Steve Petrone
TVWBB Platinum Member
Tennessee 30, Georgia State 38
"...they treated it like an exhibition game..."
"...they treated it like an exhibition game..."
Nothing Controversial here...
- Thread starter Steve Petrone
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Lynn Dollar
TVWBB Emerald Member
Tennessee is an enigma to me ............ they have every advantage ............ tradition , rabid following, huge stadium, great facilities, excellent location, recruiting base, good conference affiliation ...........but just can't solve the coaching riddle.
Steve Petrone
TVWBB Platinum Member
It's tough being a fan.
Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Texas A&M has a lot of the same, and we just can't reach the top either.
The Vols are their own worst enemy. They’re still living in the Manning / Fullmer (sp?) era and can’t get out of it. The program and their fans need to realize they no longer are the best team in the country, or the best in their conference for that matter. An awesome facility, and a fan base other schools would kill for, but also a sense of entitlement that “we’re Tennessee, everyone wants to come play for us”. The place is awesome and should be on any college football fans bucket list. When 100k + starts singing “Rocky Top” I got goosebumps! I just hope the Vols can get out of the past and get the program headed in the right direction.
Tim
Tim
Lynn Dollar
TVWBB Emerald Member
When my OU Sooners went into bad times in the 90's, it was largely due to internal politics within the program. Competing groups vying for power after Switzer left. We had the former players divided into the Wilkinson group vrs the Switzer group. Donors and boosters were also divided along similar lines. We had a " throw the ball " group vrs a " run the ball " group. And an AD who was seen as part of the Switzer group.
A new Univ pres came along mid 90's. He first took advise from Switzer and forced the AD to make a bad HC hire. He hired a former beloved Heisman winner as AD. Things went badly and the Pres got wise, and brought in an AD from outside. Who was a professional AD with no allegiance to any faction. Then the Pres provided cover for the AD and let him do his job.
That's when things got better. Bob Stoops was identified as the desired next coach and was hired. And the best coaching candidate was identified even if he had no experience as a head coach.
I strongly suspect this is Tennessee's problem. Solving it starts at the top.
But in OU's case, that Univ president was a former , very popular, US Senator. He won his elections like 80% vote and opponents were afraid to run against him. That gave him the political capital to tell all those competing factions to sit down and shut up. And most Univ presidents hate having to deal with athletics because its a great way to get fired.
A new Univ pres came along mid 90's. He first took advise from Switzer and forced the AD to make a bad HC hire. He hired a former beloved Heisman winner as AD. Things went badly and the Pres got wise, and brought in an AD from outside. Who was a professional AD with no allegiance to any faction. Then the Pres provided cover for the AD and let him do his job.
That's when things got better. Bob Stoops was identified as the desired next coach and was hired. And the best coaching candidate was identified even if he had no experience as a head coach.
I strongly suspect this is Tennessee's problem. Solving it starts at the top.
But in OU's case, that Univ president was a former , very popular, US Senator. He won his elections like 80% vote and opponents were afraid to run against him. That gave him the political capital to tell all those competing factions to sit down and shut up. And most Univ presidents hate having to deal with athletics because its a great way to get fired.
Dustin Dorsey
TVWBB Hall of Fame
I couldn't believe how fast OU turned around after Bob Stoops got hired. I've never seen anything like that.
Bob Correll
R.I.P. 3/31/2022
Steve Petrone
TVWBB Platinum Member
I appreciate the humor...
The entire defensive line has to be replaced with no players with any meaningful experience. The O-line is only slightly better.
Real teams that have any experience up front are likely to dominate.
The entire defensive line has to be replaced with no players with any meaningful experience. The O-line is only slightly better.
Real teams that have any experience up front are likely to dominate.
Lynn Dollar
TVWBB Emerald Member
That's the result of too many coaching changes, leading to poor or disjointed recruiting classes.
Kiffen did not help you at all, leaving after one year. That decimates two recruiting classes, back to back. Those recruiting classes after a coaching change, are just whatever players they can get. But you should be well past that. Changing coaches again is another setback. Fans and boosters have to have patience, which is incredibly hard to ask of them.
That said, the smartest thing Bob Stoops did at OU, was hiring Mike Leach. Leach's offense could be taught quickly and it only really needed one player, a QB. It did not take two or three recruiting classes to upgrade the talent. And Big 12 defenses at that time, were totally unprepared for Leach.
The problem before Stoops, was not defense. OU had defensive players. Just had no offense. That's how it got turned so quickly.
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Lynn Dollar
TVWBB Emerald Member
There are parallels between OU's 1990's and Tenn current situation.
OU fired Gary Gibbs in 1994, who had replaced Switzer and while doing a solid job, never lived up to fans expectations.
They hired Howard Schnellenberger, who went over with OU fans like a lead balloon, and fired him after one year.
Then hired John Blake, a beloved former player who was recommended by Switzer. Blake had to deal with a decimated talent level after two bad recruiting classes due to firing Howard. Tenn hired an SEC name, Dooley, after Kiffen, who probably faced the same talent problems as Blake. Both were fired after three seasons.
Tenn Butch Jones = OU's Bob Stoops.
IDK where OU would've been if Stoops had not been an exceptional coach because the talent level was still not back to near the Switzer days. Its hard to get the recruiting thing rolling.
OU fired Gary Gibbs in 1994, who had replaced Switzer and while doing a solid job, never lived up to fans expectations.
They hired Howard Schnellenberger, who went over with OU fans like a lead balloon, and fired him after one year.
Then hired John Blake, a beloved former player who was recommended by Switzer. Blake had to deal with a decimated talent level after two bad recruiting classes due to firing Howard. Tenn hired an SEC name, Dooley, after Kiffen, who probably faced the same talent problems as Blake. Both were fired after three seasons.
Tenn Butch Jones = OU's Bob Stoops.
IDK where OU would've been if Stoops had not been an exceptional coach because the talent level was still not back to near the Switzer days. Its hard to get the recruiting thing rolling.
Steve Petrone
TVWBB Platinum Member
you are no where in big time football without exceptional recruiting and player development...once that is in place years later...there has to have developed a winning team culture with a leader (head coach) in place
Tn lacked two or more of the above for a decade or so
Tn lacked two or more of the above for a decade or so