Butch is our HC and will be for at least a year or two. He desperately needs to upgrade the staff and ask for the funds to do a major upgrade and fulfill his promise to UT and the fans he would assemble the best staff in America. He has not accomplished that goal yet, but now he is in a position that not only should he make changes, he must make changes and get out of the Butch inner circle.
OC - Debord has done an decent job given the system, personnel, OL coach, etc. We had some exciting games and he called a brilliant game in the first half at Vandy. Either allow him to retire or change roles to coach the OL.
IF... Tx Tech parts ways with Kliff Kinsbury - Butch should be all over trying to bring him on board the day the action happens. I think he has demonstrated that he can place an exciting offense with less talent on the field - imagine that high octane offense with better talent.
OL - Mahoney needs to be replaced with Debord or another high level performing OL coach. Sam Pittman, Jeff Grimes of LSU with the changes there may be available and want a change particularly if Kiffin brings another AL coach with him...
TEs- Larry Scott is a keeper at TEs. Wolf will be a senior and one of the best in the SEC and depth will be developed under Scott plus he a great recruiter and particularly in FL.
WRs- Azzanni needs to be replaced and upgrade to better development coach. While the WRs improved this season, it is ridiculous that the culture and rotation and other issues resulted in PW leaving the program. The core nucleus of Malone, Jennings, Byrd, provide a great path forward with development of Calloway, George, and others. Smith is a liability and needs to take a seat on the bench... Upgrade path here are going after Grant Heard if he is nervous about Freeze, and Eric Morris of Tx Tech. Lots of opportunities to upgrade this position with the talent returning...
QB - Kingsbury can operate as QB coach and hire Peyton as a special assistant to coach QBs.
DC - Shoop should move on, but most likely will not... We need to allow him to make the appropriate changes for the entire defensive coaching staff
DL - Bring back Dan Brooks former UT DL coach and now Clemson DL coach. Brooks is a major league recruiter and developer of talent. Strippling has been able to find and recruit talent, but has not been able to develop players to their potential. Our entire DL looked like we were on roller skates this year other than a half against FL.
LBrs - Try and dynamite Tosh Lupoi out of AL. This guy is the best in the business... Pay the bucks and upgrade this position and go and recruit the best talent with his credentials. Randy Shannon is also an option and get another coach from major rival plus he is a stellar recruiter. Kevin Sherrer is another option and takeaway. Dale Jones is an option as well and VFL.
DBs - Sounds crazy - but the secondary coach Scot Sloan at App State has produced great results. 2 NFL picks in the last 5 seasons and they have limited competition including the Vols to minimal gains. Jason Jones of Ole Miss maybe looking for new opportunities and has put together some solid talent in the DBs for Ole Miss.
Anyway - Butch is our coach and if he wants to remain as the Vol HC, he must make changes this off-season to regain some confidence of fans and generate some excitement on the recruiting trail after huge disappointing season.
All of these changes may cost another $1.5-$2.0 in comp, but would be worth that investment versus coaching buyouts for the entire staff...
My 2 cents...
OC - Debord has done an decent job given the system, personnel, OL coach, etc. We had some exciting games and he called a brilliant game in the first half at Vandy. Either allow him to retire or change roles to coach the OL.
IF... Tx Tech parts ways with Kliff Kinsbury - Butch should be all over trying to bring him on board the day the action happens. I think he has demonstrated that he can place an exciting offense with less talent on the field - imagine that high octane offense with better talent.
OL - Mahoney needs to be replaced with Debord or another high level performing OL coach. Sam Pittman, Jeff Grimes of LSU with the changes there may be available and want a change particularly if Kiffin brings another AL coach with him...
TEs- Larry Scott is a keeper at TEs. Wolf will be a senior and one of the best in the SEC and depth will be developed under Scott plus he a great recruiter and particularly in FL.
WRs- Azzanni needs to be replaced and upgrade to better development coach. While the WRs improved this season, it is ridiculous that the culture and rotation and other issues resulted in PW leaving the program. The core nucleus of Malone, Jennings, Byrd, provide a great path forward with development of Calloway, George, and others. Smith is a liability and needs to take a seat on the bench... Upgrade path here are going after Grant Heard if he is nervous about Freeze, and Eric Morris of Tx Tech. Lots of opportunities to upgrade this position with the talent returning...
QB - Kingsbury can operate as QB coach and hire Peyton as a special assistant to coach QBs.
DC - Shoop should move on, but most likely will not... We need to allow him to make the appropriate changes for the entire defensive coaching staff
DL - Bring back Dan Brooks former UT DL coach and now Clemson DL coach. Brooks is a major league recruiter and developer of talent. Strippling has been able to find and recruit talent, but has not been able to develop players to their potential. Our entire DL looked like we were on roller skates this year other than a half against FL.
LBrs - Try and dynamite Tosh Lupoi out of AL. This guy is the best in the business... Pay the bucks and upgrade this position and go and recruit the best talent with his credentials. Randy Shannon is also an option and get another coach from major rival plus he is a stellar recruiter. Kevin Sherrer is another option and takeaway. Dale Jones is an option as well and VFL.
DBs - Sounds crazy - but the secondary coach Scot Sloan at App State has produced great results. 2 NFL picks in the last 5 seasons and they have limited competition including the Vols to minimal gains. Jason Jones of Ole Miss maybe looking for new opportunities and has put together some solid talent in the DBs for Ole Miss.
Anyway - Butch is our coach and if he wants to remain as the Vol HC, he must make changes this off-season to regain some confidence of fans and generate some excitement on the recruiting trail after huge disappointing season.
All of these changes may cost another $1.5-$2.0 in comp, but would be worth that investment versus coaching buyouts for the entire staff...
My 2 cents...
