The Quarterback position at the University of Tennessee

But would a player who gets 'paralysis' in the face of the stressors or competition react any differently to the stressors of an SEC game?

 

In my experience, no. They just didn't like to be fussed at by an authority figure.

 

"We talkin bout...practice"

While that does sound like a funny clip it has a hidden gem in it.
Ive played with and coached kids that were completely different game day. Thats not with every player but they dont react to pressure the same and changing the type of pressure can make a difference with the next guy.

 

It may not be a 1 to 1 correlation, but I think it's something to consider.

I mean, I can envision the kid you're talking about and he isn't the kid getting deer-in-headlights-y due to competition; he's just not shining in practice because he thinks practice sucks. I could imagine, for example, that Tyler Bray may have fit that mold.

The kid that IS getting deer-in-headlights-y may just simply be a bit of a vag, and not the guy you want slinging guns in a two-minute drill.

 

Im getting to the point where Im not sure it really matters with this group. It sounds good but doesnt really produce the positive it does in other instances.

 

People do react to different kinds of pressure differently. I get nervous about public speaking, interviews, etc. But if there is an actual emergency, I am money. Go figure.

 

Tyler Bray wasn't exactly money in the two minute drill, either.

 

Holy Spirit intervenes. Only logical explanation.

 

I was a horrible practice player, especially if i felt I was fighting for a position. I put too much pressure on myself. I put less pressure on myself during a game.

 

I ****ing hated practice, but I was never nervous about a spot. I put in my work and just hoped we never had to run extra.

 

Yep. One of the best receivers I coached was as fierce of a competitor as there is, but if a coach jumped him hard, you could see his head drop. We still coached him hard. We just had to coach him differently.

 

He made a mistake or two, but I'd take him in a second in that position. He was 0% timid -- neither deliberate nor afraid to make mistakes -- and that's what you want.

 

TWSS?

No, no that doesn't work.

 

TWSS

 

I hated practice. Every. Single. Minute.

With that said, I'm real big on putting pressure into practices at times. Let me see who's going to be able to handle it early.

 

What about Dobbs' issue has prompted you to suddenly begin doubting Jancek?

I'm all for enlightenment, insofar as it's truly occurred. Absent that, it's merely changing one guess for another.

 

I wish every person that ever alleged that we were the "negative" people would grasp that. Most here say things because they are true, or at least sincerely believed to be, and despite oftentimes great wishing that they weren't.

I hope that Dobbs / Peterman / Worley / the local kid / Pig / anyone can seize the job and magically turn into something that none of them now seem to be - an even average quarterback who is merely a neutral force, and won't lose us games.

I'd love to be wrong. Hell, I'd love for someone to offer even a meager argument based on largely anecdotal evidence comprised of anything less than blind optimism that they're going to be better than they are. When you've been lost in the desert for as long as this program - and the entire fan base, with them - has been, nothing seems more able to soothe a parched throat and quench a powerful thirst than a big ol' glass of orang kool-aid drink. And nothing would seem to quiet the sun's glare better than some orange-colored glasses. The problem is that for those watchful and thinking amongst us, we realize that they are but mere and meaningless illusions.

And little hope, even no hope, is infinitely preferred to false hope. At least for some.

Tennessee may go undefeated. Or maybe we could upset an Oklahoma or an Alabama - its true that bigger and more surprising upsets have happened than these. I hope that Jalen Hurd is the next AP, and plays like it. I just don't think that there is any reason to believe that it WILL happen. At all.

I'm as sick of losing, of sucking, and of never quite seeming to be within 2-3 years of even beginning to compete at the highest levels of the conference, as anyone. Probably moreso. My desire to see this program back on top is both irrational and largely unhealthy.

But I've never heard of a single successful journey that didn't begin with the frankest admission of where you were when you started - not where you hope to be, think you may be, but truly are - and the progress you're making, or not, and at every point along the way.

We're neither going to lie nor delude ourselves into a return to prominence. But God bless those simple-minded amongst us, who believe as much, and prefer a pleasant lie to the awful truth.

 

Well put.

 

Ha!

 

He only made mistakes, dude. Name me a time where Tyler Bray won us a ball game against anyone decent on a two minute drill. Hell, a scoring drive will do. I'd have him in a damn heartbeat, and I understand your reasoning about fearlessness, but using Tyler Bray as an example completely destroys your argument.