Expectations/Predictions for 2020

Which is why I am now done with screaming and yelling about this stuff. A) it doesn't matter and 2) nothing is going to change for at least 2 years and D) I am losing my give-a-damn about UT.

I hope that Pruitt turns it around, I hope he turns out to be the next Dabo or Fulmer. I hope that all of a sudden the light switch turns on for him and he gets it and we return to the powerhouse program that we have always been and rightly should be again.

 

I like having the weekends open now. Saturday and Sunday wide open, all day

 

Kentucky was the last game I gave a shit about this year, I'm glad to get the give a shit out of the way this early. After the first fumble, I told my friend from Kunt-tucky, our QB is trash, and we are losing this game. Enjoy

 

Our basketball team is really, really good, though.....

 

IF it comes on, it will be gradual IMO.
He has as much HC experience as Maurer does starting QB experience by comparison to a lot of his peers.

I ve come around to agreeing with A). Had he been fired right after the game Saturday I was of a mind to not care.
I would have woke up Sunday and asked, who are we going to hire next that isn't going to get it done either. And even before that, who is going to hire them.

UT has pretty much back itself into a corner were they re are gonna just have to wait him out and play the long game. As fun as that sounds. He's no where near there yet.

 

I’m sure Covid and everything limits the ability to pay buyouts

 

I mean what did everyone really expect this year? We lost bituli, Taylor, warrior, Jennings, and callaway. Kept JG. We’re still a relatively young team. Kentucky was inexcusable without a doubt but did everyone really think we had Georgia’s number this year? They’ve had like 3 number one classes in a row. Pruitt took a job at a team with a terrible culture and quite frankly a terrible reputation and has done a lot of good things to turn things around. Hell, at the first half of Georgia some people on this site were singing praises who are now calling for his head. He’s had his moments. He hasn’t been a head coach before this but he’s grown and has righted a lot of wrongs in the program. Maybe he’s not the end all be all answer, but I think he will be the first coach in a while to leave this program better than he found it if it doesn’t work out.

I’m by no means a college football expert and may be way off base here, but I think people don’t realize how shitty this program really has been for so long and how hard it is to get the stink out. Sabans and Dabos don’t grow on trees, and even if they did they probably wouldn’t have come to Tennessee anytime recently. Just my 2 cents. I’ll hang up and listen

 

I hear a lot of this, but the young team stuff has been repeated almost every year since 2004 at least. it's college football. that offense isn't getting older next year, either.

 

You’re 100% right. Does Covid give the young team stuff a slight degree of palatability however in a year where we missed spring camp and may have had contact tracing affect our program much moreso than others? The kids were playing are talented but missed out on a lot of valuable coaching to be thrust into starting roles, and many of them at new positions. Don’t hear me saying there aren’t shortcomings with this staff no matter what the disadvantages a pandemic brings. The offense is a real problem that doesn’t look to have an easy solution with what we have

 

Kentucky and #2 just make it hard to stomach

 

This season is just another data point in a long term trend. Pruitt throwing away the season to play #2 instead of throwing away the season to play someone that's going to be here next year doesn't help.

 

Kentucky pissed everyone off, continuing to roll out Guarantano pisses everyone off, leading UGA at the half and watching Guarantano give away 13 points in a hurry pisses people off.

A 5th year senior has lost you two games. That's not on youth.

Now, I firmly believe Bailey would be starting today if we weren't in a pandemic, but every school is going through a pandemic.

 

Maurer beats ky and maybe throws 7 times if we had a plan

 

Claiming youth as a problem when the biggest issue on the team is a QB that seems like he's been here since the Bush administration is laughable.

 

Right, and every team in the league outside bama is dealing with pretty serious issues, not just UT. Flordia’s D is Swiss cheese, A&M almost lost to freaking vandy, Georgia is playing a chemistry lab TA at quarterback, the defending national champs look like a middle of the pack SEC team, etc.

I just think this is an unprecedented year for everyone and it’s probably a waste of time trying to pick apart what’s happening on the field too much. And any call to fire the head coach right now is straight up dumb. I haven’t seen much of that here but it’s definitely out there.

I’m still holding out hope that they’ll use the bye week to get some new guys involved, including QB. Maybe I’m wrong. Either way I’m going to enjoy the fact that I can watch football at all this year, and if we’re still seeing these same issues next year after a full offseason of preparation, let’s resume the regularly scheduled pissing and moaning.

 

Calling for Pruitt to be fired any time soon is silly. I thought he had it going fairly well, but the oline pre snap penalties (a recurring theme since 2018) a defensive backfield that's played together for 3 years looking lost and Guarantano makes me think he may not work out.

Bailey or Salter play up to their recruiting ranking, Tennessee is an 8 or 9 win team next year. He's a qb away from having a pretty good team.

It's easy to say we suck again when Tennessee has sucked for awhile.

 

I do think the bye week will be used to get guys like McDonald, Eason, Joseph, Lawrence and Omari ready to go on defense and Beckwith and Holiday on offense.

I'm just not sure on the qb spot, which is killing everything else.

 

I hear you. I think the defensive back field could really benefit from a stud pass rusher. I was hoping to see more from Roman Harrison this year. Maybe Brooks will be that guy assuming we hold on to him.

 

DeAndre Johnson needs to stay healthy, he's pretty good at it. Joseph may be it too, but it's looking like he's going to end up a more traditional linebacker.

Pruitt hasn't dialed up many of his crazy ass blitzes this year, either.

 

I’ve noticed that too. Definitely feels like we’ve taken a step back in the coaching department after it looked like there was good progress there last year. I’m willing to chalk it up to the (hopefully) once in a life time pandemic year, and assume it would make a lot more sense if we saw what was going on at practice/behind the scenes. Mostly to preserve my sanity.