My take, lots of words, but absolutely no charge

[LouisVOL]

I was all for a defensive hire when we got JP, defense wins championships--blah, blah, blah.  Two things happened: JP defense sucked from lack of talent, and offense now wins championships.  There is infinite room for innovation on offense, limited room on defense.  Defense is about talent.   SO, I am all in on an offensive hire.  Heupel was actually my #2 wish list behind Elliot.  Elliot because of his history of offensive success at an elite program recruiting at an elite level.  Don't know if Elliot was ever truly in the mix, I would guess that he had no interest in such a risky career move.  Heupel has a record of putting points on the board with lots of wrinkles in his schemes.  some argue he was just lucky at Mo. with Drew Lock, but Drew Lock was not and is not now an elite QB.  Lucky with Frost's players.  Sure, but he still put up points afterward.  Problem is, also gave up points.  Which brings me to the inevitable.  I believe Heupel can be successful at SEC level offensively.  For Tennessee to return to success, he has to have top shelf defensive coaches, and recruit top shelf talent on that side of the ball.  In other words, same song--different verse.  We shall see.

[JeffCountyVolFan]

LouisVol, I agree with almost everything that you posted.  I have even expressed similar beliefs in another thread somewhere on this board.

The one thing that I don't think is possible is to recruit top shelf talent, at least not in the numbers currently needed.  I do not believe that any team not named Bama, Clemson, Ohio State, and a few others can consistently recruit top shelf talent across the entire defense.  I think that coaches will have to be able to coach kids to play at a higher level and be competitive with the elite teams.  Once the top shelf talent sees a team rising to the levels of those "elite" programs you should be able to attract some of them, I think.

[volsboy]

You are right JeffCountyVol fan. We should have been suspicious when Pruitt all of a sudden bringing in a top 5 class. We should have known something was amiss. I just hope Heupel doesn't bring his D staff to Knoxville. Anxious to see what Steele does now.

[murfvol]

I think Heupel is a legit very good offensive mind, and he seems like a decent guy.

Obviously defense is a concern, but if funds are there he'll have a chance to hire someone good. I really wish Steele had stayed.

Oh well, I think he's demonstrably better than Dooley, Kiffin, and Pruitt as a HC.