Enough already?
Are you over it yet?
Time to move on?
Other reflections?
Last week, fans from you can guess where snickered at the Southeastern Conference slogan, “It just means more.”
There was talk of editing billboards and the prank might have happened except union painters and paper pasters wanted double pay for holiday labor.
The league got off to a very poor bowl start. Army defeated Missouri. Central Florida beat up the Gators in the second half. Houston extended Auburn’s losing streak to five. Mississippi State lost to Texas Tech in a rout.
South Carolina provided one plus point but coach Shane Beamer was subjected to an absolutely insane dump of four and a half gallons of watered-down mayonnaise on his head.
What a stupid promotion of sponsor interests! And somebody got paid to think that up.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Tennessee, in association with ACC officials, was declared a loser. There were more putdowns. I still don’t think the Vols really lost.
After that, the SEC stiffened its shoulders and stood up straight. Alabama and Georgia restored order. Arkansas and Kentucky won.
Quarterback Matt Corral, elite pro prospect, was carted off in the first quarter of the Sugar Bowl and Ole Miss lost to Baylor. Yes, this is why some opt out.
LSU plays tomorrow. The main event is coming soon, SEC versus SEC, another national championship, guaranteed. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Maybe all’s well that ends well. Commissioner Greg Sankey can go right on stacking TV millions he will distribute to members, even to those who just showed up for bowl games. Texas A&M will get some and didn’t even show up. The Aggies were tired.
***
Did you hear Music City fans chanting “Defense, defense, what is defense?”
Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell had 534 passing yards and five touchdowns. Tennessee was penalized six times for pass interference and once for holding in the secondary. Warren Burrell drew four interference flags. That may be a record for how not to do it.
Sorry I can’t confirm how secondary coach Willie Martinez spent his time in Nashville. It couldn’t have been refining pass defense.
I can share one rock-solid maxim regarding officials. Play so as not to give them a chance to decide the game.
***
Old friend Chester Henderlight, seeing a rainbow instead of disappointments, immediately predicted a 10-2 record for the 2022 season. I was caught off guard. He had trouble counting to 10 when I asked for names.
Ball State (bingo), at Pitt (maybe), Akron (count it), Florida (could be, reconstruction), at LSU (questionable), UT-Martin (got it) and the others – Kentucky, Missouri, at South Carolina and at Vanderbilt.
Three of those four are not automatics. Mark Stoops may actually have something going at UK. There are clues that Beamer can coach.
Chester decided to connect qualifiers to his prediction: More and better transfers in than out, delayed NCAA punishment, no devastating injuries, significant improvement on defense, not too many dumb yellow flags.
Atlanta or bust? That’s too much. Chester, dear Chester, where do you think Georgia is going?
The orange and white offense (when the Vols are dressed properly) should be very good if they can obtain a big running back. This attack set the school record with 511 points (27 more than in 1993, a Heath Shuler campaign).
The defense needs a lot help, starting with an inside linebacker who makes quicker decisions and hits while charging forward instead of on the chase. It needs a replacement for Theo Jackson. That may take a while.
It needs two improvements at corner and at least one better safety. It needs a tackle to move in or up to fill the Matthew Butler void. Additional edge rushers would be a plus.
There has to be help coming from the transfer portal or the Vols are looking at more of the same.
Tim Banks, defensive coordinator, gained considerable credibility during the season and lost some in Nashville.
***
Next: The Vols will dive into off-season improvement, conditioning, development, the never-ending quest to get bigger or faster or stronger or all three. Body reshapement is ahead for some younger Vols. Injury rehab is very important.
The complex program is work and more work and competition and nutrition. Team bonding will be a by-product.
Kurt Schmidt, No. 1 assistant behind the scene, is in charge. You may not know him. He did not have weekly speaking opportunities. He did not appear at the Knoxville Quarterback Club. But he is a specialist in his field and the key influence between now and spring practice.
This will be Kurt’s sixth year with Heupel, going back to Missouri. Before that, he was with the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons. Long before that, he was a linebacker at Wisconsin-La Crosse.
***
Sign Off: A Cincinnati fan presented a magic marker message for Alabama fans and the semifinal playoff audience to ponder. It won first prize among “so-what” posters.
“Our coach is taller than your coach.”
Yep, Luke Fickell is taller than Nick Saban.
Football fans are so much fun.
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com.
