So, I took a job at the University of Tennessee about a month ago. I must say Knoxville is a cool city, but these people are a little insane. I have been hearing talk that some believe they will be 7-5/8-4 with wins over Florida and/or Bammer. I feel that at least State fans have a decent grip on how we will actually be this year. Maybe I just understand what it is like to go through many years of "rebuilding" a program.......
Talk from university of tennessee
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His "down to earth" assessment was that, while likely, neither Ole Miss nor South Carolina were guaranteed wins.
I don't mean this statement as a function of us or of SoCar being that good (or good at all), but I mean this in the sense that UT should be genuinely and abjectly dreadful this year - those are some rose colored glasses. The best he can do is say those games aren't "guaranteed wins."
It's been a long, long time since that national championship. Apparently, time bends in strange ways on that side of the state.
I don't mean this statement as a function of us or of SoCar being that good (or good at all), but I mean this in the sense that UT should be genuinely and abjectly dreadful this year - those are some rose colored glasses. The best he can do is say those games aren't "guaranteed wins."
It's been a long, long time since that national championship. Apparently, time bends in strange ways on that side of the state.
They went 7-6, hung with Florida, almost beat alabama, and finished 3rd in their division. While that's not up to par for UT, they were far from "really bad".
but if you were to watch them play most of those games last year they were just not good. Their defense kept them in many of the games, but they had little to no offense at all. This year most of their defensive stars from last year are gone and they seem to keep losing people. The offense isnt going to be any better and the defense is going to be a lot worse.
They lose their QB of the defense. Their #1 and #2 rb are gone. Look at what theirAD did this week. They payed UNC a million dollars not to have to play them next year. They know that they are going to be real bad and just want to ensure that they make it to a bowl. Oh and I forgot. There will be alot of games in Rocky Top this year that will not be sell outs. The only game sold out right now is Bama.
Emanonion said:
was middle of the pack in the SEC? Maybe I'm wrong. Crompton did a pretty good job at QB for them last year, I thought.
But yeah, they keep losing people to USC. We all know why that is though.
I do agree that they will be worse than they are last year. I think most of their fans realize that Dooley is a band aid coach, and that they are going to have to wait a few years while he tries to stabilize their program before they can go after a legit coach.
If they were really bad they would've lost to UGA, South Carolina, Kentcuky and either Ohio or Western Kentcuky.
They had little to no offense. They had a fairly decent offense. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. They struggled to move the ball against Alabama and Florida, but they also put up over 30 points on 7 different occasions. They were 46th in passing yards, 54th in rushing yards, and 65th in points for. Not great, but efficient to a degree. That being said, I do agree with you when you say the offense won't be any better. They don't have a QB that has ever taken a D1 snap. Their most experienced running back Tauren Poole really doesn't have that much experience, and they're pretty slim at receiver and in the O-line. I say 6 wins is the BEST case scenario, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them only win 4 or 5.
I don't think Dooley is a band-aid coach though. He's not the high-profile guy they're used to having, but he's from a good pedigree when it comes to coaching, and he's an excellent recruiter. I believe he was the recruiting coordinator at LSU when they won the national title with Saban at the helm. Tennessee fans just need to give it some time. He'll have them competing again in due time.
I don't think Dooley is a band-aid coach though. He's not the high-profile guy they're used to having, but he's from a good pedigree when it comes to coaching, and he's an excellent recruiter. I believe he was the recruiting coordinator at LSU when they won the national title with Saban at the helm. Tennessee fans just need to give it some time. He'll have them competing again in due time.
4 games last year, the games I actually saw them play, UCLA, Bama, Florida and Ole Miss. They played bama and florida well, but bama is a huge rivalry game for them and they were jacked up and Kiffen had them chomping at the bit for florida. They looked like total crap against UCLA and there defense got demorilized by McCluster in the ole miss game. Their stats for those games arent that bad, but it just wasnt a good team. Sadly i havent taken the time to see who they beat or the stats they put up in those games, but the times I watched them only their defense showed any real signs of life. That and 1 running back that got booted of the team a month or 2 ago. I look for TN to be horrible this year. Im seeing 4-5 wins max.
yes, they will suck. I'm supposed to be going to the Bama game, too .. should be an exciting first quarter. My sister graduated UT: she knows they're going to suck, and she's the type to just go for the event and atmosphere, to see the big "T" formed by the band in pre-game ... she if she knows they're going, then that's saying something.