Given the last 10 years, essentially giving ourselves the death penalty, etc., does Tennessee football become relevant again any time soon?
This is a pretty negative thread. I hope 1 year. DW is a jerk but will earn his wings with ncaa. The punishment won’t be anything more than he sells. We are interesting immediately in 2021. This will go better than the odds say
No matter how bad it gets, I will always believe Tennessee is a powder keg. With the right leadership it explodes.
The clearest indicator to me are wins against teams we aren’t supposed to beat. When I see that, I’ll be thinking heupel hype.
Pruitt was the first coach in the new millennium to beat Auburn, and he also beat a top 15 Kentucky in 2018. Wins against teams "we aren't supposed to beat" is a vague standard. Say he beats Ole Miss and Ole Miss ends up 7-6 with a bowl loss. Is that a team we weren't supposed to beat? What if he beats Florida at Florida but loses to SC, Mizzou, and Ole Miss among GA and Alabama? That's 3-5 in conference with a road win at Florida for the first time in 18 years. Would that be good enough? especially if you follow it up going 0-fer in October?
Start winning above our recruiting rankings. Then I'll know real player development and game management is happening. Better players will follow. Then we'll be back or set up for someone else to get us over the hump. To get out of this rut the staff is going to have to do more with less.
You make good points I guess, I was thinking more in terms of beating bama as well as florida and georgia. Of course consistency putting together strings of wins is better. But if we can beat a bama, florida or georgia it’s enough for me in the moment to have hope, hope for a future of not being laughed at.
Tennessee coaches should be judged by UF, UGA and Alabama. I don't know what kind of sanctions are headed this way, I honestly don't expect much, but Heupel needs to not lose to South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Missouri.
Also our only win post-Fulmer against a team that finished in the top five is owned by one Lyle Jones