Saving Butch Beyond 2017

I was in attendance in that game. I told my wife that they wouldn't run another QB sweep left successfully again if I had to put all 11 mother****ers on defense over there. Marshall went 14 for 214 on the ground and the vast majority entailed taking the snap, turning left, and running for a 1st down.

It was bad.

 

Marshall was 3/7 for 35 yards that game. 2 of those completions came on the first drive. 3rd came on the second drive. They didn't complete a pass after the 6:30 mark in the 1st Quarter.

 

But any coach would have struggled that day against Auburn

 

Against one of the better pass defenses in the country

 

Are you seriously going to try and use Marshall's lack of passes as evidence for your argument? Yes, the coaching by UT was idiotic. Nick Marshall was perfectly capable of torching that defense had they stacked the box to stop the run. Aside from the OL that 2013 Tennessee team was trash and we all know it.

 

I think that we sometimes forget to foresee and/or properly factor the timing and flow of events into our prognostications on Butch / the team.

Case in Point

Look at this outcome for next season "on paper" for Tennessee / Jones:

• Finishes the season at 9-4
• Regular Season LOSSES: @UF (by 10), UGA (by 7), @Bama (by 14), PennST (by 3) in bowl game
• Regular Season WINS: GATech (7), Indiana St. (35+), UMass (+35), USC (14), @KY (21+), SouthMiss (28+), @Mizzou (14+), LSU (1), Vandy (14+)
• Doesn't win (or even tie for) the SECE title
• Misses the SECCG, doesn't go to Atlanta
• Misses any BCS bowl, goes to some meaningless Florida-based bowl game
• Loses to some random Big 10 team in said meaningless bowl game.

Result "on paper": If you told me that this is what was going to happen next year, I'd say that it's almost certain that he is fired at season's end - 98% chance that he gets ran. That's on paper.

Now, think about it like this, in a linear fashion, as the season will actually unfold (using the same info as the previous example):

9/4: Beat GATech (by 7) in the nationally televised season opener in the new Georgia Dome - Record is now (1-0)
Fans: Looked great in beating a good team on national television!

9/9: Beat Indiana State (by 35+) in home opener - (2-0)

9/16: Lose to UF (by 10) in first true road game, at the Swamp - (2-1)
Butch Excuses: First road game in hostile environment, frosh QB, 3 games in 12 days (who scheduled that stupid shit?), they were out for revenge, etc.
Fans: You beat a good GaTech team, you still have a winning record, the SECE is still in play.

9/23: Beat UMass at home (by 35+) - (3-1)
Fans: Loss @UF is already and largely forgotten

9/30: Lose to UGA at home (by 7) - (3-2)
Butch Excuses: Smart's talent starting to show up, UGA defense confused frosh QB
Fans: You beat a good GaTech team, you still have a winning record, the SECE is a long shot but still in play, you can still beat Bama

10/7: Open Date - Record is still (3-2)

10/14: Beat USC at home (by 14) - (4-2)
Fans: Tennessee getting healthy, cylinders are clicking, got revenge for last season's loss at Columbia, UGA Loss is forgotten

10/21: Lose @Bama (by 14) - (4-3)
Butch Excuses: Bama just has so much talent, Bama defense confused frosh QB, SECE / SECCG now gone, but still have winning record, lots of games to play
Fans: You played them "tougher" than we did last year, you still have a winning record, Guarantano showed some "flashes" (Read: picked up a first down on broken play run of 7 yards), mobile QB's give Bama fits, wait until he's more seasoned, all signs of certain successes that are to sure to come.

10/28: Beat @KY (by 21+) - (5-3)
Fans: Same old Kentucky, now 2 games above .500, Loss to @Bama is largely forgotten

11/4: Beat Southern Miss (by 28+) (6-3)
Fans: Solid beat down at home, amazing how much Guarantano has improved (completely ignore that "improvement" arrives at precipitous drop in level of competition, we're only running 12 plays on offense, etc.)

11/11: Beat @Mizzou (by 14+) (7-3)
Fans: On a roll now!, two game winning streak, 4 games above .500....going to show out versus LSU next week with EdO back in Neyland! That you have no shot at SECE / SECCG...with three weeks left in the season...and even if you beat LSU....is completely forgotten.....because EdO! Two game winning streak! Tennessee is 7-3, likely ranked somewhere in the 18-21 range.

11/18: Beat LSU (by 1) (8-3)
Fans: We knew it would happen! Revenge on EdO - which is the closest thing to Kiffin, if you think about it - is so sweet! Beating a Top 15-20 team at home is what it's all about! Our winning tradition has been restored!

11/25: Beat Vandy (by 14+) (9-3)
Fans: Such sweet, sweet revenge will have been had, as we pummel a Top 50 team with an imbecilic head coach and 1/5th of our talent, at home, and in a game where we will be favored by 17, but will fail to cover the spread....but such sweet, sweet revenge! We're now ranked 14-17(ish), on a 5-game winning streak, and this must be what our immediate and long-term future will be like!

01/01: Lose to Penn State (by 3) in Outback Bowl (9-4)
Butch Excuses: Franklin knew Shoop's signals, his defense confused our frosh QB in first bowl game, still finished with better record than last season, won 5 of our last 6, huge momentum in NSD / next season.
Fans: Franklin is an obvious cheat, Guarantano showed even more "flashes" (Read: threw 2 INT's, but also 2 TD's), wait until we really open the offense next season, all signs of certain successes that are to sure to come.

Butch / Fans Going Into Off-season:
Butch has figured it all out! We're back! Consistency. Why would you fire the guy now, with such clear progress and our second-half results? When was the last time we finished in the Top 15? Probably never. Be thankful for what we've got. Besides, the schedule is more favorable next season. Why risk losing 18 of the 3* players we already have committed on NSD? Who are you gonna get to replace him? If not Fulmer or Gruden, then we might as well just keep him. And if you're going to keep him, it'd be stupid not to give him another sizeable raise and an another multi-year contract extension, to boot.

Result (in "real life", when viewing the same results as they will play out over the course of the actual season): Butch not only keeps job, but gets sizable raise and extension.

Two completely different outcomes between "on paper" and when viewed over the course of the season, as it will actually unfold - and despite the fact that the exact same overall results occurred in each example.

Just as Tennessee's team greatly benefits from a (stupidly) front-loaded schedule, and creampuff row on the tail end.....so too do our coaches benefit from it, and perhaps even more so.

And so will Jones.

This is reality, and our uniquely hellish nightmare.

 

Rocky... C'mon. Are you trolling? Did you watch that game?

 

The Buzz comparisons lack validity. His first three years his winning percentage was .528, the equivalent of averaging 6.3 wins in football. I don't think a football coach gets a fourth year at UT with that kind of record. Also, a lot harder to tarp the upper deck at Neyland...

 

I was there. C'mon what? Am I taking crazy pills? Yes the coaching was awful. Even if it weren't awful there's a good chance UT gets smoked on that game.

 

When you allow a guy to run to his left for 8 to 10 yards every play, you suck as a coach.

Marshall was a good runner, but that was coaching malpractice

 

We lose anyway, but my God the coaches didbus zero favors having a plan or adjusting.

 

Had we started playing right/left safeties by that point, basically forcing us to run some type of cover 2 scheme at all times?

 

Physically survive the post game PCs and hes back.

 

Ole purple in the face might cause him to kill over.

 

Give Botch another three years and we will see.

 

You are not wrong, you're just an asshole.

 

That Auburn game was idiotic, but no worse than Phils last disaster against them.

 

I think that was the worst game I've ever seen.

 

UCLA 2008 was another all time classic example of bad coaching.

 

It was bad.