Should we ignore issues just because we are only halfway through the season and the Defense now looks worse than ever? Ignore the fact that USF had like the 105th passing O in the country and threw all over us? UT is a pass save the 3 totally blown coverages by a Senior DB? Ignore that LSU pretty much could do nothing vs UT yet we almost never got a stop on D? Sorry that like ignoring the giant wart on that girls nose just because she is the only one in the bar and it’s 0300…. As a D coach you should be able to see some improvement not crashing and burning half way through the season. Any one who wants to be objective knows this. Love isn’t blind when it comes to evaluating a team for those of us with a brain.
We are actually scoring slightly more PPG than last year with basically the same players and Mullen’s ‘great’ offense. Let’s give Napier some time with better players and see what he can do. I like the fact that he has improved our running game and, hopefully, Richardson will improve.
Tennessee’s main concern right now may be having Oklahoma fire their coach and come calling for heupel.
Throwing as many INT's as TD's (ignore the late INT versus UT) doesn't exactly support the above statement. Richardson has absolutely shown these attributes in the Utah, UT, and LSU games...but you can't completely place all of the blame on his struggles against Missouri, South Florida, and Kentucky on just scheme. Is it entirely possible he's a square peg in a round hole? Sure. Enough so that an NFL GM would chance a 1st round pick on him right now? Nope, not a chance.
It's more than the turnovers. I don't think that AR sees the field all that well, and doesn't have good fundamentals as far as footwork and accuracy of his throws. The QB has to do a lot of processing in a 2-3 seconds to see where the defenders are, and where the best place to throw the ball is, and the fundamentals have to be automatic. I think it was a huge mistake for Napier to allow AR to be hyped for the Heisman, even though that might be good for recruiting and the program in general. He should have tempered expectations, and said that AR will need to work on consistency and the mental aspects of the game. You don't go from struggling to be the starting QB (while competing against another struggling QB) to Heisman contender in one year. Unfortunately, practicing against one of the worst defenses in the country has not gotten AR ready for the SEC. Lowering expectations for AR would have let the team know that the rest of them have to step up if they want a winning season. Waiting until halfway through the season to realize this the hard way is way too late. I think most of the team expected AR to take them to Atlanta this year (or win all games except UGa), overcoming the mistakes that the rest of them made, and that didn't happen. All it did was put additional pressure on AR, which caused his performance to suffer more.
Huepel could be onto something. Time will tell. Spurrier changed the SEC and passed the test of this time. Urban no staying power. Napier ???
It all starts with the QB. A great QB makes up for a lot of offensive deficiencies. Hooker is really good.
People say coaching does not matter, but from watching football since 60s, I can tell you that is a lie. I watched Oklahoma struggle with their coaching hires between Switzer and Stoops. I watched TN struggles. Even watched Bama struggle under Shula. I watched the magic when Spurrier was hired at UF. The right coaches and staff can have an immediate impact on existing players. As an AD, you need to hit HRs in your coaching hires. A Billy D hire rarely works. We pay Patrick Toney with 2 years of DC experience at a lower Conf program more than many experienced and stronger DCs. I would not be surprised if Coach Raymond leaves after this year. This is not a defensive system he wants to coach in. Missouri has one of the top defenses in our conference. Their DC is not a veteran, but has coached at other P5 programs like LSU, Miami, … He gets results. Coaching matters.
He would be either a first 10 pick or a 5th-7th round pick. Nothing in between. You either are you or you are not. He has too much film to make him "late first-4th round flier" material. An NFL team either goes for it or they wait a LONG time to place money on a 50-1 longshot with some gitty-up.
Toney is Co-Defensive Coordinator. Sean Spencer has Vanderbilt, Penn State, NY Giants coach experience. Toney is not running the show alone. What makes you think we will be running this system next year, or even next game? I don't see Raymond leaving, and we don't know what their plans are once the get into next year. This year we seem to be limited by personnel issues, especially in the back 7. Too early to grind teeth and make any judgement at this point.
No doubt that the Vols have had a great first half of the season, but I prefer letting the season play out. There's still a lot of football to play.
....and for every one random mock draft you link, there are 3-5+ who also disagree with you. Besides, I don't think the powerhouse names of Chris Trapasso, Charles McDonald, and Luke Easterling really mean a whole lot....its all speculation to just to get web traffic on their sites. I get it, you are emotionally invested in this idea that Richardson is better than what we have seen on the field. You are only seeing what you think is an incredibly high ceiling, and there is nothing wrong with being optimistic. He has talent, there is no question about it. But at some point, either that talent is going to manifest into on-field results, or it isn't....and there is only so much that can be blamed on coaching and play calling. Now, I'm not one of these fans who thinks we need to start someone else, Richardson clearly is the key to team success this season (and likely next as well). I'm just not as high on the kid as you are, and this isn't an uncommon opinion on Florida or NFL boards.
Oklahomas going to fire their coach after one year? Lol? Tennessees main concern *may* be heupel retirement at the end of the year. Both those statements have the same validity
More like Tennessee's concern eats himself into a coma. Holy cow. Hard to see how a QB has gotten that fat over the years. He's up around Fatboy Jared Lorenzon territory. Certainly not very healthy.
So I don't know how Tennessee became so good. They appear to have a strong front 7, and we all know a prolific type offense. So before the half they are up 52-7 on UT Martin. What would our score be against UTM? That's the problem I see for our team going forward. We will need a stifling D and that is wishful thinking based on what we see from our scheme.
We are solid, i wouldn't call it loaded. We did get torched against UT and LSU re the one on one battles. But without adequate safety help it's somewhat understandable. Would love to have a Major Wright, Ahmad Black, Keanu Neal, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson... One of those dudes at Safety. If CBN can get some elite talent throughout the D, we will be singing a different song in this forum.
