Some of you no doubt already know OneManGang from VN

[BanditVol]

http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-football/243757-tennessee-vs-maxims-vs-oklahoma.html

He almost always has a great retrospect on the game.  He is well on the optimist side on this one, farther even than me.  I actually blame the coaches for this one, but do recognize that we are not "all the way back" yet either.

OMG does a good job reminding us of that.  I expect us to be in SECC form next year, not this year, and yes, our problems Saturday were also due to depth.  Two classes just isn't enough.  It almost is, but when Butch's first class are juniors we will finally have quality depth.

Some highlights...

 This is why the elite teams in the SEC are two-deep (and in certain cases three-deep) at EVERY position with guys who could start most anywhere else.

This is what it takes.

This is what Butch Jones is building to, but Tennessee is nowhere hear that level at present.”

I stand by that. Our 2015 Vols are better, undoubtedly. However, there are still many bricks to be laid before Tennessee is once again mentioned in the litany of elite college football programs. The Vols are getting there, but they haven't arrived yet and effusive pre-season hype and speculation can't change that.
 

Tennessee's more powerful weapons in 2015 are the talented freshmen and sophomores from HeadVol Butch Jones's last two recruiting classes. The problem is that they are still freshmen and sophomores. Last year they were more concerned about who to take to the Homecoming Dance than in how to operate against Division One talent. Add to that the fact that an Oklahoma or an Alabama has a host of upper-classmen who are all-Conference or better in their own right to show these youngsters the ropes, and that Tennessee, at this point, does not.

But they will.

So take a “Chill Pill,” remove yourself from the railing of the Gay Street Bridge, and enjoy watching the rebuilding of Tennessee football into what it was and should be.

[volsboy]

Not buying in to your sugar coating the OU loss. We lost because of bad coaching. Plain and simple. Our talent was as good as theirs. No answer for second half adjustments OU made. I am starting to hope Jones can just out-talent people. His gameday coaching has not been good.

[BanditVol]

Not buying in to your sugar coating the OU loss. We lost because of bad coaching. Plain and simple. Our talent was as good as theirs. No answer for second half adjustments OU made. I am starting to hope Jones can just out-talent people. His gameday coaching has not been good.

I'm not sugar coating jack shizzle.  I'm just saying we don't have quality depth yet.

Do you disagree?  Or do you actually think a team with two quality recruiting classes is or should be superior to a team with four?

Looking forward to your answer....

[murfvol]

It's an interesting take, but does nothing to allay my fears about game day coaching. At some point Butch needs to figure out now would be a good time to win. He's done a great job stockpiling talent, and caught no flack from fans for two years. This year doesn't need to be great, but it should be solid.

Quit talking about the future and don't blow 17 point leads at home.

[BanditVol]

It's an interesting take, but does nothing to allay my fears about game day coaching. At some point Butch needs to figure out now would be a good time to win. He's done a great job stockpiling talent, and caught no flack from fans for two years. This year doesn't need to be great, but it should be solid.

I agree with everything you say.  OMG has a different POV, but I agree with a lot of what he says about "not being there yet".

I definitely expect more this year than last, but my expectations are still 8-4.

[HawkiVol]

http://www.volnation.com/forum/tennessee-vols-football/243757-tennessee-vs-maxims-vs-oklahoma.html

He almost always has a great retrospect on the game.  He is well on the optimist side on this one, farther even than me.  I actually blame the coaches for this one, but do recognize that we are not "all the way back" yet either.

OMG does a good job reminding us of that.  I expect us to be in SECC form next year, not this year, and yes, our problems Saturday were also due to depth.  Two classes just isn't enough.  It almost is, but when Butch's first class are juniors we will finally have quality depth.

Some highlights...

 This is why the elite teams in the SEC are two-deep (and in certain cases three-deep) at EVERY position with guys who could start most anywhere else.

This is what it takes.

This is what Butch Jones is building to, but Tennessee is nowhere hear that level at present.”

I stand by that. Our 2015 Vols are better, undoubtedly. However, there are still many bricks to be laid before Tennessee is once again mentioned in the litany of elite college football programs. The Vols are getting there, but they haven't arrived yet and effusive pre-season hype and speculation can't change that.
 

Tennessee's more powerful weapons in 2015 are the talented freshmen and sophomores from HeadVol Butch Jones's last two recruiting classes. The problem is that they are still freshmen and sophomores. Last year they were more concerned about who to take to the Homecoming Dance than in how to operate against Division One talent. Add to that the fact that an Oklahoma or an Alabama has a host of upper-classmen who are all-Conference or better in their own right to show these youngsters the ropes, and that Tennessee, at this point, does not.

I'll be glad when get back to the days of just reloading as it was in the PF era, until his last couple of years.

[Creek Walker]

I see both sides. I predicted Oklahoma to win because I think we need one more good recruiting class to compete with the big dogs of college football. So I was prepared to lose the game, yet I was still bitterly disappointed in the coaching once the game was over. It wasn't the fact that Tennessee lost, but the way the game was lost. Once you take a 17-3 lead to the fourth quarter, depth shouldn't be as big a concern. Obviously if we had more depth on defense, those guys wouldn't have been as tired. You could make the argument that OU wouldn't have made the comeback if we had more fresh bodies to sub in on the defensive side of the ball. But it still shouldn't have come to that. Our offense completely went into a shell and that's on the coaches. It's troublesome, and it's more troublesome to see how defiant Butch is to the criticism. That worries me. If he's too stubborn to learn from his mistakes, we're going to be going through another coaching search sooner than we'd like.

[HawkiVol]

          

That's the last thing we need. Hart going on yet another nationwide search for another FB, FB, BB (take your pick) coach.

[Tnphil]

14 point lead in the 4th quarter against OU....9 point lead against Florida again in the 4th quarter against a lame duck coach and one of the worst Florida teams since the 70's and got beat by a backup QB that had only played in the Florida Spring game and mop up duty. Both at home with 104,000 fans. Butch $hit the bed in both.

Until Butch  proves he can beat somebody with a pulse and win more than one of those in a season....he'll just be MAC coach pretending to be a SEC coach. Stop his circus act and Butchism BS and win something.

My gosh....Toledo last weekend got a signature win against Arkansas to even Butch's lone signature win against USCe in 2013.

[RockyMtnVol]

I see both sides. I predicted Oklahoma to win because I think we need one more good recruiting class to compete with the big dogs of college football. So I was prepared to lose the game, yet I was still bitterly disappointed in the coaching once the game was over. It wasn't the fact that Tennessee lost, but the way the game was lost. Once you take a 17-3 lead to the fourth quarter, depth shouldn't be as big a concern. Obviously if we had more depth on defense, those guys wouldn't have been as tired. You could make the argument that OU wouldn't have made the comeback if we had more fresh bodies to sub in on the defensive side of the ball. But it still shouldn't have come to that. Our offense completely went into a shell and that's on the coaches. It's troublesome, and it's more troublesome to see how defiant Butch is to the criticism. That worries me. If he's too stubborn to learn from his mistakes, we're going to be going through another coaching search sooner than we'd like.

Isn't that EXACTLY when you should be concerned about depth? 
The defense played great, but ran out of gas.
Turns out a walk-on middle linebacker can cost you. 
A freshman in his second game may well have been a better choice, but to criticize Jones for not playing freshmen soon enough is... 
OK dialed up the pressure on D.  Our OL and Dobbs couldn't handle it.
Their QB was a gamer with the game on the line.  Ours wasn't. 
The only other time Dobbs has faced that kind of pressure was Missou last year.  Same result.  Teams are going to come after him now.  We'll see how he and the coaches respond.

[LouisVOL]

Disagree that our talent was as good as theirs.  Several of our ones were not as good, many of our twos were not as good.  We have talent AND depth at very few positions.  I too was unhappy with coaching in this game, but not because the coaches wasted our vast talent, because we don't have vast talent. 

Not buying in to your sugar coating the OU loss. We lost because of bad coaching. Plain and simple. Our talent was as good as theirs. No answer for second half adjustments OU made. I am starting to hope Jones can just out-talent people. His gameday coaching has not been good.

[volsboy]

I'm not sugar coating jack shizzle.  I'm just saying we don't have quality depth yet.

Do you disagree?  Or do you actually think a team with two quality recruiting classes is or should be superior to a team with four?

Looking forward to your answer....

No the depth is not were it should be. Yet. It is getting there in the next class. OL is the key. Talent is important but you can't teach experience. I have no problem with the players efforts. It is the coaching that is questionable. Don't you think better coaching would have won this game? Depth was not the only culprit here.

[Creek Walker]

Isn't that EXACTLY when you should be concerned about depth? 

Give any coach in America who is worth his salt a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter, at home, and he can strategize around his lack of depth. I guarantee you that Nick Saban would not have lost that game. Urban Meyer wouldn't have lost that game.

[RockyMtnVol]

Give any coach in America who is worth his salt a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter, at home, and he can strategize around his lack of depth. I guarantee you that Nick Saban would not have lost that game. Urban Meyer wouldn't have lost that game.

How about Steve Spurrier?

[Creek Walker]

How about Steve Spurrier?

The Steve Spurrier of the '90s wouldn't have. Spurrier is now washed up and ready to be turned out to pasture. I don't consider him an elite coach anymore.

[BanditVol]

No the depth is not were it should be. Yet. It is getting there in the next class. OL is the key. Talent is important but you can't teach experience. I have no problem with the players efforts. It is the coaching that is questionable. Don't you think better coaching would have won this game? Depth was not the only culprit here.

In the second line of my OP, I say "I actually blame the coaches for this".  You must have missed that.