re: Is it reasonable to expect Tennessee football to turn around?

BDSM Kyle currently has a belt around his neck and is viciously fapping at the thought of Georgia ever passing VOLS on the Big 6 hierarchy

You are supporting "current trajectory" with individual data points based on a decade's worth of football, going back to the '30s. How does this even make sense in your mind?

Is this supposed to be current, and if so, why go so far back? What does anything more than the last 10 years say about a program or it's future? Kids that are getting recruited now were in diapers when Tennessee was relevant last. That doesn't mean we don't get good recruits or that our future can't move back towards the "average" for Tennessee.

The bottom line to most programs is whether or not they can attract top tier talent. Obviously lots of things play into this like facilities, exposure, coaching, conference, fertility of primary recruiting grounds, and the fan base.
If you can consistently recruit in the top 10 then, yes, any given year could prove to be your year.
Tennessee has an average class ranking of 12.88 over the last 9 years. Not quite there, but some combination of lucky bounces, team chemistry, etc. could give rise to a program defining season which would in turn lead to better recruiting and better results.

Tennessee is certainly in a position enviable to most programs, and well within the spectrum of being able to "turn around." They won't consistently beat the other blue bloods of the SEC unless someone like Saban comes around, but they'll get their fair share.

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Tennessee has an average class ranking of 12.88 over the last 9 years. Not quite there, but some combination of lucky bounces, team chemistry, etc. could give rise to a program defining season which would in turn lead to better recruiting and better results.

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Dooley. Sigh. We wouldn't even be near 12.88 were it not for CBJ recruiting so well and dragging that average up considerably. Dooley also had the ability to find and recruit that 4 star who had suspiciously shitty offers.

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Tennessee is certainly in a position enviable to most programs, and well within the spectrum of being able to "turn around." They won't consistently beat the other blue bloods of the SEC unless someone like Saban comes around, but they'll get their fair share.

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I think you can say this about nearly anyone in terms of Saban. However, I don't think it takes a Saban to beat a Saban. For one Saban's success is unprecedented and because of that things likely begin to return to normal for everyone once he retires. And secondly, we've seen that Saban has chinks in his armor the same as any other mortal. OM's success is the most astounding because while being a good team they never achieved more than the high water mark of beating Bama but TAMU's one off was similar and although Clemson was arguably better than both those OM and TAMU teams there is a common denominator: high powered offenses can beat elite defenses and if Saban has any weakness it's that he typically fields good but not necessarily great offenses.

IOW, while the SEC needs to see more Fulmers and Spurriers to compete, it needs to see Saban retire even more if any of us are going to hope to see much more than frustration when it comes to them. Saban's an anomaly on the high end and one we likely won't see again for many, many, years and many of us may never be alive to see another coach come close to those achievements.

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I don't want to jump into this pissing contest, but it's still hard to believe Tennessee hasn't had a Heisman winner. There have been some stud players come through Knoxville...

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No this is actually a running joke within our fanbase. We simply aren't allowed to win the Heisman. We know this. We don't like it but we accept it.

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Kudos to over taking Tennessee in this recent decade as it has literally been our worst in history.

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I hate to break it to you, but Georgia has been the better program going all the way back to at least 1960.

Georgia vs. Tennessee (1960-2016)

Head-to-Head: Tied 16-16-1
National Titles: Georgia 1; Tennessee 1
SEC Titles: Georgia 8; Tennessee 7
SEC Record: Georgia 253-140-6 (64.2%); Tennessee 232-159-11 (59.1%)
AP Ranking (1960-2016): Georgia #15; Tennessee #16

Pretty even. But Georgia has the better SEC Record, the better standing in the overall AP Rankings since 1960, and one additional SEC Title.

We're talking about a period of 57 seasons.

... and the thing is, this doesn't count 1959 in which Georgia won another SEC Title. We're starting these stats the next year in 1960.

Since 1960, Georgia has been the better program. You can live off of all your Neyland accomplishments from the 1930s all you want, but they are not relevant these days.

Tennessee is a dying program. Within a decade, these things won't even be debatable. You'll have to argue with Ole Miss fans about who's 1940s accomplishments were more meaningful.

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From a historical perspective, I still do consider them an elite program. But I also view Nebraska to be elite. I think Nebraska and Tennessee are programs that have a ton of historical success but don't have a particularly bright future unless something major turns things around. I don't see it happening though for either of them.

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Nebraska's situation is completely different. Nebraska sits in an area with absolutely no talent.

Tennessee has an exploding population with much of it being in Mid- Tenn. This is great for UT moving forward since traditionally much of the talent was across the state in Memphis. Explosion in Mid state talent = positive outlook for VOLS in the future.

You're starting your arbitrary time frame in the 1960's because Tennessee won back to back National Championships in the 50's. Not because you don't want to add another SEC Championship to your resume.

We've won 3 non disputed National Championships since the 50's and claim another unofficial NC in 1967. That's the difference between our programs. When we get to the top, we capitalize on it. You flounder and can't finish when it matters most. That's why Tennessee is more highly regarded than Georgia. That's why Auburn is more highly thought of than Georgia even with the amount of L's they've taken to UGA the last decade. That's 4 National Championships to your 1. That's the difference.

Once your squad holds the all time wins over us, national championships over us, conference championships over us, draft picks over us, first round draft picks over us, Overall wins over us, etc. I'll consider you a better program than Tennessee.

Here's the thing, you haven't, so I won't.


All the arbitrary time frames and methods at pulling selective stats dont change that. And now you're looking at a 3 game losing streak to your overlords from the North.

Come back and talk shite to me when you're HC isn't losing games to 5-7 Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech all in the same season with one of the best rosters in the conference (While having a relatively healthy roster).

Keep holding this L. You've looked great in it lately.

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We've won 3 non disputed National Championships since the 50's

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Two. 1951 and 1998. LINK

I'm getting on up there. Got three daughters in their 30s and a son in his early 20s.

I just read this thread to my son and told him, "Son, when you are my age you'll still be hearing the same 'used to be' argument from Vol fans.

I capitalize Vol out of respect ... for the old days even though the 90s would not have been good to UT had Phat Phil not been a cheating frick. And the SEC should never forgive the hypocritical bullshite he brought down on Bama and the rest of the league, the Haslam brothers and him.

I hate a fricking hypocrite. Especially fat fricking hypocrites.