By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

To say the Tennessee Volunteer football program has struggled recently is being kind. The program is downright awful at the moment.

Tennessee has not won the SEC East since 2007, and have not won an SEC Title since 1998. Since 2007, Florida and Georgia have won the SEC East five times each, Missouri twice, and South Carolina once.

Since 2007, Tennessee has gone through five head football coaches. Jeremy Pruitt was hired in 2018 and fired in 2020 and that experiment was a disaster.

Pruitt was fired for cause due to committing serious NCAA recruiting violations. The NCAA is in a current investigation of the Tennessee. Major NCAA sanctions are looming over the horizon. Nine other coaches and staff were fired as well after the internal investigation.

On the local front former Brunswick High School head football coach Larry Harold was one of the nine terminated after the Tennessee internal investigation.

Rumors of cash being handed out to players and recruits in fast food bags are some of the things you hear being tossed around in connection to the investigation.

Former head coach and AD Philip Fulmer was forced to resign as Athletic Director over the internal investigation and was not allowed to take part in the hiring of Pruitt’s replacement.

I know Tennessee legend Johnny Majors had to be smiling down from heaven on that one after then offensive coordinator Fulmer conspired to have Majors fired as head coach of the Vols back in 1992. Karma has no menu. You get served what you deserve eventually.

Josh Heupel was hired away from Central Florida to clean up the mess of a rotten internal football culture at Tennessee. Heupel will need time to rebuild this program.

The transfer portal has gutted the depth of the program. Hendon Hooker transferred in from Virginia Tech and he and Harrison Bailey look to compete for the starting QB job. Joe Milton also transferred from Michigan and could also compete for the QB job.

Cade Mays leads an offensive line that was brutal in pass protection in 2020. Heupel runs a pass happy offense so pass protection is the key.

On defense the talent at LB transferred. The defensive talent level is lacking. Heupel must develop a defense at Tennessee, which could be a major challenge as his defensive units at UCF ranked among the worst in the nation. Poor defensive play will get you fired in the SEC.

The rebuild at Tennessee won’t be easy at all with Alabama and Georgia recruiting at elite levels and taking top Tennessee high school talent annually. Tennessee must recruit Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia well to return to glory.

It may take a decade after looming NCAA sanctions wear off for Vol fans to get back if ever to the standard they were used to in the 1990’s.

Schedule/My Predictions: Projected Wins: Bowling Green, Tennessee Tech, South Carolina, South Alabama, Vanderbilt.

Projected Losses: Pittsburgh, Florida, Missouri, Ole Miss, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia

Projected record 5-7 and 2-6 in the SEC.

Tennessee football seasons hinge on outcomes of the Alabama, Florida and Georgia games.

Tennessee records against those three this century:

Alabama: 5-16 and currently on a 14-game losing streak.

Florida: 4-17 and a current 4 game losing streak

Georgia: 6-15 and a current 4 game losing streak

Combined: 15-48

Since Tennessee’s last SEC Championship game appearance in 2007 the Vols are 36-70 in SEC play.

Tennessee has gone from one of the best programs in the conference to one of the worst in 13 years.

It’s not going to get better overnight Tennessee fans. The worst still may be yet to come once the NCAA gets finished with you.