Tennessee Volunteers

Dumpster fire

By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

As you look around the Southern college football landscape you see the Alabama, Clemson, Florida, and Georgia’s of the world playing a very good brand of football, but you can also look around and see some programs not performing very well.

We have a few programs in our geographical region that currently look like dumpster fires. Let’s take a look at my top five programs that have fallen on hard times.

 

  1. Georgia Tech: The Jackets were number one on this list two years ago. Now they are about remove themselves from lists like this. Georgia Tech is doing the right things to not be included on lists like this much longer.

Teams 1-4 on this list need to follow the Jacket blueprint. The Jackets land here as a motivational tool for 2021.

 

  1. Florida State: My how the mighty have fallen. This once proud football program has sunk to an all-time low.

Gone are the days of ruling the ACC with an iron fist, and now we see FSU backing out of playing home games against Clemson and using Covid-19 as an excuse after Clemson had already made the trip.

FSU used to be a recruiting machine and now they fight Georgia Southern and South Alabama for 3-star athletes.

FSU will be back eventually but how in the hell should a program of this magnitude ever appear on a list like this?  It cost Clemson $250K to travel to Tallahassee for a pre-game meal, but they got to see a top five dumpster fire in person.

 

  1. South Carolina: Are you starting to see a pattern of the SEC East yet?

South Carolina is a State with good high school football, Columbia is 80 miles from Charlotte and less than 3 hours from Atlanta. The recruiting base is there.

South Carolina’s biggest problem is that they are Clemson’s little brother and they can’t shake that label.

You mention that to the fan base and they get fighting mad. How can Clemson be so good and South Carolina be so bad currently? I just don’t get it and many football observers in the south don’t either.

Will Shane Beamer fix this dumpster fire?

 

  1. Vanderbilt: Vandy has never been very good in football. We all understand that the academic prestige of Vanderbilt presents some competitive challenges for this fine University.

Derek Mason has been fired and been replaced by Clark Lea from Notre Dame.

Vandy needs to get back to work of becoming a competitive football team. The Commodores did not win a football game in 2020, and decided they were just not going to show up and play Georgia in their final game of the season. That mentality alone has to go and makes Vandy a dumpster fire.

 

  1. Tennessee: How did we get here Vol fans? You are the biggest dumpster fire in college football currently. A ten-year-old boy and Tennessee fan asked his father “What is it like to beat Alabama dad?” Dad answered “I don’t know son we are Vol fans.”

Tennessee just suffered through the worst decade of football in its proud history. Six head coaches in 12 years.

Now apparently Tennessee has as many as 30 level 1 and level 2 major recruiting violations. Rumors of giving away cash in McDonald’s bags and so on.

Due to NCAA sanctions forthcoming it may be 2025-26 until Tennessee has a full complement of scholarships to offer (they could lose up to 30 over next 4 years).

This program is about to be on life support. Tennessee is having a mass exodus via the transfer portal.

Memphis is the best college football program in the State of Tennessee right now.

Damn, just damn, Big Orange nation you are the biggest dumpster fire in all of college football.

Disney Or Six Flags?

By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Since John Calipari arrived in Lexington almost twelve years ago, Kentucky has dominated the SEC.

Over that period of time, in conference play, the Wildcats have won six regular season and conference tournament titles, while finishing in either first or second place in every season but one.

Kentucky has essentially been operating at the level of Disney and the rest of the SEC has been Six Flags.

Still, even when you’ve been as dominant as the Wildcats have been there is usually a season mixed in there somewhere, when other teams are able to get their shots in- last year’s UNC season comes to mind.

Could this be the year the tables are turned?

The one team that automatically comes to mind that’s in the best position is Tennessee.

The Vols are probably the league’s most completely team, with a nice mix of experience, talent, and coaching.

They have played the second toughest schedule of anyone in the SEC (Kentucky’s has been the most difficult, by far) and they have been the most impressive doing it.

The only thing I worry about, and I realize I’m contradicting myself a bit here, is I just don’t trust Rick Barnes.

Yes, I think he’s a good coach, his teams just tend to fall short when they’re the leaders. In a weird way I would actually feel better about their chances if Kentucky were playing at a higher level.

Teams like Arkansas, Missouri, Auburn, and LSU could certainly let wind up at the top of conference if Tennessee were to falter, but there are still too many questions about each for me to feel comfortable separating any one of those from the pack.

I think some of the other teams (Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M) will certainly have a shot at some upset wins, I just don’t think they’ll be able to compete for a shot at the top spot.

Florida is the one wild card in this whole thing. After witnessing Keyontae Johnson collapse on the court and then the aftermath of that event, you can’t predict how they’re going to react.

And just to be clear, these are a bunch of teenage kids who saw a teammate and friend collapse in front of them, so however they respond on the court is really inconsequential.

Of course, this topic is only relevant because Kentucky is off to their worst start in over a hundred years. An optimistic fan will argue the team has played the most difficult schedule in the country and their young players will mature and grow over the course of the season.

Everyone else will counter with the fact Kentucky still lost those games and those young players have more than likely never faced this kind adversity that is currently staring them in the face.

We should have a good idea who may be on the right path after the first few games, since Kentucky begins their conference schedule against some of the league’s weaker teams.

Even though we knew this season was going to be different for all the obvious reasons, I think most still felt like Kentucky was the team to beat and most everyone else was playing for second place.

With Kentucky’s early struggles it feels as if a number of teams have an opportunity to feel what it’s like to be the top dog.

Don’t get me wrong, going to Six Flags can be great, but it’s Disney that most everyone is after.

I Will Take My Talents To…

By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

With the Early Signing Period in the rearview mirror and bowl season over, the last big day for college football before spring practice is National Signing Day.

With many of the top recruits from the 2020 class already signed, who is left for the top programs to pick up on Wednesday, February 5th?

Five Star Running Back Zack Evans is the number 1 running back in the class of 2020.

By far the wildest recruitment of the 2020 cycle. Evans signed a LOI (Letter of Intent) with the Georgia Bulldogs back in December, got cold feet, and asked to be released from his LOI.

Georgia obliged and now Evans is back on the market as an extremely talented athlete with some off the field issues.

This recruitment still seems very cloudy through, as Evans has left a lot of coaches guessing. This is shaping up to be a Tennessee, Ole Miss and Georgia battle. Alabama, Florida and LSU have rescinded their offers over the past few weeks.  My Pick: Georgia

Four Star Safety Avantae Williams backed off his early commitment to the Oregon Ducks back in December.

Williams is the 9th ranked safety in the 2020 class.

He is a hard-hitting safety that can cover a lot of ground. Williams’ recruitment is a battle between Miami, Florida and Georgia. My Pick: Florida

Four Star Offensive Lineman Sedrick Van Pran has been committed to Georgia since August.

Van Pran has taken official visits to Alabama and is scheduled to be at Florida this weekend.

With the departure of former Offensive Line coach San Pittman, Van Pran seems to have opened up his recruitment. It would be shocking if Van Pran is not a Bulldog come National Signing Day. My Pick: Georgia

Four Star Running Back Jahmyr Gibbs has been committed to Georgia Tech since May.

After a very strong senior season, Gibbs has received offers from Ohio State, LSU, Georgia and Florida.

While Florida and Ohio State have put on the full court press, Gibbs will stay firm to his commitment. My Pick: Georgia Tech 

Four Star Athlete Damarcus Beckwood has hopes of playing college football and basketball.

The 6-foot-4, 220 pounder is a versatile weapon on offense playing both wide receiver and tight end in high school.  This is a battle between Tennessee and Florida. My Pick: Florida 

February 5th marks the final day of the 2020 recruiting cycle. National Signing Day will still be important as there are a couple highly touted 2020 high school prospects that remain uncommitted.

And there will always be the few flipped prospects that make headlines on National Signing Day.

Since Dan Mullen’s time at Florida, the Gators have used the transfer portal to pluck talented players. The Gators have landed four star Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes in Mullen’s first year at Florida.

Last season, the Gators landed five-star defensive end, Brenton Cox.

This season is much different, the Gators signed a pair of five stars in running back Lorenzo Lingard and wide receiver Justin Shorter. Both players have applied for waivers with the NCAA.

Kirby Smart used the portal to add quarterback Jamie Newman. Newman has one season of eligibility and should be the front runner for QB1 for the Bulldogs.

Can Newman do what Joe Burrow did for LSU?

SEC Best Basketball Conference In The Country

By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

For years the SEC has been known as a football conference, and with good reason.

The start of the basketball season was just viewed as the beginning of the countdown until spring football games; each passing game meant fans were just one day closer to the start of the gridiron season.

Over the past few years SEC basketball has slowly crept up the rung of high powered basketball conferences. With four teams participating in this year’s Sweet Sixteen, they may have finally arrived.

I’ve joked in the past how outside of John Calipari the rest of the SEC had basically become the “Land of Misfit Coaches”. Names like Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl, Tom Crean, and Ben Howland; all on their own personal reclamation journeys after being dismissed from more prestigious jobs.

While it’s still too early in Crean’s tenure at Georgia, the other hires have undoubtedly exceeded expectations. Throw in other coaches like Kermit Davis and Mike White, and suddenly the SEC coaching tree is as strong as any in the country.

(Up until a few weeks ago I would’ve included Will Wade on that list with Davis and White. I do think Wade is a good coach, but I’d be shocked if he coaches another game for LSU.)

The conferences strong showing in this year’s tournament, and the increasing possibility of having at least one Final Four team, can only bolster their upward projection.

Barnes’ Volunteers did their best to help run his consecutive tournament appearances without a trip to the Sweet Sixteen to eight, but low and behold they were able to break the streak. Now, they are probably the favorite to come out their region.

North Carolina is still the favorite to come out of the Midwest, but Auburn is as dangerous as any remaining team with their ability to stretch the floor and propensity for hitting the three.

Kentucky will need PJ Washington back in order for them to have any legitimate shot of beating Houston, and either UNC or Auburn. Still, that doesn’t mean the Wildcats will be a pushover.

And as a Duke fan, if the Blue Devils are lucky enough to get past Virginia Tech, I do not want any part of LSU. The Tigers, along with Tennessee, have arguably been the best team in the SEC this season.

My only concern for LSU entering the tournament was how they would handle all the off court distractions. After two good, but not overly impressive wins, I’m not sure they’ve quite answered that question yet. However, they are long, athletic, and talented enough to beat any one of the other remaining teams.

There was a four to five year span where SEC basketball consisted of Kentucky, and that was about it. The remainder of the league basically took turns at mediocrity, with the occasional surprise tournament run.

The SEC is still viewed as a step below conferences like the ACC and Big Ten when it comes to all around talent and depth, but they’ve made up a lot of ground in a short period of time.

The league may be full of coaches on their second or third chances, but they have all but turned the corner on being “reclamation projects”.

Basketball will never be as big as football in SEC country, but with some consistency and a few deep tournament runs, those three to four months may be actually be referred to as “basketball season” and not just “football’s offseason”.

The SEC Tournament

By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Most people associate March Madness with the start of the NCAA Tournament, but for most teams the madness begins the week prior, with the conference tournaments.

You’ve got some teams whose only shot at making the big dance is by winning their conference championship. Then you have those lovely “bubble teams” that need to have an impressive showing to help sway the committee to include them. And finally, you have those teams that are safely in, but can improve their seeding with a few conference tournament wins. The SEC Tournament runs the whole gamut this year.

There are seven SEC teams entering the start of the conference tournament that need to win the whole thing in order to hear their name called on Selection Sunday.

Out of those seven teams- South Carolina and the bottom six in the standings- if I had to pick one that could possibly make a run, I’d probably go with South Carolina. Not that I think they will do it, but if I had to choose a Jim Carrey “So you’re saying there’s a chance” team, it would be the Gamecocks.

The bubble teams get a little more interesting. Most bracketologists have Florida in, but I just don’t see it. Outside of their win against LSU, they don’t have another Top 25 win while having a few questionable losses.

They also have a worse conference record, and only more win, than a South Carolina team that beat the Gators in their only matchup, but isn’t even being considered to be a tournament team.

Ole Miss, and I guess to an extent, Auburn, are the other two that seem to be on the fringe. I think both of those have proven enough that even a first game exit shouldn’t prevent them from making the tournament. That said, getting a conference tournament win would solidify things a little more, especially for the team from Oxford.

Out of the “locks” Tennessee and Kentucky are playing for a possible one seed, but LSU is the team that intrigues me. With Will Wade’s indefinite suspension for what equates to a seven year old telling his teacher he isn’t chewing gum only to have the gum fly out of his mouth, how will the Tigers adjust?

They are deserving of a two seed, regardless of how they perform in the SEC tournament, but if they lose their first game would the committee downgrade them to a three seed?

The committee has shown in the past they do take player injuries and player availability into consideration when seeding; it’s not beyond the realm of possibility they could do the same thing if a team’s coach has been suspended due to recruiting violations.

As for that one seed battle between Kentucky and Tennessee, I think it depends on how Duke performs in the ACC tournament.

Gonzaga, Virginia, and UNC are all but guaranteed a one seed; if the Blue Devils were to win the ACC with a healthy Zion, I don’t think you can keep them from a one seed, either. If not, it’ll be between the Volunteers and Wildcats for that final coveted spot.

The casual fan won’t start tuning in until next week, which is a shame. For many teams their NCAA tournament has begun.

The buzzer beaters, the joy, the tears, all those things are already taking place in conference tournaments. March madness is here. Let the fun begin.

The Big Boys Play Here

By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The 2018 National Signing Day was earlier in the month. Now we know how each of your favorite teams did. Let’s look at the SEC recruiting classes. There are 9 SEC Schools with top 20 recruiting classes.

Surprisingly, Georgia tops the list. The Bulldogs almost won their first national title since 1980 and that success on the field is translating in recruiting. Out of the 26 recruits signed there are seven 5 stars and fifteen 4 stars.

Quarterback Justin Fields headlines the class. He was the #2 overall recruit in the nation and he’s a dynamic dual threat.

Fields is 6’3, 221 pounds and I expect him to gain another 10 pounds once he arrives in Athens. He will be sitting behind Jake Fromm for at least the next two years but we will see how that plays out.

UGA is becoming Running Back U over the past decade, so of course they signed another stud in Zamir White. He was the top ranked RB in the country and #9 national recruit. I expect him to step on campus and rush for a thousand yards immediately.

Alabama’s class was ranked 6th which is the worst it’s been since Nick Saban’s first year in 2007. The Crimson Tide are coming off of another national championship but I think their nervous about Georgia’s success. Bama only signed 19 recruits, two 5 stars, twelve 4 stars and five 3 stars.

They struggled on defense the last two years and they heavily addressed the defensive line. Eyabi Anoma is the 4th ranked national recruit and #1 defensive end.

Stephon Wynn also signed and he’s the 3rd ranked defensive end. The pass rush should be lethal in Tuscaloosa for the next few years.

The other five-star recruit is the best cornerback, Patrick Surtain Jr. If you recall his father played in the NFL, most notably for the Miami Dolphins. Clearly, Surtain Jr. has the pedigree to be successful.

Auburn’s class is ranked 12th but they don’t have any 5 star recruits.

They have sixteen 4 stars and eight 3 stars. Auburn is an interesting program because they have trouble sustaining a high level of success on the field. The Tigers normally have a breakout season every 4-5 years. Maybe this class will provide stability and help them build on their 2017 season.

One notable signee is defensive tackle Daquan Newkirk from East Mississippi Community College. If you watch Last Chance U then you’re familiar with that program.

Newkirk originally was in the Tigers 2016 class but his academic status forced him to go to community college. At 6’3, 282 pounds and two years of playing experience I expect him to be a key contributor in 2018.

“[Auburn’s commitment was] very important because through my journey a lot of schools turned their back but Auburn didn’t. That’s very special to me,” Newkirk said. “As you can tell no one really knows about me. Every time I got offered by a big school I didn’t post it on Twitter. I was just a humble guy throughout my whole process.”

Florida is ranked 14th which is impressive considering they did not hire new head coach Dan Mullen until November 26, 2017.

They signed several four-star recruits on offense, which has been weak for several years. Some of the signees are receivers Jacob Copeland, Justin Watkins, running back Dameon Pierce and tight end Kyle Pitts.

LSU is ranked 15th, Texas A&M 17th, South Carolina 19th and Tennessee 20th. That means we can expect to see some very good games over the next 3-4 years.

 

 

SEC Hardwood

By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

We’re starting to get close to conference play in college basketball.

The SEC is the deepest it has been in years. There are currently four teams ranked in the top 25 and at least two more that may join them. I’m going to take a look at these teams.

#8 Kentucky: The Wildcats (8-1) have the same story year after year. They’ve been the gold standard in the conference since the 1920’s. Ever since coach John Calipari came to Lexington in 2009 they’ve been the poster child for the ‘one and done’ players. They reload every season with a top 5 recruiting class and this year is no different.

The 2017 recruiting class was ranked second in the nation with six 5 star recruits. The only loss was to #12 Kansas by four points. The next three games are against Virginia Tech, UCLA and in-state rival Louisville.

SEC play begins December 31st at home against Georgia. I expect Kentucky to be the best team in the SEC again. They should make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.

#9 Texas A&M: The Aggies (8-1) are off to their best start since the 2006-07 season.

They have some pretty impressive wins thus far. They beat #11 West Virginia 88-65 and #10 USC 75-59.

The only loss was against Arizona by three points. The Wildcats were ranked in the top five earlier in the season. They begin conference play Dec. 30th at Alabama.

The remaining non-conference games are easy wins against Savannah State, Northern Kentucky and Buffalo. A&M should be the best team in the SEC West.

#20 Tennessee: The Vols (7-1) had a well-documented awful football season. Fans in Knoxville need something to cheer about so it’s good to see the basketball team playing well. They beat #17 Purdue in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

The lone loss came against top ranked Villanova. Other than those two games the schedule has been pretty weak. They’ve played Mercer, Clemson, High Point and Presbyterian to name a few.

I think they may not be as good as the schedule suggests. We will get an idea of how good they really are when they play #7 North Carolina at home Sunday December 17th. I expect them to lose that game but they should handle Furman and Wake Forest. Then the Vols will play at Arkansas to open conference play.

#22 Florida: The Gators (6-3) were ranked as high as fifth before going on a three game losing streak. It’s hard to tell if they were overrated or just inconsistent. Their best win is against #12 Gonzaga.

They lost to #4 Duke by three points, which is respectable. But they followed that with loses to Florida State and Loyola Chicago.

They snapped the losing streak by beating Cincinnati. We won’t learn much about them before SEC play begins because they play Clemson, James Madison and Incarnate Word. I’m curious to see how Florida will develop as the season progresses.

There are a few teams right outside of being ranked in the top 25. They are: Arkansas (7-2), Miss State (8-0) and Mizzou (8-2). Missouri signed the #2 recruit in the 2017 class; 6’10 forward Michael Porter Jr.

Alabama (6-3) signed the #7 recruit in the 2017 class, guard Collin Sexton. The Crimson Tide lost to #14 Minnesota by five points. They played with three players, which makes that more impressive. Teams like that with future lottery picks are dangerous because they have a chance to beat anybody.

Making The Grade In The SEC

By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The regular season is over in the SEC for the 2017 football season. Nine SEC teams are going to bowl games, and two are going into the college football playoff.

Overall Conference grade: C

Ole Miss tried to cheat their way to a title and big 6 members Florida and Tennessee are dumpster fires is ultimately what kept this grade from being higher.

For the first time in the new playoff format two teams from same conference, Alabama and Georgia made the final four while the Big 10 and PAC 12 champions got passed over.

Individual Team Grades:

Alabama: B+. The loss at Auburn kept the Tide out of the SEC title game but sitting at 11-1 Alabama will play Clemson in the Sugar Bowl in a national semifinal game.

The LB corps have been decimated by injuries, and Jalen Hurts needs to throw the ball better. Nick Saban is still the best coach in football.

Arkansas: D-. Bret got fired and the Hogs looked awful for most of the season. No bowl and a 1-7 record in the conference and 4-8 overall. Enter Chad Morris to fix this mess.

Auburn: B+. The Tigers beat two number one teams Georgia and Alabama at home in November, but blew a 20-point lead at LSU who lost to Troy.

Kerryon Johnson was the SEC Offensive player of the year and the defense played well all season. The blowout loss to UGA in the SEC Title game kept this from being an A grade.

Florida: F. Worst Florida team I have seen since the late 70’s. The offense was offensive with no QB play and this team mailed it in after the LSU game. Dan Mullen has been hired to fix this huge mess. Mullen has to change the culture in Gainesville.

Georgia: A. 2017 SEC Champions. Roquan Smith is SEC Defensive Player of the year, Kirby is SEC Coach of the year, and Jake Fromm is SEC Freshman of the year. In year two Kirby has won a title and gotten a Rose Bowl against Oklahoma in National Semifinal on NYD. Could be a really special year in Athens.

Kentucky: B. A seven win football season in Lexington does not come often. The Music City Bowl game against Northwestern upcoming. Nice season for the Cats.

LSU: B-. A loss to Troy and getting blown out in Starkville won’t cut it in Red Stick but the season turned with the Auburn win and the Tigers outplayed Alabama everywhere but the scoreboard in Tuscaloosa.

A win over Notre Dame in Citrus Bowl would get the Tigers to 10 wins and set them up for an SEC title run in 2018.

Mississippi State: B: Nice season in Starkville. The loss to Ole Miss was a fluke with the Nick Fitzgerald injury 5 minutes into the ball game.

Missouri: B. Most improved team in the SEC in the last half of the season and a Bowl game against Texas. Drew Lock throws the best deep ball in the league.

Ole Miss: F. Matt Luke will clean up that stinking cheating culture in Oxford.

South Carolina: B+. I like where Coach Muschamp is taking this program. The Gamecocks will beat Michigan in the Outback Bowl to get to 9 wins.

Tennessee: F-. 0-8 in the SEC and it has taken almost a month to find a coach. This program has hit rock bottom. May take 3-4 years to recover from this train wreck. Phil Fulmer is on the job as AD now and that is good unless Steve Spurrier takes an AD job in the conference. Spurrier owns Fulmer.

Texas A&M: C. Kevin Sumlin got fired with a 51-26 record in College Station. Enter Jimbo Fisher at a price tag of $75 million.

Vanderbilt: C. About what I expect from Vandy. Derek Mason is a very good coach who deserves a better opportunity to win at a bigger program.

What if we have a Bama/UGA national title game? The national media will want to blow up this current playoff format.

I Don’t Look Good In Orange

By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Last week Tennessee completely botched hiring a new football coach. As you recall they announced they were hiring Greg Schiano. He’s currently Ohio State’s defensive coordinator.

He’s best known for being the head coach at Rutgers and Tampa Bay. There was massive backlash from the fan base. From comments on social media to protests on campus, Vol fans expressed that they were not happy with that move.

This led Athletic Director John Currie to be fired by the University of Tennessee. He just started his AD position April 1, 2017. Currie also courted Oklahoma State’s Mike Leach, NC State’s Dave Doeren, Duke’s David Cutcliffe and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm. They also were interested in Dan Mullen but he accepted the job at Florida.

Now they had to hit the reset button. They hired their legendary former coach Phillip Fulmer as the new AD. That was a great move. Fulmer coached at UT from 1992 – 2008, compiling a 152-52 record. He also won the inaugural BCS National Championship in 1998. It’s interesting to see how things come full circle because Fulmer was forced out of Knoxville in 2008. Since then the program has not had any stability.

Things are so bad that fans actually want Lane Kiffin back. Kiffin was hired to replace Fulmer and he went 7-6 in 2009, his lone season in Knoxville. He bolted for USC in January 2010, which obviously upset many students and fans. He’s currently trolling Tennessee about the vacant coaching position.

I’ve had to wonder with everything going on, is this considered a good job to have? The Vols are coming off a 4-8 season and they went winless (0-8) in conference play. Honestly, in the right circumstances this can be a top 25 job if the fans can have realistic expectations. That’s a stretch with any SEC fan base outside of Vanderbilt and Kentucky though.

I have a few reasons that this can be a good position. The first thing is the recruiting base. Just proximity to Georgia, Florida, Alabama and the Carolinas mean they can attract talented recruits.

Also, the SEC East is pretty weak so a quick turnaround is very possible. Other than Georgia, the rest of the division is struggling. I expect Florida to get better but they also have a new head coach so it will take a couple of years for them to get better.

Unfortunately, the opponent from the SEC West that they play each year is Alabama. They haven’t beaten the Crimson Tide since 2006.

Next year they also play Auburn. If the Tigers are as good or better in 2018 that will more than likely be a blowout loss.

I do think they should realistically win seven games next season. The wins should come against ETSU, UTEP, South Carolina, Charlotte, Vanderbilt, Mizzou and Kentucky. The two games that can go either way are West Virginia and Florida.

There are a few names that are being considered for the job. Former LSU coach Les Miles might be a good candidate. He has experience coaching in the conference and recruiting in the South.

In his twelve seasons in Baton Rouge he went 114-34, winning two SEC Championships and a BCS National Championship in 2007.

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and SMU head coach Chad Morris are also in the mix.

I think they all have obvious strengths and weaknesses but I don’t see them as bad candidates. At this point Tennessee needs to hire a coach so they can try to salvage their recruiting class.

 

Bye Bye Butch?

By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

It’s difficult in sports and just life in general, to temper your excitement or to realize the world isn’t going to come to an end based off of a singular event.

It’s like listening to “Baby Got Back” and announcing that Sir Mix-A-Lot is the greatest rapper to ever walk the face of the earth, without listening to everything else he’s done. Or in the case of Tennessee head coach Butch Jones, it’s like judging Adam Sandler’s career off “Jack & Jill” but not giving him credit for “Happy Gilmore”.

It’s easy right now to pile onto Jones and to argue that he deserves to be relieved of his duties as the Vols head coach; lord knows there’s been enough of those articles written the past few weeks.

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