(06-04-2020 01:08 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 12:38 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(06-04-2020 10:46 AM)Soobahk40050 Wrote:  I'm a TN fan so I'm biased, but I do think we have a shot. The problem is:
1. Will the university get out of its own way (ala the Schiano/coaching search mess).
2. We have more championship winning schools to overcome in our conference schedule than most (Alabama every year, if we were to win the east, twice, LSU/Auburn, and then Georgia and Florida. That is 8 of the past 20 championship. This year we don't play LSU or Auburn, but we do play OK. So we probably have the toughest path back to a natty.

If the biggest obstacle in the past decade was disastrous hiring processes, then that means your overall program has a legit shot.

Consider: schools like Nebraska and Texas have had great hiring processes, but they haven't come close in the last 10 years. North Carolina, Mississippi State, and Iowa have had great coaches, and they haven't come close.


As for your second point... a tough annual schedule hasn't stopped Alabama, Auburn, LSU, or Florida. Or Ohio State and Oklahoma, who play 9 conference games.

Everyone talks about LSU's historically strong 2019 schedule. But Ohio State plays Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State every year. Last year they also had to beat a top-10 Wisconsin team twice and two 11-win teams out of conference.

To clarify, I think that TN's issues are more systemic than just the hiring process. Yes, Kiffin left us in a bind and we had to grasp at straws to get Dooley, but I actually thought Jones was a decent get. Pruitt seems to be a solid coach (loss to Georgia St. aside), and so the issue is not the coaching hire itself, but the circumstances that led to that hire, and the public manner in which it played out.

And I guess what I am saying about strength of schedule is that TN would be more like those Wisconsin and Penn St teams. They have a great team and are true contenders, but having to get through the elites like Ohio St. makes it tough.

Though our recruiting numbers above show that we should be contenders.

Jones was a horrible hire for Tennessee from the start.

Cincinnati fans knew him as a good motivational speaker who does things the Right Way, but the the definition of mediocre at coaching football.

Just look at who else tried to hire Jones - he did a whirlwind tour of Colorado, Purdue, and Tennessee. Are those Tennessee's peers? Wisconsin & Auburn also had openings that year, but they had no interest in Jones. Arkansas & NC State had the home-run hires that year (although Arkansas looked bad in hindsight, it was widely looked on as a coup when the took Bielema from Wisconsin).

I think if Jones had accepted the Purdue job instead of Tennessee, he'd have averaged 6-8 wins a year and he'd still be there today. Purdue (like Cincinnati) places just as much value on having upstanding citizens as winning conference championships. But 6-8 wins at Tennessee gets you fired, and there's no bonus points for following the rules.