I will say, my Mom told me I should never say I "hate" somebody. That being said, there are 3 previous Vol HCs that I had to work very hard to avoid that term. And Mr. Banks was too adjacent to one of them for my comfort from the get-go. Re: 2024 results? As they say, "Even a blind hog (or squirrel, depending on your preference) ... ". He is getting paid millions to leave, I don't feel sorry for him per se.
Holy shit - best news I've heard in months, and I got some REALLY good news last week. Heupel just bought himself more time with me.
I think it went a little under the radar how young we were running. Most freshmen all-americans in the nation. https://x.com/Vol_Football/status/2000647908946010221
Or, didn't. You'd think that by year five these guys might shouldn't have have had an opportunity especially with the portal as it is. I get circumstances and whatnot, but having a young team as a reason for the season being a bit of a misfire this far along echos some sort of butchism a little too much for me.
On the contrary, a youth talent movement probably saved it. And most people thought 8-4 before the season.
He's done well in the portal. Jermod and Brazzell were All Americans, Heard, Aguilar, Thornton when healthy, there haven't been many misses
Is 8-4 where we want to be in year five? We can make Nico the bad guy (he is) and complain about the portal, but every coach and program is dealing with transfers. The fact is we are where we are, and that's okay. The only reason for the youth movement was we either weren't able to recruit talent earlier or retain it. Redmond got honors, but is anybody really glad he wound up starting?
The corners weren't nearly as problematic as the safeties. I also think S&C remains a concern. It's not Butch level epidemic but I don't think we're just snakebit.
Heupel isn't perfect and I still have questions about him. However, you could argue is biggest problem right now is 22 happened and reshaped expectations quickly. Year 5 and still trying to head upwards isn't some crazy idea when you spent 20 years in darkness. Recruiting has steadily gotten better and Heupel has shown the awareness to try to fix the things he is weak at. I don't get the It's year 5 doom and gloom in this case. The next 2 to 3 years will be put up or shut up time.
We’ve had more 5*s under Heupel. He’s recruiting fine. When you look at maps where the best d1 recruits live, it’s mainly in the SE and Knoxville is on the fringe. Ga, Fl, Alabama, Auburn, Miami, FSU, LSU, Tx, Aggies are in the middle of the deepest talent base where kids can stay in state. We have to go in their backyards to compete. It’s not easy. They can have a good class each year with what’s fairly local then pull a few from other areas. How many starters on our defense this year from TN? Boo, Turrentine and Arion? F, C-, B+ Bishop on offense. That’s it. Had to get the rest out of state. Ga and UF don’t have to do that.
You don't, but in year five, you have hopefully either recruited more depth earlier so that you're not relying on a true freshman or gotten another Colton Hood. McCoy was obviously a known risk to not play.
Transfer portal has changed the game too though. This isn't 10 years ago where you can stack depth. Even Georgia and Alabama's two and three deeps can get thin.
Portal just screws that up. We lost 3 recruits with Christian Harrison and kid who went to Vandy. And 5* Boo. Jakobe. That’s 4 dbs who we thought would be on the field, playing a lot and well. Had another have a career ending injury. Then lost McCoy and Gibson. People blame nil but it’s not the only reason. Hopefully that got fixed. UT was Jakob’s dream school. He came to play for Banks and almost quit the sport and called his mom. Said it was the lowest he’d been as an athlete. Thanks Banks! His mom left ‘Boro at 10 pm and knocked on his door at 2 AM. That’s when he decided to finish the year then portal. He also got paid in the end but decision was made before he got bigger. He didn’t want to split reps and didn’t like what he was asked to do when it was obvious he was the best safety in the box we had. Turrentine played as much. Maybe Jakobe was being a little dramatic but if I’m Jakobe and coach thinks me and Turrentine are the same level after watching us play, I’d want to quit too.
