As much as I want to get excited about positive info coming out over the next 3 weeks and thru the summer, Im gonna temper those feelings and wait til September. It is great to hear that Hunter is coming along well. Im glad for him.
What Hardesty did his Senior year was impressive. The Sullins twins were the one of the worst feel-good story to ever happen to Tennessee. I am sure they are great guys and all, but it speaks volumes about the depths to which recruiting big uglies had fallen by the time 2009 rolled around. It was a great story too, so long as they weren't on your line. Personally, I would have rather had Ricky Tidwell, or his mama, or any real recruit that wasn't a walk-on, but that was the best they had to put on the field. I think it also speaks volumes with regard to the offensive scheme that year compared to the previous few and following years. I guess you could call the running game good that year. I am not sure I would. Seems like there were times it wasn't as reliable as it should have been. Any other season, Hardesty is barely relevant. Another back who obviously had some talent was Foster, but it never fully blossomed while at UT. Why that is can be debated, but I would say that it had to do with some combination of O-line talent, scheme, and his psyche. Other than a few moments here and there, I wouldn't say the running game has been good since 2004.
There's a tale I heard from someone (the extent of truth of it I don't know) that tells of Spencer Riley or one of the UT lineman in that game telling the Razorback defensive line on that drive what play was going to be run pre-snap and what gap it was going to and that there was nothing they could do to stop it. Badass, if true.
[video=youtube;5V5hjjN5Kb8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V5hjjN5Kb8&feature=player_embedded#![/video] [video=youtube;8z3REGUoiN0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z3REGUoiN0&feature=player_embedded[/video] [video=youtube;wC1jxU5OiNw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC1jxU5OiNw&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Tiny: [video=youtube;MkqLPY0X2bQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkqLPY0X2bQ&feature=plcp&context=C495e46cVDvjVQa1PpcFPWk8DOzfiU4JcYaPhdGfV-cmdZU4SxJgE=[/video]
"Tale" being the key word. I can't remember who I heard it from. He may have been full of it. Regardless if true just always thought it made for an interesting lore story for '98,
[video=youtube;Oiz4xz1YXog]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oiz4xz1YXog&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Derek. DEREK. If you tell us for the last 2 years that we are not good because we don't have depth, you can't then tell us not to confuse now having depth with now being good. This is YOUR team. You built it. If you have "a lot of good bodies with skill sets" (your words) but you can't "figure them out" (your words), whose fault is that, Derek? God damnit, I want to get excited but this guy inspires no confidence for me.
To be fair, there are those talking up sleepers for SEC East and SEC champs already. He does have to temper expectations for some of the fanbase.
I don't think I was being any sort of unfair. I'm not expecting a trip to Atlanta. He shouldn't be ruling one out at this stage, either. Why plant the seeds in his team's head that there is a ceiling to what they are capable of?
I was only making a general observation, and I agree. It's one of those times of the year when part of the fanbase starts whipping itself into a frenzy. Maybe he is just trying to head it off at the pass by poor-mouthing the team. I actually feel a little sorry for him. It wouldn't surprise me if he had to brush his teeth with tough-actin' Tinactin. The man can hardly speak without saying something stupid for one reason or another. Sometimes I wonder if he appreciates where he is in regard to his career. It's one thing when a Spurrier or Saban or someone else who has won something as a head coach comes out and criticizes his team, their talent level, or specific members. When you are DD, you need to hold off until you have at least partially proven you know something about winning. All he has proven so far is that he doesn't know when to quit running his mouth at times.