14 in 14: Tennessee
The 2020 Vols were a trainwreck, so what went wrong and how can they fix it in 2021?
By: Bossman Slim
Sorry, Tennessee fans this one might get a little rough. The Volunteers have been in some bad places since Phil Fulmer was forced out as head coach in 2008. You’ve suffered through the Kiffin betrayal, the Dooley years (not the fun Dooley) and frustrating Butch Jones years, and now, the disastrous tenure under Jeremy Pruitt that ended at McDonald’s. As David Allan Coe famously said “...let me warn you it’s a long hard ride.” A hard ride it has been, and a long hard ride it will be to get back on top like ‘98 again. Now, the Vols have a new coach, and it can only go up from here, right? RIGHT?
Here’s a reminder on our rating system - it’s 1-12 biscuits. 1 being Vanderbilt that tastes like a 150-year-old tack biscuit from the Civil War, while 12 is on top of the world, a perennial power like Grandma’s recipe that’s topped with a little butter and melts in your mouth. Top of the game. You can find the full rating system in our first 14-in-14 on Florida.
So what do we give the Volunteers? Drumroll...
State of the Program is...Four Loko; 4/12 biscuits
What does Four Loko do? It gives you competing feelings. It spikes your heart rate and gives you an adrenaline rush that makes you feel that this could be the best night of your life before you inevitably blackout in a drunken stupor. The Four Loko is the perfect metaphor for Tennessee football’s 2020 season, and frankly, the last 15 years. Glimmers of hope, some excitement, followed by a crushing blow and blackout. Rinse, repeat. Snip snap snip snap.
Michael Scott aptly describing the feelings of Vols fans for the last 15 years.
In 2021, we find the cycle starting anew. Jeremy Pruitt had the Vols at 8-5 in 2019 and starting to pick up steam in recruiting. They had the nation’s longest win streak (lol, remember that??) and they were coming into 2021 with a veteran quarterback in Smokin’ Jarrett Guarantano, a promising offensive line and some defensive stars. It looked like it was starting to come together in Knoxville. The heart rate was rising...but then comes the inevitable blackout. After a 2-0 start, Rocky Top imploded. They would only win one game the rest of the year, against Vandy who is a “rival,” but does that really count? That’s like the brother who is 10 years older beating up the little brother and declaring it a fair fight. Everyone knows it’s not, even if big brother would get his ass handed to him against anyone his own size or bigger. Guarantano continued throwing interceptions which plagued him until he was benched for Harrison Bailey and JT Shrout. Shrout eventually transferred because he apparently did not like the Four Loko blackout. The offensive line did not live up to the initial hype, and the defense started leaking like a sieve. And that was just on the field.
Off the field, Tennessee fans were souring on Pruitt just as quickly as they had embraced him. After the promising 2019 season, the UT administration extended his contract, and fans were excited about the future under Pruitt. Then the 2020 season got underway, which went south faster than BearStearns in 2008. Fans turned on Pruitt, and the Tennessee administration willingly let the wolves of the NCAA in the henhouse to sabotage their own program just to fire Pruitt with cause and try to save a few million. That’s where McDonald’s comes in because allegedly, they were paying recruits in cash in McDonald’s bags. “I’ll have a Big Mac, but instead of lettuce, can I have stacks of hundreds? Thanks.”
With the recruiting allegations, dismal on-field performance, and fan sentiment, the athletic department had what it needed to fire Pruitt. And they did, swiftly. Phil Fulmer, who was AD, also followed Pruitt out the door. So now, it’s up to the new sheriff’s in town - head coach Josh Heupel and AD Danny White, both from UCF, to lead Tennessee out of yet another mess.
What went right in 2020
CB Trevon Flowers was a bright spot for the Orange and White in 2020. (Photo: Tennessee Athletics)
How much time you got? Just kidding, this won’t take long. There are VERY few bright spots to point to. If there were bright spots, most of them transferred out of the program after the “McDonald’s Sacking of Rocky Top.” RB Eric Gray who showed much promise? He’s now at Oklahoma. So is former 5-star OL Wanya Morris. Star LB Henry To’o To’o hasn’t announced a transfer destination, but it’s reported that it’s likely a done deal that he will be leaving Tennessee.
So, the bright spots? Where were we? Trevon Flowers in the secondary was one. He finished the year with 62 tackles and three pass breakups - he’ll be back in 2021 to help Heupel with the building blocks. Highly recruited linebacker Tyler Baron showed much promise in his freshman year, tallying 21 total tackles. His best games came against the best opponents: five tackles against Georgia, three against both Alabama and Florida. At 6’5 255, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in years to come. Sophomore LB Quavariaus Crouch also showed promise, recording 57 total tackles, good for third on the team. RB Ty Chandler played well in his senior year, as did WR Josh Palmer. More was expected of Palmer, but poor QB play didn’t do him any favors.
What went wrong in 2020
Now, really, how much time you got? We’ll start on the offensive line. The O-line was supposed to be a strength of this team. It had stars everywhere, with three former 5-stars and OL Trey Smith, who is now projected as a second or third-round pick in the NFL draft. Instead, the line underperformed drastically, never meshing. They finished the year a respectable fifth in run blocking, but dead last in pass blocking.
The offensive line was expected to be a strength. It turned out to be a liability. (Photo: Jake Nichols, Rocky Top Insider)
Which leads us to the quarterback play. While the OL did not give them much help, the most important position on the field added to the disaster that was the 2020 Vols offense. Jarrett Guarantano began the year and looked like he had finally matured through two games, notching two Ws and zero INTs. Then the magic wore off and Guarantano reverted to his old ways in the second half against Georgia and never recovered. For the rest of the season, it was a game of musical chairs at QB with Guarantano, Harrison Bailey, and JT Shrout all seeing time without any of them taking control of the position. Guarantano has now transferred to Washington State, and Shrout has transferred to Colorado.
Coaching was obviously the number one issue. We were bullish on Pruitt to begin the year, as were many pundits. It looked like he had steered the UT ship in the right direction. We were very, very wrong. All that talent that Pruitt was stockpiling did not mesh, was not developed well, and the head coach quickly lost the locker room and the support of the fan base and administration. It all starts with the head man and Pruitt was rightly blamed for sailing a once-promising ship straight into the proverbial reef.
What the Vols need in 2021
The two agents of change that are tasked with bringing Tennessee football back to prominence. (Photo: via Athlon Sports)
More than anything, the Vols need a fresh start. They have the refresh at head coach and athletic director. They will bring a fresh perspective on locker room culture and the culture of the entire athletic department. A culture change, and looking forward and not backward, is exactly what Tennessee needs. The past is the past. If you stayed with us, it’s now time to look forward and leave what happened behind. Off the field is where the change starts for Tennessee. If done right, along with recruiting, is where the orange and white will see the desired on-field results.
On the field, it starts at quarterback. Whether it’s Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker, Harrison Bailey, or highly-touted freshman from Texas Kaidon Salter, the quarterback position must improve. In order for the QB play to step-up, the offensive line also must keep them upright. The Vols will have experienced lineman returning, but they need that experience to turn into production.
With the rash of transfers that followed Pruitt’s firing, Tennessee will also need their underclassmen and freshman to step up and make an impact immediately. The aforementioned Quavarius Crouch and Tyler Baron will be asked to take on much bigger roles with the departure of Henry To’o To’o. 4-star freshman ILB Aaron Lewis will also be looked to for production early. With the void at running back, look for freshman Tiyon Evans to see action, as well as WR Kaemon Marley and Julian Nixon. It’s likely to be a youth movement by default in Knoxville in 2021.
Finally, no matter the on-field results, Heupel and his staff need to recruit their asses off and sell their vision for Rocky Top. Everyone who pays attention to college football knows that it all starts with recruiting. Why is Alabama perennially in the national title game? They win the recruiting battles year in and year out. Ohio State, Oklahoma, Clemson. You can almost always find those names in the top five of the recruiting rankings every single year. And almost every year, you’ll find them in the playoffs at year’s end. To be elite, you need to recruit with the elite. Heupel and staff need to hit the trail harder than anyone in 2021.
How they can earn some extra biscuits
This isn’t going to be a quick rebuild in Knoxville. It’s going to take Heupel time to build a culture in the locker room and get the guys to buy in because this is a crew that has been beaten and battered. To earn some extra biscuits next year, the Vols need to show heart and fight. They need to show that they’re outhustling everyone on the field and that they want it just as bad or more than the beasts of the East, Florida and Georgia. They need a quarterback to emerge, whether it’s Harrison Bailey, Virginia Tech transfer Hendon Hooker, or incoming 4-star Kaidon Salter. They need young talent to step up and play larger than their classification. And most importantly, they need to recruit the lights out.
Hopefully, for Vols fans, this is the last Four Loko-hangover cycle before they replace it with champagne in a few years.
Did we get it right? Completely wrong? What’d we miss? Chip us on Twitter @biscuitsandsec.
Next up:
Alabama
Correction: A previous version of this post referred to former Tennessee Running back Eric Gray as Jonathan Gray.