Top 5 All Time “What Could Have Beens”

Would like to add Kenny O'neal and Bryce Brown to this list.

 

Michael Vick was one of the biggest stars in football in 2004. And he was going to be our Michael Vick until Erik Ainge played like a grown ass man in the 4th quarter of the Florida game. 2004 was probably the most exciting and enjoyable season I have experienced as a living Vol fan. Unfortunately I was born in 1992-so I missed out on much of the glory days (my parents making me stay up late when I was in kindergarten for the national championship game and them trying to explain the significance to me is one of my first UT memories). The only time in my life me and the fellow UT fans in school had bragging rights over our douche Alabama and Florida fan classmates. Everything seemed to be pointing to another dominant run by Fulmer. The only truly traumatic things young me had to endure as a youthful Tennessee fan by that point were the 2001 UGA hobnail/LSU SECCG abortions. Tennessee being a top 15 program annually felt like a birthright. The idea of EVER losing to any SEC East program not named Florida and Georgia seemed farcical.

 

Damn, that's unfortunate. Now I'm depressed on your behalf.

 

The truth is a cold [itch bay] sometimes. The Monday lunch table in the fall during the middle school and high school days were almost always a sad affair for us poor Millennial suburban Nashville Vol kids.

 

I don’t think Brent Schaeffer was ever gonna be our Michael Vick even if he didn’t beat up a fellow Humboldtian

 

You are right probably, ultimately sucked at reading defenses and couldn't step up well inside the pocket. Him electing to go to Ole Miss and play for an unprepared Coach Orgeron sealed his football fate. However he showed flashes at Tennesssee. The last play of his Tennessee career against South Carolina where he shattered his collar bone throwing a laserbeam on the run was probably the most electric throw of his career. Very Michael Vickish looking play minus the season ending injury the second he released the ball.

 

Shoutout to SEC officials allowing Alex Brown to lineup the entire game offsides in the 1999 UF game.

 

Woulda been nice for us to chip him at least once

 

Will always wonder about OJ Owens if he doesn't have health issues.

Also will always wonder what happens if Brown doesn't flip Chris Simms.

Reggie Cobb in 89. Chuck Webb in 90. (We win at least one Natty of those two years IMO.)

And of course, Randall Cobb.

 

James Banks
Decommitments from Simms and Cadillac Williams
The entire injury plagued 2002 season
Injury to Ainge in ‘04

 

I would have liked to have seen Fulmer start Rick Clausen in 05 instead of Ainge, let Ainge get 100% instead of creating such a toxic locker room setting that spring. You do that, Ainge may not have a pill problem and you salvage a pretty good season.

Instead, he started his own firing process

 

The old halftime Hail Mary

 

From your own 31 yard line…..

 

Just ridiculous that play ever happened. Rick's pick 6 that made the difference that day was one of the more disgusting plays I've ever seen a QB at Tennessee make. Gerald Riggs JR. had one of the softest runs I've ever seen on the 4th and 1 foot to seal the deal. Dude just tip toed to the line and immediately turned his back around at the line and tried to backpeddal forward. That was such a cruddy Notre Dame team that beat us. Worst part about 2004 for sure.

 

He called it himself

 

Than he deserved what happened.

 

"Deserve" may be strong.

 

Tyler Bray having the benefit of not being coached by Dools will always be a big "what if" in my mind.

In an alternative universe he has a couple championships and more than a few records to his name under the guidance of a competent coaching staff. Of course, having a defense that doesn't give up 45 would be a big factor here too.

 

To me the big what if of the Bray era besides the obvious of Kiffin is what if Dooley wasn't an insufferable ass that ran off Wilcox and the entire defensive staff after 2011? If we replicate the 2011 output of our 4/3 defense in 2012 instead of switching to a 3/4 with personnel unfit to run a 3/4, then we are probably a damn good team in 2012. Bray and the offense did their part that year despite Dooley's incompetence.

Fun side story about the 2012 defense: I was a student in those years (2011-2015) who lived off campus in the fort. A couple prominent starters moved in next door to our house one of those years during the summer workout months. Our house befriended these two players and they would come over on the weekends some to shoot the shit and play Xbox/drink a few beers with us. They told us a very interesting/sad story on the 2012 Georgia game where we lost 51-44...

As Mike LB, it was AJ Johnson's role to communicate Sunseri's hand signals in the defensive huddle presnap on what the stunt/coverage/ect. was. The story went that neither AJ nor anyone else could understand the signals that Sal was giving out, with the 2012 UGA game being the peak of confusion for the defense that year. On the play before UGA had an untouched 70 yard game deciding touchdown up the middle that put them up two TDs in the 4th quarter, the story relayed to us was that AJ looked to our sideline for Sal's presnap call. Confused, he asked the other 10 boys, "did anyone get that? Cause I have no [uck fay]ing clue what he just called." To which everyone in the huddle responded "hell no, that made no sense. we also have no idea what he just called". It being the 2nd half and only having one or two timeouts left-and UGA being on the verge of lining up for the snap-AJ quickly told the others "[uck fay] it. It's football boys. Everyone just line up and hit the guy in front of you as hard as you can". To which everyone agreed that was the best strategy given they had no earthly clue what Sal was telling them to do. Touchdown UGA 20 seconds later. That's what we were dealing with defensively in 2012.