The offense finished the year ranked #10 nationally. Georgia and Texas A&M were also in the top 10, with Alabama, South Carolina, and Ole Miss in the top 25 as well.
The defense finished the year at #119,
behind 22 FCS schools. The next lowest SEC defense was Kentucky at #62. So yeah . . . 57 spots below the next worst SEC defense. FWIW, the SEC had 4 of the top 10, 6 of the top 25, and 11 of the top 50 defenses.
But it gets more interesting . . . well, worse. Previous UT defenses, per Massey (you can scroll down in the code box):
2012 119
2011 15
2010 50
2009 32
2008 24
2007 37
2006 17
2005 15
2004 34
2003 16
2002 9
2001 5
2000 54
1999 6
1998 4
1997 15
1996 25
1995 14
1994 19
1993 28
1992 15
1991 32
1990 23
1989 16
1988 43
1987 40
1986 32
1985 3
1984 33
1983 11
1982 48
1981 76
1980 31
1979 50
1978 59
1977 52
It should surprise nobody that this was the worst defense going back through the beginning of the Majors era, and probably wouldn't surprise anyone that it was ranked 40+ spots lower than any defense in that time period. But I'll leave a little room for encouragement here . . .
Look at 2011, 2001, 1989, 1985, and 1982 . . . these were all years in which the defense made substantial gains over what it had been the prior year. It has happened a number of times that a UT defense has rebounded from a tough year (relatively speaking) to put together a far better year.
The rankings of the last three years also tell me that the defensive personnel cannot possibly be #100+ in the nation . . . clearly this group was horridly coached, as largely the same bunch finished in the top 15 a year before. So I would expect a defensive coaching staff of ANY quality to make a substantial impact this year. I'll take a stab and say the new staff will field a defense in the #50-60 range, which would have been enough to win at least two more games this year.
