. Just looking at their record since 2008.....all I can say is YIKES.

2008 5-7
2009 7-6
2010 6-7
2011 5-7
2012 5-7
2013 5-7

I guess most SEC fans naturally assume that Tennessee has the money, name recognition, and tradition to pull a rabbit out of their hat any year now like Alabama did with Saban back in 2007. Starting to look like more and more with each passing year that Tennessee is the new Vanderbilt of the SEC.

 

[Philly Dawg]

The problem UT has in reaching their former heights is recruiting the state of Tennessee. It's a good but not great recruiting territory and its basically impossible for anyone to recruit nationally the way Tennessee used to. Having said that, there is nothing prohibiting them from doing better than they've done since 2008.

 

[coach66]

I look for this game to possibly be closer than most expect. Tenn. defense

is ok and Ole Miss offense not setting the woods on fire right now so if Ole Miss doesn't have a great day offensively and provided the Ole Miss defense doesn't score 3 td's this week it might be interesting but Ole Miss should win.

 

[bulldognation]

+1 for Mr. Wallace

 

[Hammer Down]

Starting to look like more and more with each passing year that Tennessee is the new Vanderbilt of the SEC.

No way. They just need the right guy. I'm not sure Butch Jones is that guy, but with the right coach Tennessee will be competing the way they were in the 90s. They can draw national talent just as well as anybody.

 

[msstate7]

Offensively -- no
Defensively -- pretty good

Om 20-6, unless one team turns ball over a lot

 

[Hammer Down]

The problem UT has in reaching their former heights is recruiting the state of Tennessee. It's a good but not great recruiting territory and its basically impossible for anyone to recruit nationally the way Tennessee used to. Having said that, there is nothing prohibiting them from doing better than they've done since 2008.

Disagree. Travel is easier than it ever has been. Population trends show growth around urban areas, so that makes it even easier to access. Plus numerous schools recruit nationally, and Tennessee can do it just as well as anybody. Even better than Alabama in my opinion. Tennessee's appeal is on par with Notre Dame and USC, they've just had horrible leadership from the AD position.

 

[Xenomorph]

I don't think they score while the game is on the line. Maybe late.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

They swapped places with USC.

UT's fall coincides almost exactly with the Gamecocks' rise.

 

[HD6]

That's what we're going with now.

 

[Digging dog]

Tennessee is the product of consecutive bad hires at the head coach position.
They really have no other excuse. They have good facilities, fans and, $$$.
Kiffin and Dooley didn't do them any favors.

 

[GeneFrenkle]

Butch is doing everything right as far as rebuilding the fanbase relationship, involving former players in the program, & recruiting well. These are three main things that Dooley jacked up. As far as the Vandy comment, Vandy is back to where they were. Mason has done a terrible job in his first year. Their two wins against UMass & Charleston Southern have been by a combined 4 points.

 

[Philly Dawg]

I'm not looking into the reasons, but just saying that nobody is actually pulling it off anymore, certainly not the teams that traditionally did it like Michigan and Tennessee used to, when they had classes populated by star players from all over the country. Arguably, Notre Dame is doing it, but they no longer take top recruits away from local powerhouses.

Look at Alabama. Last year they had 24 enrollees, and 12 of those were from Alabama or states contiguous to Alabama. Another 8 were from SC, TX, OK, AR, or LA. The 2013 numbers were similar and 2012 even more focused on Alabama and contiguous states. And Bama is the closest thing to a nationally recruiting team in the country.

 

[Hammer Down]

Tennessee is the product of consecutive bad hires at the head coach position.
They really have no other excuse. They have good facilities, fans and, $$$.
Kiffin and Dooley didn't do them any favors.

I always thought Kiffin would have done OK had he stayed awhile. But in hindsight, he obviously has some leadership issues, even though a lot of the USC problems could be attributed to probation. Bottom line I thought he got a bad rap. He almost knocked off title-winning Alabama after all.

Dooley wasn't just absolutely terrible. Imagine if they hadn't jacked up that LSU game in 2010. I thought he recruited well and had some talent in 2012, but for whatever reason it got away from him. Who can explain it. I thought he was OK at Louisiana Tech.

 

[Hammer Down]

I'm not looking into the reasons, but just saying that nobody is actually pulling it off anymore, certainly not the teams that traditionally did it like Michigan and Tennessee used to, when they had classes populated by star players from all over the country. Arguably, Notre Dame is doing it, but they no longer take top recruits away from local powerhouses.

Look at Alabama. Last year they had 24 enrollees, and 12 of those were from Alabama or states contiguous to Alabama. Another 8 were from SC, TX, OK, AR, or LA. The 2013 numbers were similar and 2012 even more focused on Alabama and contiguous states. And Bama is the closest thing to a nationally recruiting team in the country.

Michigan will have that appeal again, once they quit fumbling around and hire a real coach. It takes years to completely tear down what has been built at places like there, Tennessee, Alabama, Notre Dame and USC. Once you build up to a certain level, it's much easier to sustain.

I don't think Alabama has a national appeal at all. Saban does, so they get players due to his pedigree, but Alabama doesn't in my opinion. Like you say, they recruit regionally. The others I listed can seemingly recruit a California kid as easily as a Maryland kid.

 

[patdog]

Yes, Dooley was absolutely terrible. He had one good season and two bad ones at LA Tech

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/playoffs	Coaches[SUP]#[/SUP]	AP[SUP]°[/SUP]
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (Western Athletic Conference) <small>(2007–2009)</small>
2007	Louisiana Tech	5–7	4–4	T–4th
2008	Louisiana Tech	8–5	5–3	T–2nd	W Independence
2009	Louisiana Tech	4–8	3–5	T–5th
Louisiana Tech:	17–20	12–12
Tennessee Volunteers (Southeastern Conference) <small>(2010–2012)</small>
2010	Tennessee	6–7	3–5	T–3rd <small>(East)</small>	L Music City
2011	Tennessee	5–7	1–7	6th <small>(East)</small>
2012	Tennessee	4–7*	0–7	6th <small>(East)</small>
Tennessee:	15–21	4–19	<small>* Did not coach 12th game (fired)</small>
Total:	32–41

<tbody>
</tbody>

 

[Digging dog]

Butch is doing everything right as far as rebuilding the fanbase relationship, involving former players in the program, & recruiting well. These are three main things that Dooley jacked up. As far as the Vandy comment, Vandy is back to where they were. Mason has done a terrible job in his first year. Their two wins against UMass & Charleston Southern have been by a combined 4 points.

Wow!! Didn't realize they were that bad. Haven't seen them play this year.

 

[Philly Dawg]

Kiffin is a very good young coach, but probably wasn't quite ready to handle the head coaching jobs that he managed to get early in his career. Managing programs like UT or USC or a NFL team like the Raiders requires a lot more than just knowing how to coach football.

 

[Seinfeld]

I always thought Kiffin would have done OK had he stayed awhile. But in hindsight, he obviously has some leadership issues, even though a lot of the USC problems could be attributed to probation. Bottom line I thought he got a bad rap. He almost knocked off title-winning Alabama after all.

Dooley wasn't just absolutely terrible. Imagine if they hadn't jacked up that LSU game in 2010. I thought he recruited well and had some talent in 2012, but for whatever reason it got away from him. Who can explain it. I thought he was OK at Louisiana Tech.

Two things...

1) I'm not sure as to why you feel that Lane Kiffin has gotten a bad rap, but he has one because he is a complete imbecile. He did a decent job as an assistant at USC with arguably the greatest collection of talent that any college football team had during that point in time. Since then, he's been **** canned twice from jobs where it was practically impossible to go anywhere but up, and he made a complete buffoon out of himself and the UT program during the short time that he was there. Now, he has been inexplicably hired by Saban and after Nick just got done gloating about his genius move two weeks ago, notice that things have been pretty quiet lately? Probably because once they finally played a couple good defenses, they've been completely shut down. Kiffin's masterful offense racked up 227 TOTAL yards against Arkansas last week.

I don't mean this to sound like I'm taking anything out on you, but make no mistake. Kiffin has a bad rap because he's been an utter failure for the the last 6 years.

2) Did I read correctly in an earlier post that you genuinely don't think that Alabama(the undisputed best program in college football history) is a national program?

 

[Hammer Down]

Let me be clear, so there are no misunderstandings. I readily admit I see things through a different lens and do not trust the media in general, so let me attempt to explain:

1) I'm not sure as to why you feel that Lane Kiffin has gotten a bad rap, but he has one because he is a complete imbecile. He did a decent job as an assistant at USC with arguably the greatest collection of talent that any college football team had during that point in time. Since then, he's been **** canned twice from jobs where it was practically impossible to go anywhere but up, and he made a complete buffoon out of himself and the UT program during the short time that he was there. Now, he has been inexplicably hired by Saban and after Nick just got done gloating about his genius move two weeks ago, notice that things have been pretty quiet lately? Probably because once they finally played a couple good defenses, they've been completely shut down. Kiffin's masterful offense racked up 227 TOTAL yards against Arkansas last week.

He's gotten a worse rap than he's deserved, and I'm not saying he's a great coach. As to his USC OC accomplishments, you cannot qualify there and not qualify elsewhere. He did well. Nick Saban, one of the best college coaches ever, saw fit to hire him. Your comment about "....nowhere but up...." cannot possibly be accurate, because other coaches have failed there before. Plus, to qualify, he DID have probation over him at USC. I know nothing about the Raiders gig, so I can't comment. So, when you say Saban "inexplicably" hired him, who needs that explanation? You? I'll trust one of the best college coaches ever. One other thing....I do feel that Kiffin was promoted faster than he needed to be, thus handled some things wrong. And I do not think he destroyed Tennessee at all, he was better than the previous year, recruited well, and almost beat the national champion while going to a bowl game. Not sure what's so terrible about that. Philly Dawg said it well a couple of posts before this.

Did I read correctly in an earlier post that you genuinely don't think that Alabama(the undisputed best program in college football history) is a national program?

Yes, of course you did. Regarding that, I didn't really mean that Alabama wasn't national at times, it's just that I think there are other programs that have more appeal around the country. Tennessee is one of them. It's not ALL based on merit. Location, the actual academics and other things come into play.

 

[CoastDawg18]

Disagree. Travel is easier than it ever has been. Population trends show growth around urban areas, so that makes it even easier to access. Plus numerous schools recruit nationally, and Tennessee can do it just as well as anybody. Even better than Alabama in my opinion. Tennessee's appeal is on par with Notre Dame and USC, they've just had horrible leadership from the AD position.

They aren't on par with the ND's, USC's, Bama's of the world nationally. They are appealing and yes they can recruit nationally but with limitations. Kids in HS now have never seen UT be decent much less good. Peyton was a long time ago. Can they be a power again, of course. They aren't close right now.

 

[DAWG61]

UT won't get any better till they get a good QB and entire new OL. Last time they had a decent SEC QB was Ainge/Schaeffer year and maybe Clausen. Home of Peyton Manning has sucked at the QB position for almost ten years now.

 

[thekimmer]

Tennessee is the product of consecutive bad hires at the head coach position.
They really have no other excuse. They have good facilities, fans and, $$$.
Kiffin and Dooley didn't do them any favors.

No, but who hired Kiffen and Dooley? Especially Kiffen. UT also lost their recruiting pipeline on the west coast. That's probably why they hired Kiffen and it backfired in a big, big way. The reverberations of that hire alone doomed Derrick Dooley.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

How in the blue 17 does Tennessee have more national appeal than Alabama? I don't know if there's any school with more appeal nationally than Bama. Texas, UF, and ND are the only schools who can recruit nationally year in and year our with Bama

 

[msstate7]

How in the blue 17 does Tennessee have more national appeal than Alabama? I don't know if there's any school with more appeal nationally than Bama. Texas, UF, and ND are the only schools who can recruit nationally year in and year our with Bama

I'd add Ohio st and Michigan to that list

 

[Hammer Down]

How in the blue 17 does Tennessee have more national appeal than Alabama? I don't know if there's any school with more appeal nationally than Bama. Texas, UF, and ND are the only schools who can recruit nationally year in and year our with Bama

Same reason MSU can't recruit nationally. We're located in small town MS. They are located in small town AL. They have a considerably larger net to cast due to their history and their coach, but they are still in Alabama. If Saban leaves, their ability to go wherever they want goes away.

 

[UIUCDog]

Let me be clear, so there are no misunderstandings. I readily admit I see things through a different lens and do not trust the media in general, so let me attempt to explain:

Umm, ok.

He's gotten a worse rap than he's deserved, but I'm saying he's a great coach. As to his USC OC accomplishments, you cannot qualify there and not qualify elsewhere. He did well. Nick Saban, one of the best college coaches ever, saw fit to hire him. Your comment about "....nowhere but up...." cannot possibly be accurate, because other coaches have failed there before. Plus, to qualify, he DID have probation over him at USC. I know nothing about the Raiders gig, so I can't comment. So, when you say Saban "inexplicably" hired him, who needs that explanation? You? I'll trust one of the best college coaches ever. One other thing....I do feel that Kiffin was promoted faster than he needed to be, thus handled some things wrong. And I do not think he destroyed Tennessee at all, he was better than the previous year, recruited well, and almost beat the national champion while going to a bowl game. Not sure what's so terrible about that. Philly Dawg said it well a couple of posts before this.

Did you mean to say that you're NOT saying he's a great coach? I certainly hope so, because I cannot think of one single solitary reason that I should consider Lane Kiffin a great coach, or even a good one. The guy is a terrible coach, and although I have all the respect in the world for Nick Saban's track record and coaching ability, I believe that he is going to come to regret that hire.

 

[Hammer Down]

Did you mean to say that you're NOT saying he's a great coach? I certainly hope so, because I cannot think of one single solitary reason that I should consider Lane Kiffin a great coach, or even a good one. The guy is a terrible coach, and although I have all the respect in the world for Nick Saban's track record and coaching ability, I believe that he is going to come to regret that hire.

Yes, that was a typo.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Do you really believe this? Alabama can get any player they want. If someone chooses not to go to bama it won't be because the size of the city. Jesus H. Are you Goat?