No excuse for losing to SC. They are a bad team and despite the injuries we have way more talent. I put the SC game on Jones nearly 100%. The buck stops with the head coach, and his team was not ready to play
I thought 10 wins was the floor for this season based on the talent we had coming back, the incoming class, and what the schedule looked like
That said, if you had told me this team was going to be without Cam/JRM/Kamara/KMac/DOB/Foreman/Abernathy/Shy/Robertson/Wiesman/Thomas/Kendrick/Hall/Sapp for all/most/some of the SEC season I would have had different expectations for this season. It’s just not been the same roster as we thought it was going to be, and that’s meaningful and relevant
However, despite all of that we had a golden opportunity to win the SECE and all we had to do (assuming UF loses one more) was beat the 4 worst teams in the conference. And we shit the bed in Columbia
I don’t know what Dobbs’s problem was, but he regressed as a passer and decision maker to 2014 levels. The playcalling was not good, and the fact that we abandoned the run game despite Kelly running wild AND despite Dobbs being off is mindboggling. The defense didn’t play well either, and the penalties and turnovers were just killers. The special teams penalties in particular were just so maddening, as time and again they cost us huge chunks of field position in a game where we were having a hard time moving the ball consistently
Ultimately this team’s identity of one that a) doesn’t come to play early, b) makes a shit-ton of mistakes – penalties and turnovers, c) never quits, but d) doesn’t have enough talent and depth at this point of the season for C to overcome the combination of A and B if they both rear their heads at a high level. We SHOULD be able to win out, and I expect to. But nothing is going to be easy for this team
This is a vital moment for Butch’s tenure here. Obviously if we lose another regular season game he’s going into 2017 on a Sumlin/Malzahn type hotseat - that of a HC who has done pretty well but has not lived up to the fanbase’s expectations after a few seasons and has had some internal dissension and drama that casts doubt on the future direction of the program. The final push for the 2017 recruiting class will lag, and things will look bleak. Now, both of them have had bounce-back 2016 seasons after removing the cancers on their respective teams, so it’s not impossible to right the ship. But it ain’t easy
However, if Butch can put the locker room back together fix thing to finish 9-3 this could go the other way. Either UF loses only 0-1 games and we bemoan what could have been but still end the season in a pretty good bowl or they lose two and we make it to ATL on a 4-game win streak with a chance to upset Bama (neither are super likely, I know). Assuming we don’t beat Bama in ATL the season is still disappointing relative to preseason expectations but a step forward and includes an East championship. Recruiting can still close strong – we have a LOT of talent that we are finalists for. And we enter 2017 with as much or more talent than UF and UGA and are strong contenders for the East again
Speaking of 2017 and beyond, allow me to inject a bit of enthusiasm for a second. While this team isn’t young like we’ve been in the previous few years, the vast majority of the talent still lies in the freshman and sophomore classes. Excluding Barnett and Dobbs we really don’t lose much (I am not counting Sutton and JRM since they basically didn’t play this season) – we return every WR, Kelly at RB, every OL but Wiesman, every DL but Barnett and Vereen, every LB, and every DB but Foreman (who has also missed a bunch of games). Freshman studs like Warrior and Byrd won’t be green anymore. I am of the opinion that the offense will be better with JG (who I think beats out Dormady) than with Dobbs – as much as a love Dobbs and think he’s a f*cking super hero, the offense will run better with a legit passing threat at QB, and will open everything else up. We get UGA at home (they won’t suddenly have talent on their OL). We get LSU at home instead of going to TAMU. And we’ll have more talent than UF and won’t have the monkey on our backs for that one.
Ultimately, the direction of the program will come down to Butch and his willingness to change and improve. He’s proven himself to be a very good recruiter, a good off-the-field CEO in terms of fan/alumni relations and brand promoter, and a mediocre-at-best in game coach. The latter part, IMO, is something that can be improved upon IF a coach is willing to learn from his mistakes – that remains to be seen. I foresee some staff turnover – Mahoney and (I think) Debord are in the last years of their respective contracts, which is usually a sign that person isn’t coming back. On the OC front, the question will be if Butch is willing to give up some control over the offense and hire someone who will make actual changes to the system, or will he just go the comfortable route like he did with Debord and hire someone who is willing to run the Butch system but gets to call the plays. If he can do the former this offense with this talent will be very formidable. If not than we’re going to be stuck with an offense that is worse than the sum of its parts. At OL, we’ve got to hire someone who is both a good position coach AND a high level recruiter.
I’m admittedly an optimist and often wear orange-colored glasses. I am hopeful that Butch can and will do what it takes to get things back on track. It was just 3-4 weeks ago that we were 5-0 and people were worried about not having an AD to sign Butch to an extension when other schools inevitably came calling. So it’s easy to let things get out of perspective. But clearly he’s got things he must improve upon himself, and he’s got to heal the locker room for Team 120 and finish the season strong in order to give himself a chance to be here for the long haul.
Obviously welcome any feedback
Go Vols!
I thought 10 wins was the floor for this season based on the talent we had coming back, the incoming class, and what the schedule looked like
That said, if you had told me this team was going to be without Cam/JRM/Kamara/KMac/DOB/Foreman/Abernathy/Shy/Robertson/Wiesman/Thomas/Kendrick/Hall/Sapp for all/most/some of the SEC season I would have had different expectations for this season. It’s just not been the same roster as we thought it was going to be, and that’s meaningful and relevant
However, despite all of that we had a golden opportunity to win the SECE and all we had to do (assuming UF loses one more) was beat the 4 worst teams in the conference. And we shit the bed in Columbia
I don’t know what Dobbs’s problem was, but he regressed as a passer and decision maker to 2014 levels. The playcalling was not good, and the fact that we abandoned the run game despite Kelly running wild AND despite Dobbs being off is mindboggling. The defense didn’t play well either, and the penalties and turnovers were just killers. The special teams penalties in particular were just so maddening, as time and again they cost us huge chunks of field position in a game where we were having a hard time moving the ball consistently
Ultimately this team’s identity of one that a) doesn’t come to play early, b) makes a shit-ton of mistakes – penalties and turnovers, c) never quits, but d) doesn’t have enough talent and depth at this point of the season for C to overcome the combination of A and B if they both rear their heads at a high level. We SHOULD be able to win out, and I expect to. But nothing is going to be easy for this team
This is a vital moment for Butch’s tenure here. Obviously if we lose another regular season game he’s going into 2017 on a Sumlin/Malzahn type hotseat - that of a HC who has done pretty well but has not lived up to the fanbase’s expectations after a few seasons and has had some internal dissension and drama that casts doubt on the future direction of the program. The final push for the 2017 recruiting class will lag, and things will look bleak. Now, both of them have had bounce-back 2016 seasons after removing the cancers on their respective teams, so it’s not impossible to right the ship. But it ain’t easy
However, if Butch can put the locker room back together fix thing to finish 9-3 this could go the other way. Either UF loses only 0-1 games and we bemoan what could have been but still end the season in a pretty good bowl or they lose two and we make it to ATL on a 4-game win streak with a chance to upset Bama (neither are super likely, I know). Assuming we don’t beat Bama in ATL the season is still disappointing relative to preseason expectations but a step forward and includes an East championship. Recruiting can still close strong – we have a LOT of talent that we are finalists for. And we enter 2017 with as much or more talent than UF and UGA and are strong contenders for the East again
Speaking of 2017 and beyond, allow me to inject a bit of enthusiasm for a second. While this team isn’t young like we’ve been in the previous few years, the vast majority of the talent still lies in the freshman and sophomore classes. Excluding Barnett and Dobbs we really don’t lose much (I am not counting Sutton and JRM since they basically didn’t play this season) – we return every WR, Kelly at RB, every OL but Wiesman, every DL but Barnett and Vereen, every LB, and every DB but Foreman (who has also missed a bunch of games). Freshman studs like Warrior and Byrd won’t be green anymore. I am of the opinion that the offense will be better with JG (who I think beats out Dormady) than with Dobbs – as much as a love Dobbs and think he’s a f*cking super hero, the offense will run better with a legit passing threat at QB, and will open everything else up. We get UGA at home (they won’t suddenly have talent on their OL). We get LSU at home instead of going to TAMU. And we’ll have more talent than UF and won’t have the monkey on our backs for that one.
Ultimately, the direction of the program will come down to Butch and his willingness to change and improve. He’s proven himself to be a very good recruiter, a good off-the-field CEO in terms of fan/alumni relations and brand promoter, and a mediocre-at-best in game coach. The latter part, IMO, is something that can be improved upon IF a coach is willing to learn from his mistakes – that remains to be seen. I foresee some staff turnover – Mahoney and (I think) Debord are in the last years of their respective contracts, which is usually a sign that person isn’t coming back. On the OC front, the question will be if Butch is willing to give up some control over the offense and hire someone who will make actual changes to the system, or will he just go the comfortable route like he did with Debord and hire someone who is willing to run the Butch system but gets to call the plays. If he can do the former this offense with this talent will be very formidable. If not than we’re going to be stuck with an offense that is worse than the sum of its parts. At OL, we’ve got to hire someone who is both a good position coach AND a high level recruiter.
I’m admittedly an optimist and often wear orange-colored glasses. I am hopeful that Butch can and will do what it takes to get things back on track. It was just 3-4 weeks ago that we were 5-0 and people were worried about not having an AD to sign Butch to an extension when other schools inevitably came calling. So it’s easy to let things get out of perspective. But clearly he’s got things he must improve upon himself, and he’s got to heal the locker room for Team 120 and finish the season strong in order to give himself a chance to be here for the long haul.
Obviously welcome any feedback
Go Vols!
