I was just a wee lad in '98, and I've been through all the dark years since. I'll never be mad about being 10-3 and going to the playoffs. People forget too easy.
Gave you a thumbs up for that. Too many fans of my team either forgot too easy or simply never knew anything besides how good things have been with Coach Saban. Coach Heupel has definitely improved things in Knoxville for the better. Last season wasn’t perfect but who’s to say that he’s not already improving things in the offseason ? Certainly things are better than they have been during the revolving door situation that was going on there for awhile… RTR
Tennessee fan since 03 (I was 7) and fellow Josh (since 96)here... I was real upset about halfway through the third quarter against OSU... then honestly I looked back over the past 20 years and had major "I'm just happy to be here" vibes. I am happy with the direction Heupel has the team going and ecstatic that we just retained Banks.
As a Tennessee fan, the floor is much higher than it ever has been. Higher than the ceiling of previous coaches. The jury is still out where the ceiling is
Wrong, the floor was very high in phat Phil's day. 10 win seasons were considered very disappointing in those days. Obviously, with what Heuple inherited the standards have changed but Tennessee has all the necessary resources to be an annual contender in football in this new NIL era. The real question is are we willing to spend as much money on football as Oregon and Ohio State. Don't tell me we don't have 20 mil each year from our NIL and boosters combined. We most certainly do. That's not even really a huge sum in today's day and age.
@@LightSpeed4246Tennessee is and has been willing to spend money since NIL started. The other half of that equation is how many of those kids can Tennessee get compared to those other big spenders, or do you feel confident in your recruits and returning talent will be better to spend the money on.
It blows my mind how short some people's memories are. With the exception of guys like Josh Dobbs, Alvin Kamara, Jalen Hurd, Jauan Jennings, and Derek Barnett bailing out Butch Jones for a couple of 9 win seasons, Tennessee was awful from Fulmer's last year until Heupel stepped on campus. Sure, the Ohio State loss stunk, but it's hard to complain too much about multiple 10 plus win seasons and beating Florida and Bama multiple times.
I think as a vol fan we want to be Georgia or Alabama but we aren't there yet. Josh has moved the goal post for the program and it takes time to get there
I’m a Clemson fan. We’re going through that exact emotion from some fans. The difference is I remember many years where we truly sucked. To me, a 10 win season is a good season no matter what the fair weather fans think.
I miss Tennessee being bad 🥹, but the Third Saturday in October has been more interesting since Heupel landed there. I actually love to see SEC programs thrive
@@GarthVader42 A fake fan,,,,,,,,you might need to explain that one. The dude likes the SEC, so do I (except for one team). He can be a die hard Bama fan & still like the conference. Maybe that makes him an adult,,,,,,,,,,,,bud.
I just hate that first time they beat us in 17 years was by cheating with the refs, I will admit that this year they won out right but 3 years ago we got the game sealing int and ran it to the 50 and they threw a flag 10 seconds after he was tackled it was the most blatant ref cheating I’ve seen since the saints rams playoff game, even the commentators were screaming that Koolaid was making a play on the ball and in no way did he commit a PI, I’m still salty about that and I always will be. That puke inside of a pumpkin orange team in their garbage truck convention stadium had to pay refs to finally win. Absolute horse crap
Long time TN Vols fan who lives in ET TN. Huepel is our coach. He is dealing with what other TN coaches have dealt with is getting the right talent on the team. As they say, offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. We are on rhe right path. GBO
Josh So glad you are highlighting this! I have orange blood, have been a fan since a young child. IMO if we can maintain double digit win percentage most years I’m happy. 2008-2021 absolutely sucked!! Come on Tennessee fans appreciate what we have now and enjoy it!
I don’t think heupel is the problem they just really need a good O coordinator. He’s helped the team so much and he always looked locked in on the sideline, he’s one of the few people besides Nico who didn’t looked fazed when they went down 21-0 he was still locked in calling the plays as if it was still 0-0 or they were winning. He wasn’t freaking out get emotional or in shock like a lot of the players when they panned over to the bench, you could really tell Josh heupel was focused and the score didn’t faze him he was still thinking they had a chance to win.
People don’t remember how bad the program was when he got here. We are still rebuilding considering theres still a lack of depth compared to other top end SEC schools. It’s not a guarantee of success, but it can improve still.
Remember nico was only a freshman this year now he has experience and the coaches have a better feel on what work needs to be done with nico it's called a big trial run
Year over year the program has gotten better. I'm a fan of his and support his decisions. There needs to be some tweaking here and there but with the portal / NIL that's going to be every team in the nation.
We were missing the SEC player of the game and our only two legit WRs on the road at night against the most stacked roster in the country. Run it back in Neyland with everyone healthy and it's a 50/50 ball game. When Sampson and Thornton went down everyone except Nico and Will Brooks mentally gave up. Body language doesn't lie.
Nico wull be a lot better in 2025. Im no vols fan but let me tell you the kids got it, all he needs ro do is learn and understand coverages and disguises. The disguised blitzs seem to really throw him off along with disguised coverage
A very well delivered message with great points. Another point is he represents the program well. Rational Tennessee fans are elated with Heupel's performance.
Im 28 years old. I VAGUELY remember Tennessee winning 9+ games as a kid. We have overcome so much in recent years from Kiffin to Dooley, to Jones, and Pruitt. I'm beyond proud of them! Yes, we got embarrassed by OSU. Yes, we should've beaten Arkansas. I'm thankful to have Huepel as our coach! Who knows where'd we be if we didn't get him! Go, Vols! ⚪️🍊⚪️🍊
Agree 100% people would find a complaint if undefeated every year. The days of Bama and Georgia trading Nattys are gone with NIL and Portal. I'll take 10 wins for now on if it doesn't get better. .
I think we are a great team that ran into a train that was going to flatten anyone in the way. I did not expect OSU to be this good in the playoffs, and im not sure if anyone else did either. If they beat Notre Dame monday i wont feel bad at all. I was very happy with the regular season.
There are 134 Division 1 schools in college football. Tennessee was one of the twelve teams that made it to the playoffs. Why don't I see a problem here???
I can't believe some dude called Nico a bust!!! Nico broke school passing records in his first year starting!! I tell you, this time next season, sports media will love Nico and opposing teams will hate him!! Go Vols!
Considering how much Tennessee has paid him and he is now demanding even more money for next year, I'd say he's a bust. Still can't believe he's demanding more money and Tennessee caved and said "yup"😂
@josephraymond3180 show me where he demanded more money..... demanded more talented WRs and better offensive play calling I've seen but not more money, if so it would be on the front page of every sports site in the nation to talk shit about
@@josephraymond3180 You would be wrong for saying he’s a bust. Only next year can confirm that. For now, he was paid a big NIL deal to break freshman records.
Come on now, you know that's not all of us. Every fan base has their problem children. That being said, I'm certainly tired of the negativity from some fans, and I'm also tired of people saying we'll never be relevant when we obviously already are. And my hope is we stay that way for a while and we actually appreciate it for a change.
I think the conversation would be entirely different if we had lost to Ohio State, even by two scores, and it had been a competitive game. I think seeing what OSU did to Oregon made everyone feel a little better. It's true that Heupels road woes are concerning. But it is hard to win on the road period in this sport. In general, I will never take him for granted because I've been inside Neyland stadium for a lot of brutal games (2017 Georgia is a standout). And thanks to CJH I've been inside Neyland for a lot of incredible games & lifetime memories. The stature of the brand and the perception of the program outside of Knoxville are also exponentially higher now than they were even three years ago. We are lucky to have CJH and he is also a great cultural fit for the fanbase.
Thank you for this. We can both be realistically optimistic about the program's future and not be a shill. We can point out areas where work is needed, but still also point to general progress. And yeah, losing to OS doesn't look nearly as bad now that they're a finalist (as a Vols fan, that's why I rooted for OS over Texas - that and that we all know who the real UT is).
I said after the,TN OSU game nobody beating osu TN was like everyone else trying to cover Jeremiah Smith one on one your.not going to win that matchup I will give Tx credit they had 2 defenders on him and he had 1 catch for 3 yards
If you think about it, Josh Heupel and Tony Vitello inherited similar situations. Two dead programs who had nothing going for them since the late 90s early 2000s and underwent major coaching turnover upon each guy’s first year. It took Tony 7 years to finally win a national championship after years of coming up short. He made a regional final in ‘19, finally made Omaha in ‘21 and even suffered a crushing supers loss in ‘22 before the run we went on this past season. Both guys have built their programs from the ground up and it’s even harder to win a football championship than baseball championship. So yeah, Heupel may not have hit his ceiling this year but he’s clearly on the right path and give it another couple years I think he’ll put a team together that can take it home.
Interesting and good analogy. Heupel has Tennessee back to the Fulmer level, at the very least, which is a good thing. Tennessee, in all sports, has been painful at times in major, high profile postseason games but we have the right coaches across the board.
I agree with the person who asked the question. Tennessee had their best chance to win it all this season, and lost in the first round of the playoffs. They lost a lot in the portal, especially at receiver and quality depth on defense. I think they’ll take a step back next season. I’m pretty sure that’s what the question was alluding to.
12 дней назад+1
TN was banged up going into the bowl/PLAYOFF game with minimal reserves available- playing the most talent-heavy team- so it wasn't bad. Yes, it's never enjoyable to watch your team get ass2belt, BUT again, I'm happy with the season.
Oh some of our fan base is nuts lol. They inly judge by the last game and if it was a loss then fire everybody 😂😂 go into any group and they are bickering and labeled Negavols, back and forth. Its exhausting
As a 29 year old, i barely remember the tail end of the good days under fulmer. Im happy with where we are. As far as im concerned, we are ahead of schedule. With that being said, im concerned about the portal and its impact on teams who run offenses similar to ours. Squirrel white said he wanted to be at a place that featured more 2 receiver sets, aka pro style offense. I think the portal is going to incentivize teams to play pro style because that is what the top players want for the sake of their draft stock
Josh this is why you’re the best. Some Vol fans need to chill out. 10-3 is great. It seems like yesterday Pruitt tried to destroy this program be thankful for Heupel.
Man i never actually like your comment in the past regard Tennesee in most of your show but yet i might be wrong as i was too offend with bias feeling to whoever touch on Vols. Well your comment on this clip proved to me that i knew how good your analytical on team and your reveal your opinion on Vols correctly. Vols came so far already but did not meet many fan's expectation. Thank for for light up the reality that even to be on top of Rocky top it will need time and patience. Go Vols from Thailand🙂
I'm a Tennessee fan and I laugh at all these TN fans that say stupid things or complain about where the program is. As much as I love our fans, there's a large percentage of them that just suck.
Huge UT fan. It saddens me to say "we" are one of the most entitiled fan bases in the country. This aint the 90s. It isnt the early 2000s. We sucked for 20yrs. We arent owed a damn thing.
The floor being what the floor used to be is not a logical argument as to why we shouldn't be pissed about having lost to Arkansas, Florida and Carolina in the 3 years we have when we should have won easily in all 3 games. That being said, Coach Heupel is a great Coach, he's worked wonders in such a short time when we thought it would be a 3 year build before being decent again. And Nico is not bad, all this Nico is bad talk is silly. He had a horrible OL
Josh, no matter how many times you make the argument that heupel is the guy for all the reasons you talked about, the portion of our fanbase that ran off schiano still wants blood at the drop of a hat. Gbo. 🍊
The improvements that Nico made as the year went on is what gives me high hopes for this upcoming season. The offense improved from a year ago and got better as the season went on, granted we all know if Golesh was there, or someone better, we’d killed just about everyone. Just get more aggressive throwing the ball and not running it on 3rd and 7 lol we’ll be fine.
If Tennessee can cut down on silly penalties they probably add one win to their record. I know they would have last year running into the punter at Arkansas.
Heupel has saved our dumpster fire program and is restoring the tradition that was destroyed by the likes of Dooley and Jones. There’s no room for short-term and simple-minded views regarding what he’s done for us. We more than owe it to him to support him while he continues to build on an excellent start to what will be a long and successful career at UT. It’s a great time to be a Tennessee Vol🍊
Bama fan here. I thought he was a joke, a gimmick coach with his hurry up offense. He has proven to me that he is a top tier coach. He learned to build an SEC defense and recruit SEC linemen. That made the biggest difference to me.
For me Im glad that TN has improved and have had winning seasons for the last few years. But the issue or issues are starting to show. Opposing HC's have figured heupals offense out and its starting to show up on the field. Were scoring less than 20 points a game and are defense this year is the only thing that kept us from losing a few games. I feel this program takes a step back in 2025 for a few reasons. For one how is this offense going to look. Its going to be a big question mark with no WR's that have proved anything. Secondly all the production we have lost on the offensive and defensive side, specifically the OL, DT, Edge Rusher, WR's, RB. Its going to show up big time next season how much we needed Cooper Mays and it seems there was no one to replace him. Cooper helped Nico more than people realize. It just seems like that when we get the roster half way fixed then we take two steps back with losing players to the portal or graduating. And not to mention the staff issues. OL coach, WR Coach and OC havent proved anything
I’ve been a fan for years and an alumni, and yeah I was let down by the osu loss, but given where we were at when I was in college at UT and where we are now, I’ll take where we’re at now hands down. I think there was a ton of pressure in Nicco this season, yeah he’s going to be good, but this was his first full season as a starter, give him a little slack. Yeah I’d love to see UT become a dynasty like ‘bama, but I’m not sure the dynasty days are happening for anyone, thanks to the NIL stuff. So, I’ll take UT being relevant again over struggling to make a bowl appearance every year.
So we have two facts of football that plague us here at TN. For whatever reason, dunno if it's Halzlel or Heupel but we aren't running nearly the dynamic offense we were in 22, particularly the WR routs. They are just strait up and comebacks and the occasional downfield pass play and sometimes the short bubble screens. That's the passing offense. Very different than in 22. This is the 2nd year in a row we've been ignoring the passing game or trying to micromanage it instead of letting it loose more with more WR dynamics. Concerning that if it is Halzle why isn't he correcting this after two seasons? Next is the defensive pressure that just never shows up in games we are getting whipped on the D line with trying to get home with only 4. We seldom blitz and when we do, it's the predictable 2 dbs. That isn't fooling anyone as we show it but back off the vast majority of the time. This is a killer against the better teams and why we lose to them. ND showed us how blitzing works as well as more added pressure off the D line. Same with OSU. Texas did a great job of pressuring Howard, until very late. We fix those two things, we'll win more than 10 games. If we don't, 10 will seem like overachieving. Not blitzing and the offensive simplicity caused the AR loss. It's got to improve this season otherwise your looking at 9 wins.
That loss to OSU was not a terrible thing .. wish we competed better but it happens .. but the ceiling or bar set high .. I'm not looking at Nico for this I'm looking at winning that line of scrimmage battle on BOTH sides of the ball .. alot of seniors have departed and that leadership from locker room to field can't all fall on Nicos shoulders
I've been a Tennessee fan since the 85 Sugar Bowl. Apathy is setting in. I'm a free market guy so I logically understand NIL... But, my emotions say something different. Can you imagine Peyton Manning, Alvin Harper, Dale Carter or Al Wilson leaving Tennessee for another team??? No loyality.
It's bigger than college football, it's every corporation and sports league. Unfortunately we don't live in a free market society. We live in a regulatory corporate monopoly society. All of these problems are a symptom of a bigger issue. The system itself is designed to reward high time preference behavior from the corporate guy all the way down to the average joe. It took awhile for this to truly infect American society as a whole but it's here now and as long as we continue down this path it will get worse. This playoff was a creation of greed by networks who are part of one of these regulated monopolies so they are protected from any sort of free market. They then pat themselves on the back about ratings for these playoffs as if longtime college football fans are just going to stop watching immediately if they don't like the changes. The effects of cheapening the sport won't be shown in real data for a long time and even if the sport does lose popularity, they still won't be hurting at the end of the day. The short term benefit outweighs the perceived long term cost. This is why rich people in the US love playing around with debt. The system is inflationary due to money printing which encourages any corporation with any sense to prioritize getting cash to reinvest in allocation of capital now rather than hanging on to anything to invest the employees or the true quality of their product. A cycle of cheapening
Tennessee fan here....this is the problem with UT fans. We fired Fulmer because we would lose 3-4 games a year and weren't competing for a national championship. There was a very long sad road to get to this point and the base is never content with our situation. Keep in mind, this was Nico's first year as "the guy". Excited to see where he goes from here.
I dont think he's overreacting at all. We are not here for participation trophies. One of the largest fan bases in the entire world of sports and we haven't played for a NC since i had a driver's permit.
Our fans are spoiled idiots, some called for Rick Barnes to be fired after losing one game to Florida. Any time we beat Florida and Alabama, we should be grateful
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
I was just a wee lad in '98, and I've been through all the dark years since. I'll never be mad about being 10-3 and going to the playoffs. People forget too easy.
Gave you a thumbs up for that. Too many fans of my team either forgot too easy or simply never knew anything besides how good things have been with Coach Saban.
Coach Heupel has definitely improved things in Knoxville for the better. Last season wasn’t perfect but who’s to say that he’s not already improving things in the offseason ? Certainly things are better than they have been during the revolving door situation that was going on there for awhile…
RTR
6-6 10-3 same difference idc if we ain’t winning championships
Jesus loves you have a blessed day
@@skipgumphrey9579 I feel you. Much respect.
GBO
Hell I was born in 98 started following Tennessee football in 2012 yeah I’ll take this anytime 😎
Nebraska fans would cry tears of joy to b in Tennessee’s position.
Bent over a stump getting pounded by your uncle doesn't seem so great, Jed.
Fans have a short memory
Jesus loves you have a wonderful day
Maybe Rhule has them going in the right direction especially defensively. They played a much better game against OSU than Tennessee did.
@@Stiitchjoneseverything is gonna be alright when I get out da brigg
Tennessee fan since 03 (I was 7) and fellow Josh (since 96)here... I was real upset about halfway through the third quarter against OSU... then honestly I looked back over the past 20 years and had major "I'm just happy to be here" vibes. I am happy with the direction Heupel has the team going and ecstatic that we just retained Banks.
That was my thought on the game too
Jesus loves you have a blessed day
As a Tennessee fan, the floor is much higher than it ever has been. Higher than the ceiling of previous coaches. The jury is still out where the ceiling is
Wrong, the floor was very high in phat Phil's day. 10 win seasons were considered very disappointing in those days. Obviously, with what Heuple inherited the standards have changed but Tennessee has all the necessary resources to be an annual contender in football in this new NIL era. The real question is are we willing to spend as much money on football as Oregon and Ohio State. Don't tell me we don't have 20 mil each year from our NIL and boosters combined. We most certainly do. That's not even really a huge sum in today's day and age.
Agreed .Fulmer had some awesome teams and awesome recruits. Problem is ,he had alot of highly rated players turn out to be busts.
@@LightSpeed4246 fulmer was 5 head coaches and almost 20 years ago
@@LightSpeed4246Tennessee is and has been willing to spend money since NIL started. The other half of that equation is how many of those kids can Tennessee get compared to those other big spenders, or do you feel confident in your recruits and returning talent will be better to spend the money on.
Josh adding perspective to VOL world. Great points.
It blows my mind how short some people's memories are. With the exception of guys like Josh Dobbs, Alvin Kamara, Jalen Hurd, Jauan Jennings, and Derek Barnett bailing out Butch Jones for a couple of 9 win seasons, Tennessee was awful from Fulmer's last year until Heupel stepped on campus. Sure, the Ohio State loss stunk, but it's hard to complain too much about multiple 10 plus win seasons and beating Florida and Bama multiple times.
I think as a vol fan we want to be Georgia or Alabama but we aren't there yet. Josh has moved the goal post for the program and it takes time to get there
I’m a Clemson fan. We’re going through that exact emotion from some fans. The difference is I remember many years where we truly sucked. To me, a 10 win season is a good season no matter what the fair weather fans think.
Exactly...on a separate not, how did yiu guys lose to the college version of Joe Milton 😂
Just talking 🗑️
Clemson is an elite program 👊
I miss Tennessee being bad 🥹, but the Third Saturday in October has been more interesting since Heupel landed there. I actually love to see SEC programs thrive
You’re a fake fan then bud
@@GarthVader42 A fake fan,,,,,,,,you might need to explain that one. The dude likes the SEC, so do I (except for one team). He can be a die hard Bama fan & still like the conference. Maybe that makes him an adult,,,,,,,,,,,,bud.
Respect
Respect bro. I like for everyone to be comp too myself ✍🏽
I just hate that first time they beat us in 17 years was by cheating with the refs, I will admit that this year they won out right but 3 years ago we got the game sealing int and ran it to the 50 and they threw a flag 10 seconds after he was tackled it was the most blatant ref cheating I’ve seen since the saints rams playoff game, even the commentators were screaming that Koolaid was making a play on the ball and in no way did he commit a PI, I’m still salty about that and I always will be. That puke inside of a pumpkin orange team in their garbage truck convention stadium had to pay refs to finally win. Absolute horse crap
Long time TN Vols fan who lives in ET TN.
Huepel is our coach. He is dealing with what other TN coaches have dealt with is getting the right talent on the team.
As they say, offense sells tickets and defense wins championships.
We are on rhe right path.
GBO
Josh So glad you are highlighting this! I have orange blood, have been a fan since a young child. IMO if we can maintain double digit win percentage most years I’m happy. 2008-2021 absolutely sucked!! Come on Tennessee fans appreciate what we have now and enjoy it!
Amen to this my friend! GBO
I don’t think heupel is the problem they just really need a good O coordinator. He’s helped the team so much and he always looked locked in on the sideline, he’s one of the few people besides Nico who didn’t looked fazed when they went down 21-0 he was still locked in calling the plays as if it was still 0-0 or they were winning. He wasn’t freaking out get emotional or in shock like a lot of the players when they panned over to the bench, you could really tell Josh heupel was focused and the score didn’t faze him he was still thinking they had a chance to win.
People don’t remember how bad the program was when he got here. We are still rebuilding considering theres still a lack of depth compared to other top end SEC schools. It’s not a guarantee of success, but it can improve still.
Ole man Vol here. I agree 💯 with you. I add Coach Hype in my prayers everyday. Still amazed he came to the dumpster fire we were four years ago.
Thanks Josh, needed some clear outside perspective.
Remember nico was only a freshman this year now he has experience and the coaches have a better feel on what work needs to be done with nico it's called a big trial run
Year over year the program has gotten better. I'm a fan of his and support his decisions. There needs to be some tweaking here and there but with the portal / NIL that's going to be every team in the nation.
We were missing the SEC player of the game and our only two legit WRs on the road at night against the most stacked roster in the country. Run it back in Neyland with everyone healthy and it's a 50/50 ball game.
When Sampson and Thornton went down everyone except Nico and Will Brooks mentally gave up. Body language doesn't lie.
Nico wull be a lot better in 2025. Im no vols fan but let me tell you the kids got it, all he needs ro do is learn and understand coverages and disguises.
The disguised blitzs seem to really throw him off along with disguised coverage
A very well delivered message with great points. Another point is he represents the program well. Rational Tennessee fans are elated with Heupel's performance.
Im 28 years old. I VAGUELY remember Tennessee winning 9+ games as a kid. We have overcome so much in recent years from Kiffin to Dooley, to Jones, and Pruitt. I'm beyond proud of them! Yes, we got embarrassed by OSU. Yes, we should've beaten Arkansas. I'm thankful to have Huepel as our coach! Who knows where'd we be if we didn't get him! Go, Vols! ⚪️🍊⚪️🍊
Good video! We'll be back in the playoffs! Go Vols!
As a Tennessee fan and alum, THANK YOU. Some folks don’t know when it’s the good times, and we have plenty to look forward to.
Thank you Josh Pate .this is why I subscribe to your channel you have common sense
I'm thinking 2026 will be the year it all comes together in Knoxville
May God continue to bless Josh Pate. Smart man
THANK YOU JOSH! Those vol fans are quick to complain slow to believe. 😊
Best analysis I’ve heard lately. We do forget way too soon . Thank you Josh Heupel !
Josh!! Excellent insight!! I totally agree with you Bro!! Go Vawls!! 🍊🍊
Agree 100% people would find a complaint if undefeated every year. The days of Bama and Georgia trading Nattys are gone with NIL and Portal. I'll take 10 wins for now on if it doesn't get better.
.
30 wins in 3 years come on we are back and can still improve be patient a championship is coming GBO
If im being honest, all i care about is winning 2 out of 3 over ga, bama, florida year in and year out.
I think we are a great team that ran into a train that was going to flatten anyone in the way. I did not expect OSU to be this good in the playoffs, and im not sure if anyone else did either. If they beat Notre Dame monday i wont feel bad at all. I was very happy with the regular season.
There are 134 Division 1 schools in college football. Tennessee was one of the twelve teams that made it to the playoffs. Why don't I see a problem here???
Good take. Tennessee also had their first and only 4 win season during those years... I'm excited for where this program is headed!
I’ve been a vol fan my whole life, I’m 31. We have been really bad almost half of my life. I’ll never complain again I love this shit go vols!!
10-3 with a... FRESHMAN QUARTERBACK
Alot of teams would give anything for a 10-3 season!
Remember Dooley????It could be MUCH worse.Heupel has things going the right direction.
I can't believe some dude called Nico a bust!!! Nico broke school passing records in his first year starting!! I tell you, this time next season, sports media will love Nico and opposing teams will hate him!! Go Vols!
Considering how much Tennessee has paid him and he is now demanding even more money for next year, I'd say he's a bust. Still can't believe he's demanding more money and Tennessee caved and said "yup"😂
@@josephraymond3180 You ain't wrong.
@josephraymond3180 show me where he demanded more money..... demanded more talented WRs and better offensive play calling I've seen but not more money, if so it would be on the front page of every sports site in the nation to talk shit about
@@garyharper8003 I'm a Gator and knew this. How do you not know of this?
@@josephraymond3180 You would be wrong for saying he’s a bust. Only next year can confirm that. For now, he was paid a big NIL deal to break freshman records.
Coming from a Kentucky fan. it would be stupid if Huepel is ever on a hot seat. If he is, it’ll be 08 all over again.
I’m pretty happy winning 10 games a year
Lifelong Vols fan here. I hate Tennessee fans........ I really do
😂 GBO!
💯 GBO!!!!!😂
It's the casuals lol
As a Kentucky fan I concur with this sentiment.
Come on now, you know that's not all of us. Every fan base has their problem children. That being said, I'm certainly tired of the negativity from some fans, and I'm also tired of people saying we'll never be relevant when we obviously already are. And my hope is we stay that way for a while and we actually appreciate it for a change.
Went to UT 67-73. Sat in Neyland when it was a horseshoe. I’ve seen the glory years and the bad. Very very happy with where we are now. GBO!!
People Can Never be Content with what they got
I think the conversation would be entirely different if we had lost to Ohio State, even by two scores, and it had been a competitive game. I think seeing what OSU did to Oregon made everyone feel a little better. It's true that Heupels road woes are concerning. But it is hard to win on the road period in this sport. In general, I will never take him for granted because I've been inside Neyland stadium for a lot of brutal games (2017 Georgia is a standout). And thanks to CJH I've been inside Neyland for a lot of incredible games & lifetime memories. The stature of the brand and the perception of the program outside of Knoxville are also exponentially higher now than they were even three years ago. We are lucky to have CJH and he is also a great cultural fit for the fanbase.
Thank you for this. We can both be realistically optimistic about the program's future and not be a shill. We can point out areas where work is needed, but still also point to general progress.
And yeah, losing to OS doesn't look nearly as bad now that they're a finalist (as a Vols fan, that's why I rooted for OS over Texas - that and that we all know who the real UT is).
I said after the,TN OSU game nobody beating osu TN was like everyone else trying to cover Jeremiah Smith one on one your.not going to win that matchup I will give Tx credit they had 2 defenders on him and he had 1 catch for 3 yards
If you think about it, Josh Heupel and Tony Vitello inherited similar situations. Two dead programs who had nothing going for them since the late 90s early 2000s and underwent major coaching turnover upon each guy’s first year. It took Tony 7 years to finally win a national championship after years of coming up short. He made a regional final in ‘19, finally made Omaha in ‘21 and even suffered a crushing supers loss in ‘22 before the run we went on this past season. Both guys have built their programs from the ground up and it’s even harder to win a football championship than baseball championship. So yeah, Heupel may not have hit his ceiling this year but he’s clearly on the right path and give it another couple years I think he’ll put a team together that can take it home.
Interesting and good analogy. Heupel has Tennessee back to the Fulmer level, at the very least, which is a good thing. Tennessee, in all sports, has been painful at times in major, high profile postseason games but we have the right coaches across the board.
Heupel wins 9-10 games every year, so no need to be angry with him.
I agree with the person who asked the question. Tennessee had their best chance to win it all this season, and lost in the first round of the playoffs. They lost a lot in the portal, especially at receiver and quality depth on defense. I think they’ll take a step back next season. I’m pretty sure that’s what the question was alluding to.
TN was banged up going into the bowl/PLAYOFF game with minimal reserves available- playing the most talent-heavy team- so it wasn't bad. Yes, it's never enjoyable to watch your team get ass2belt, BUT again, I'm happy with the season.
Oh some of our fan base is nuts lol. They inly judge by the last game and if it was a loss then fire everybody 😂😂 go into any group and they are bickering and labeled Negavols, back and forth. Its exhausting
As a 29 year old, i barely remember the tail end of the good days under fulmer. Im happy with where we are. As far as im concerned, we are ahead of schedule.
With that being said, im concerned about the portal and its impact on teams who run offenses similar to ours.
Squirrel white said he wanted to be at a place that featured more 2 receiver sets, aka pro style offense. I think the portal is going to incentivize teams to play pro style because that is what the top players want for the sake of their draft stock
In Heupel we trust
Josh this is why you’re the best. Some Vol fans need to chill out. 10-3 is great. It seems like yesterday Pruitt tried to destroy this program be thankful for Heupel.
Tennessee is crawling from the depths of hell and will be back with Heupel!!! GBO!!!
Heupel says he expects Tennessee to compete for the playoffs every year. We shall see...the SEC is a tough go of it.
As a UT fan, I understand the question but I also appreciate the answer.
Amen!! 🙏🏽 preach it and let my friends remember the past!!! How soon we forget how bad the program was 4 years ago!!
Thanks for psting a question from Adamsville..... my hometown...
We’re not worried
Man i never actually like your comment in the past regard Tennesee in most of your show but yet i might be wrong as i was too offend with bias feeling to whoever touch on Vols. Well your comment on this clip proved to me that i knew how good your analytical on team and your reveal your opinion on Vols correctly. Vols came so far already but did not meet many fan's expectation. Thank for for light up the reality that even to be on top of Rocky top it will need time and patience. Go Vols from Thailand🙂
I begged for years for a season where we would beat alabama and Florida. I couldn't agree more, Josh
Any fan that would think that Mr. Heupel isn't the coach for UT is a fool.
I'm a Tennessee fan and I laugh at all these TN fans that say stupid things or complain about where the program is. As much as I love our fans, there's a large percentage of them that just suck.
Some fans be tripping
Huge UT fan. It saddens me to say "we" are one of the most entitiled fan bases in the country. This aint the 90s. It isnt the early 2000s. We sucked for 20yrs. We arent owed a damn thing.
exactly, great video. Go Vols!
Love this!
The floor being what the floor used to be is not a logical argument as to why we shouldn't be pissed about having lost to Arkansas, Florida and Carolina in the 3 years we have when we should have won easily in all 3 games.
That being said, Coach Heupel is a great Coach, he's worked wonders in such a short time when we thought it would be a 3 year build before being decent again. And Nico is not bad, all this Nico is bad talk is silly. He had a horrible OL
Adamsville tn is such a small town close to where I’m at in west tn. Wild to answer a question from that place lol
Love my Vols doing great guys! We made the playoffs look who all didnt
they’ll never win a championship until they beat Alabama and Georgia in the same year
And Florida
Tennessee may eventually have Georgia off the schedule (and probably even Florida) with the new setup.
We are literally the worst fans when we stay stupid ass shit like this after making it to the playoff.
Josh, no matter how many times you make the argument that heupel is the guy for all the reasons you talked about, the portion of our fanbase that ran off schiano still wants blood at the drop of a hat. Gbo. 🍊
Can you scream it louder for the ones in the back?
Vols fan 😤 Man I’m grateful for Coach Hype 🍊
The improvements that Nico made as the year went on is what gives me high hopes for this upcoming season. The offense improved from a year ago and got better as the season went on, granted we all know if Golesh was there, or someone better, we’d killed just about everyone. Just get more aggressive throwing the ball and not running it on 3rd and 7 lol we’ll be fine.
If Tennessee can cut down on silly penalties they probably add one win to their record. I know they would have last year running into the punter at Arkansas.
Heupel has saved our dumpster fire program and is restoring the tradition that was destroyed by the likes of Dooley and Jones. There’s no room for short-term and simple-minded views regarding what he’s done for us. We more than owe it to him to support him while he continues to build on an excellent start to what will be a long and successful career at UT. It’s a great time to be a Tennessee Vol🍊
that Arkansas loss is really haunting Tennessee now.
Keep em
Input Michael Scott "Thanks you!!!"
Bama fan here. I thought he was a joke, a gimmick coach with his hurry up offense. He has proven to me that he is a top tier coach. He learned to build an SEC defense and recruit SEC linemen. That made the biggest difference to me.
Have fun David Sanders
First 3 years: 11-1, 10-2, 10-2. Fired after year 7. Who was this UT coach?????
I am going to guess Bill Battle?
Facts. Vol fans need to chill out and count our blessings. We’re relevant for God’s sake.
For me Im glad that TN has improved and have had winning seasons for the last few years. But the issue or issues are starting to show. Opposing HC's have figured heupals offense out and its starting to show up on the field. Were scoring less than 20 points a game and are defense this year is the only thing that kept us from losing a few games. I feel this program takes a step back in 2025 for a few reasons. For one how is this offense going to look. Its going to be a big question mark with no WR's that have proved anything. Secondly all the production we have lost on the offensive and defensive side, specifically the OL, DT, Edge Rusher, WR's, RB. Its going to show up big time next season how much we needed Cooper Mays and it seems there was no one to replace him. Cooper helped Nico more than people realize. It just seems like that when we get the roster half way fixed then we take two steps back with losing players to the portal or graduating. And not to mention the staff issues. OL coach, WR Coach and OC havent proved anything
I’ve been a fan for years and an alumni, and yeah I was let down by the osu loss, but given where we were at when I was in college at UT and where we are now, I’ll take where we’re at now hands down. I think there was a ton of pressure in Nicco this season, yeah he’s going to be good, but this was his first full season as a starter, give him a little slack. Yeah I’d love to see UT become a dynasty like ‘bama, but I’m not sure the dynasty days are happening for anyone, thanks to the NIL stuff. So, I’ll take UT being relevant again over struggling to make a bowl appearance every year.
So we have two facts of football that plague us here at TN. For whatever reason, dunno if it's Halzlel or Heupel but we aren't running nearly the dynamic offense we were in 22, particularly the WR routs. They are just strait up and comebacks and the occasional downfield pass play and sometimes the short bubble screens. That's the passing offense. Very different than in 22. This is the 2nd year in a row we've been ignoring the passing game or trying to micromanage it instead of letting it loose more with more WR dynamics. Concerning that if it is Halzle why isn't he correcting this after two seasons?
Next is the defensive pressure that just never shows up in games we are getting whipped on the D line with trying to get home with only 4. We seldom blitz and when we do, it's the predictable 2 dbs. That isn't fooling anyone as we show it but back off the vast majority of the time. This is a killer against the better teams and why we lose to them. ND showed us how blitzing works as well as more added pressure off the D line. Same with OSU. Texas did a great job of pressuring Howard, until very late. We fix those two things, we'll win more than 10 games. If we don't, 10 will seem like overachieving. Not blitzing and the offensive simplicity caused the AR loss. It's got to improve this season otherwise your looking at 9 wins.
To be fair, their opponents are also worse now in Bama and UGA both that used to be guaranteed losses
That loss to OSU was not a terrible thing .. wish we competed better but it happens .. but the ceiling or bar set high .. I'm not looking at Nico for this I'm looking at winning that line of scrimmage battle on BOTH sides of the ball .. alot of seniors have departed and that leadership from locker room to field can't all fall on Nicos shoulders
I've been a Tennessee fan since the 85 Sugar Bowl. Apathy is setting in. I'm a free market guy so I logically understand NIL... But, my emotions say something different. Can you imagine Peyton Manning, Alvin Harper, Dale Carter or Al Wilson leaving Tennessee for another team??? No loyality.
It's bigger than college football, it's every corporation and sports league. Unfortunately we don't live in a free market society. We live in a regulatory corporate monopoly society. All of these problems are a symptom of a bigger issue. The system itself is designed to reward high time preference behavior from the corporate guy all the way down to the average joe. It took awhile for this to truly infect American society as a whole but it's here now and as long as we continue down this path it will get worse.
This playoff was a creation of greed by networks who are part of one of these regulated monopolies so they are protected from any sort of free market. They then pat themselves on the back about ratings for these playoffs as if longtime college football fans are just going to stop watching immediately if they don't like the changes. The effects of cheapening the sport won't be shown in real data for a long time and even if the sport does lose popularity, they still won't be hurting at the end of the day. The short term benefit outweighs the perceived long term cost. This is why rich people in the US love playing around with debt. The system is inflationary due to money printing which encourages any corporation with any sense to prioritize getting cash to reinvest in allocation of capital now rather than hanging on to anything to invest the employees or the true quality of their product. A cycle of cheapening
I SAID ITS GREAT TO BE A TENNESSEE VOL!!! WIN LOSE OR DRAW ALL DAMN VOL!!!....
Tennessee fan here....this is the problem with UT fans. We fired Fulmer because we would lose 3-4 games a year and weren't competing for a national championship. There was a very long sad road to get to this point and the base is never content with our situation. Keep in mind, this was Nico's first year as "the guy". Excited to see where he goes from here.
I dont think he's overreacting at all. We are not here for participation trophies. One of the largest fan bases in the entire world of sports and we haven't played for a NC since i had a driver's permit.
Tennessee will never beat Alabama again. Roll Tide!
Tennessee fan here, any Tennessee fan complaining about Huepel is delusional. I’ll take 9-4 or 10-3 every year.
I said after the Tn Osu game nobody.beating osu
Our fans are spoiled idiots, some called for Rick Barnes to be fired after losing one game to Florida. Any time we beat Florida and Alabama, we should be grateful