Welcome to Tuesday.....Trey Smith comes down today. Here's what I'm thinking on this deal. Some say Bama. Some say Tennessee. Some say Ohio State. If that was your son and you saw the way we are developing O lineman, what would you tell him to do? I hate to put it so succinctly, but this is what it comes down to from my end. Of course he's an in-state kid and his sister works with Butch Jones. So, this is a tough call. If he goes elsewhere, this will be a red flag. If Tennessee gets him it will be purely on loyalty because it won't be on what this staff has done to develop the big uglies up front. Butch’s approach with having two O Line coaches hasn’t worked. UT obviously needs one guy working with the O Line.
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Next up is the Vol Colonel who absolutely wears it on his sleeve. I think I can pull VC back off the ledge. He's pretty much all over Butch Jones at this point.
Vol Colonel
'Hello Life Champions! I hope your Tuesday is off to a great start. Is everybody ready to go bowling a couple of hundred miles down the road in Nashville this year? Can you feel the excitement?
I didn't think so, I don't feel it either. In fact, I don't know when I've ever felt so down about Tennessee Football. I honestly feel worse now than I did during Dooley's final year. Maybe that's because I really had high hopes and they came crashing down the way they did. It was bad enough losing the East over in Columbia, but losing to Vanderbilt and missing out on the Sugar Bowl in the process was just more than this old Volunteer could take. I can't see myself buying back into this coach ever again. I've had it with his stupid slogans and gibberish and I've had it with his ineptitude between the lines on the field!
He can make coaching changes all he wants (and he is), but is that really going to change anything? Let's say we're in a game and we find ourselves down 11 again with two minutes to go on the clock and it's 4th down and he has a crucial decision to make. Is one of his new coaches going to come running down the sideline and tackle him to prevent him from making another bone-head decision? It's just like a car, you can change the frame and give it a brand new look, but if the motor is the same underneath, have you really changed anything?
I've heard some interesting names being tossed around as far as these supposed coaching changes. I'll share with you what I've heard, but I caution you to take this with a grain of salt as these are only rumored changes right now. I can't confirm these moves. I've heard DeBord is either going to retire or take a job in Football Operations and Mark Helfrich is coming in to be OC. I've heard Willie Martinez is out and Bob Shoop will be the one to name his replacement. I've also heard a strength and conditioning coach could be coming in from the NFL ranks. Now, like I said, do not take that as the gospel because this is a fluid situation and I can't confirm these moves. I will say, I didn't hear this from just some Joe Blow off of the street.
I just don't see how things change that much when you still have Butch Jones making crucial decisions. I think you also have to wonder if Jones can motivate. He's always so uptight and coaches uptight, that I think it's really hard for our guys to play loose. Let's face it, most of time when you see Coach Jones roaming the sidelines, his face is as red as a Grainger County Tomato in mid-August. The guy looks like he's about to stroke out!
Here's another thing, does this guy even know what's expected here? To hear Butch tell it, we should all be happy getting to go bowling 3 years in a row. What's the message Jones conveys to the players? LaTroy Lewis said a couple of things at yesterdays presser that really have me concerned. Lewis said "the season was definitely not a disappointment" he then went on to say "we feel like the expectations that matter the most are the ones within the locker room"
I was absolutely floored by the statements Lewis made. Of course when you have a coach who brings up being Champions of Life, I guess I shouldn't be shocked. These kids only follow the lead of their coach. What LaTroy said makes me want to throw up. That sounds like something right out of the Participation Trophy Handbook!
I really wish that I could find a silver lining or some hope for the future, but I can't. I just don't see how this coach ever makes it here. Win or lose in the Music City Bowl against Nebraska, Butch Jones is going to start the 2017 season on one of the hottest seats in the nation. Hell, he's on the hot seat now, even though nobody is firing him this year and we all know once your fanny gets on that seat, it's not coming off. Jones has lost a big portion of this fan base and it's never coming back. I promise you, I'm never getting back in this guy's corner. I've had enough, I've seen enough and I've certainly heard enough out of his mouth for ten lifetimes!
In closing today, I want to say that was a good job by the Basketball Vols taking Georgia Tech out behind the barn, Saturday. These guys play with some real grit and attitude. I'll give Rick Barnes his due, this team looks like they're coached very well. If he would just get off of his rear end on the recruiting front this could be a beautiful thing he's got going here. It really sucked seeing our #1 target Isaiah Stokes signing with Florida, but this is what happens when the first time you meet Coach Barnes was when you came in on a visit. I do believe if that was my #1 target, I would have paid him a visit before he visited campus. That's something Derek Dooley would do. C'mon Coach Barnes, we want to love you, man!
Poor Holly, you just can't cut the muster, can you?
Last thing and I'm out, Big Offensive Lineman Trey Smith makes his college decision today. I sure hope for everyone's sanity that he signs here!
I hope all of you go 1-0 today and Go Big Orange!
Your Vol Colonel'
VC....I LOVE your passion. I think you'll come back around on Butch Jones. What if? What if Gurantano is as good as I think he can be? What if the Vols make Atlanta next year? Don't go all in or all out. It's too early for that my man. On Rick Barnes...I love the Stokes story. I heard the exact same thing. That's some classic lazy recruiting going on and you're right about Barnes and his staff. They've done a really nice job here whistle to whistle in games. And Holly. If she can make it until that #1 recruiting class gets here, she should be fine. Everybody really likes her but she's just not much of a head coach to this point.
Ward here in T Mail is saying exactly what I've been thinking for the past couple of weeks. We're going to have to clear the air here and talk this out. I plan on doing this today on the air.
1. I like many/most am disappointed in how the season turned out on the whole.
2. I like fewer than most, savor the victories over UF and UGA much more than worry about the losses.
3. Butch makes more than he should...as does almost every single person in every single major sport college and pro. Butch is paid what the market bears, so I do not judge him based on that, nor should anyone else, in my opinion.
4. Our minuscule turnover and penalty season of a year ago flipped drastically this year and was the difference in 3 of our losses. Veteran players made those physical and mental mistakes in the heat of battle, they were not game plan or game management coaching decisions.
5. We howled for a new DC, we did a happy dance when Shoop was hired and all the national pundits said "Bravo! Great hire"...don't bash Butch for doing exactly what we wanted him to do. He swung for the fence and missed...I hate 20/20 vision from Monday morning QBs, I know you have owned this fact, but many are not.
6. Injuries of 2016 magnitude are a factor /reason for our record. If your car broke down on the way to the remote, and then your equipment did not work, and your show sucked because you did it from your cell phone for a week; you would comment about it 712 times...and we'd give you grace because it was a fact. Losing 3 DT, 2 LBs, and your best corner for most of the year...O linemen, RBs...whatever, the pain of losing games we wanted to win blinds our reason.
7. No one has worked harder or cared more about winning and building our program in 18 years. Since we walked off the field in Tempe with the title, Butch has worked harder and cared more than any other man...and it would be VERY VERY HARD, to find someone to come in and work harder or care more.
8. Coaches and players do not care about fans. Fans are fickle...they Pat you on the back one day and kick you in the butt the next. They boo you at halftime and hug you after the game. Real coaches and players know this. They may say the right things to the media, but they care about their team, their family, their goals. They work harder to win than we know and it hurts them more than us when they lose. Anyone who does not believe or understand this has never been a part of a real team with a real coach.
I want to win every game...and i want to support my team win or lose.
The forest of living in Knoxville can get in the way of the trees.
Go Big Orange
Ward'
Ward:
I think you make a lot of good points here. Of course I don't agree with everything you say but I'll tell you this, I'm about to wipe the slate clean with Butch Jones. It's kind of like being in a friendship with a friend that hurts you....You have to forgive and look past things. The point on Butch Jones is this....He MUST GET TO ATLANTA NEXT YEAR if he wants a sixth season. It's that simple. In the interim, hating on him only makes us miserable and it's counterproductive for all involved. Beano put it well when he said, "We ain't beatin' no drum for this guy's dismissal." Who wants to live like that? Count me out on that stuff.
Beano said it: "I'm not cheering for Yankee Bama in the playoff. Sorry but I'll cheer for Bama over Yankee Bama." On the inevitable Bama/Ohio State Championship Game.
Doc Rudder Said It: "Bama will lose either in the semi final or the National Title Game." To which I replied, "I will give you 17 points in either game for $100." Nobody is touching Alabama.
Tomorrow at Tonybasilio.com....A preview from Huskerextra.com's Brian Chistopherson. Also, I'll have a Butch Jones Peace Pledge along with 'X' on Trey Smith!
Tony B
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Friday night’s Iowa-UConn Final Four game had 14.2 million viewers. That’s more than any women’s college basketball game, ever. More than every 2023 NBA Finals game and more than every 2023 World Series game. ESPN has had the rights to NBA games since 2002. But the Final Four game between Iowa and UConn was the networks most-watched basketball game, men’s or women’s, pro or collegiate EVER.... [more]
Friday night’s Iowa-UConn Final Four game had 14.2 million viewers. That’s more than any women’s college basketball game, ever. More than every 2023 NBA Finals game and more than every 2023 World Series game. ESPN has had the rights to NBA games since 2002. But the Final Four game between Iowa and UConn was the networks most-watched basketball game, men’s or women’s, pro or collegiate EVER.... [more]
The Vols did what they were expected to do against UConn. There's not really much to say about that game. The game this Saturday in Columbia, Missouri will decide whether or not this season is a failure in my opinion. If they Vols lose, they are staring at 8-4 and probably the Gator Bowl. Maybe Reliaquest..... [more]
The Vols are coming back to Neyland Stadium and I am returning after a discretionary bye week. I'll be honest with you. This year it seems like I've been writing the same preview over and over because the formula to win has been the same pretty much every SEC game. I didn't want to sound like a broken record so I needed a bit of a break from that.
I'll start with some general observations..... [more]
FISH Hospitality Pantries (a.k.a. Hospitality Pantries, Inc.) operates four pantries
in East, South, Northwest and West Knoxville. They currently provide food to approximately 8,000 families every month.
FISH focuses on what more can be done to help ensure that everyone gets enough to eat.
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