Realistic Expectations? Unrealistic for a Few
By Mark Nagi
Tennessee will not be in the College Football Playoff this season. In fact, they might finish 7-5, closing with losses to Florida and (gulp) Vanderbilt.
And even if that does indeed happen… the sky is not falling in Knoxville.
I’m no longer amazed by the irrational nature of some fans. Following the Vols’ loss to Oklahoma, a few took to social media to call for the job of head coach Josh Heupel.
These yellers were in the minority, of course. But it’s funny how the yellers get their voices heard the most.
My only assumption is that the people who want Tennessee’s football program to clean house have chosen to forget about everything related to the Vols between mid-2008 and early 2021.
I can help because I lived it, as did many of you, I’m sure. From Lane Kiffin’s midnight run to Derek Dooley’s incompetence to Butch Jones’s ego to Schiano Sunday to Jeremy Pruitt’s asparagus, Tennessee’s football program was the dumpsteriest of dumpster fires. They were a laughingstock, didn’t win many big games, and sat in college football purgatory.
Back then, you’d tell stories of the triumphs of Peyton Manning, Tee Martin and Al Wilson, all while knowing that the Vols were not even in the same stratosphere of those halcyon days of the 1990s. Back then, Neyland Stadium would get taken over by opposing fans from Alabama and Georgia, who made the trip to Knoxville knowing that a victory for their teams was almost always assured.
Those were the dark times.
Since Heupel took over, Tennessee is 43-18. They’ve won three bowl games, made it to the College Football Playoff, and turned Neyland into a fortress once again. They’ve beaten two of their biggest rivals, Florida and Alabama, multiple times since 2022. Yes, the paint peeled a bit due to the Sooner loss, but the Vols are at the very least back in the national conversation.
And when Tennessee was in the middle of its “Decade of Dysfunction” (trademark, me), Tennessee fans would have given up Christmas just to be in that national conversation.
Fortunately, it appears that as the week following the OU loss dragged on, the voices of reason took more of a front seat. Tennessee had to replace its starting quarterback AFTER spring football. They replaced just about their entire offensive line. Their secondary lost its two best players due to injury. This was going to be a tough season, but the solid start got everybody hoping for bigger things.
One person I follow on Twitter put it perfectly when it comes to the belief that Tennessee’s fan base was in full revolt saying (paraphrasing here) that when #VolTwitter was wanting a change at the top… you’d know about it.
That’s the fan base that pushed Derek Dooley and Butch Jones out the door, and stopped the Greg Schiano hire dead in its tracks. What you are hearing now are the disgruntled rants of an angry few.
Try to enjoy the rest of the college football season. We are only guaranteed 12 of those games a year, so make them count.
