TheBearBryant

First let me introduce myself. I am brand new to this SEC Forum, and to be honest, brand new to forums in general. My name is William Bryant. I am a recently retired Sports Analyst for the SEC and the Alabama Crimson Tide. I have spent nearly 5 decades in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa covering this beloved sport. Even though I have retired, I figured I would continue to give my two cents worth. One of my friends pointed me into the direction of an SEC Forum to share my opinions. I hope we can have a respectful, fun, and mature football season. Now on to my first post...

We can all agree that that University of Tennessee has found themselves between a rock and a hard place. The rock being the amazing recruiting and the hard place being the horrendous coaching. Throughout my 45+ years of covering college football, I have seen my fair share of untalented head coaches. Butch is by no means a Derek Dooley, Mike Shula, or Kevin Steele. I'm not trying to dig a grave for Butch, but eventually the Tennessee Athletic department has start asking themselves questions. You have a football program that has been in the Top 20 Recruiting class for 4 straight years. Multiple 5 Star recruits. Tennessee could be an extremely talented team, but they're not. I am sure Tennessee fans are sick and tired of losing by three touchdowns in the first 3 quarters, but then coming back in the 4th quarter and winning by the hair on their chinny-chin-chin. The reason this keeps happening (South Carolina in 2013, South Carolina in 2014, Georgia in 2015, South Carolina in 2015, Appalachian State in 2016, Florida in 2016, Georgia in 2016, and so far Georgia Tech in 2017) is because of terrible coaching skills. You send in a mediocre/somewhat talented team with no coaching. This team suffers and nearly loses the game. Due to athleticism and somewhat talented players, the team is able to fight back and win just in time. Tennessee fans are okay with this. "A win is a win", they say. Eventually the Tennessee Volunteers go nose to nose with a team with much greater talent and coaching. This is where the Vols begin to tumble, crash, and burn. I am going to give you a scenario. Let's say you take this mediocre/somewhat talented Vols team and you put them in the hands of a much more experienced and well-groomed head coach. Now, let's put this team up against Georgia Tech. You have a Power 5 football team versus a football team who has finished in the bottom of their conference for 2 straight years. A Tennessee team with a much more experienced and well-groomed head coach results in a shutout against Georgia Tech. How do I know this? Look at Alabama. If Alabama can beat the leading school in the ACC by two touchdowns, then Tennessee can beat the school in last place of the ACC by two touchdowns. You have no excuses. I honestly believe the reason the Tennessee Volunteers are able to scratch their way back into football games, is simply because they have talent brewing within. This football team could be worth something. There is one thing holding them back. Ironically, the one thing holding them back is what made them what they are. An absolute genius recruiter with absolute zero coaching skills. As much as it hurts, Vol fans, Butch has got to go.

"But, Who do we hire?", they ask. I have the answer. You want a coach that has experience. You want a coach whose price tag is expensive, but you are able to catch them when they are on clearance. You want the man who is reasonable for coaching Travis Henry. The man who helped Travis Henry obtain 195 carries for 998 yards and 7 touchdowns. The man who helped Shawn Bryson score that first touchdown in the 1998 National Championship game and get picked in the 3rd round of the 1999 NFL draft. You want the man who coached during the glory years of the Tennessee Volunteers football program. You want Randy Sanders. Randy was born and raised in Tennessee. He began his coaching career by helping coach the QBs under Johnny Majors. From 1989 to 2005, Randy served as QB coach, WR coach, RB coach, and Offensive Coordinator. During his entire time at Tennessee as an assistant/OC he went 162-46-2. His only losing season was in 2005. He was so successfully as a RB coach, that Phillip Fulmer made him his Offensive Coordinator in 1999. Randy Sanders is currently the Offensive Coordinator for one of the leading schools in the ACC, Florida State. During his time as OC at Florida State he has gone 47-7. Randy has two National Championships under his coaching belt. 1998 and 2013. He is currently making $500,000+ annually. Tennessee could easily sign this man as head coach for 3.0 Million. If I was John Currie, I would go after this man. He is experienced, he knows how to win, and most importantly he has won two National Championships. And if that doesn't sale you, then this will. He is coming straight out of the Johnny Majors, Philip Fulmer, and Jimbo Fisher coaching trees. Tennessee, this is your man.