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The SEC East program on the best trajectory

By Dr. Ed Feng 12 Comments

A lot of folks have written about how the SEC has gutted itself of good coaches. In an attempt to keep up with Nick Saban, conference programs have fired guys like Mark Richt and Les Miles and replaced them questionable hires.

This got me thinking? Who is the best coach in the SEC East?

I think it’s Tennessee’s Butch Jones by a mile. The visual shows what he’s done in his four years in Knoxville: taken an FBS average team and made them better.

Of course, that’s not good enough in Knoxville. And the Vols struggled in 2016 in response to top 10 preseason expectations.

However, Tennessee suffered from numerous defensive injuries down the stretch last season. This played a large role in their dip in rating from the previous season.

I think Tennessee is headed in the right direction, a statement I won’t make for Georgia and Florida. I talked about it with Josh Ward on Sports 180 in Knoxville yesterday.

To listen, click here.

Filed Under: College Football, Tennessee Volunteers

Comments

  1. James says

    August 23, 2017 at 7:53 am

    I’ll take my undergrad from the SEC against your PHD in making football predictions because this is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. UT doesn’t win 8 games this year because they have no QB and lost Derek Barnett…how’s your model work that out? And Butch Jones is the best coach in the SEC East? How many times has he won the East? How many top 10 recruiting classes has he had?

    Reply
    • Dr. Ed Feng says

      August 23, 2017 at 8:03 am

      Butch Jones had the 5th best recruiting class by Rivals in 2014 and 2015. Sure, Tennessee has QB problems, but so do Georgia and Florida.

      Reply
      • Randy says

        August 23, 2017 at 2:51 pm

        So UTs average Rival ranking of 10 over the last 4 years trumps UGAs average ranking of 6.25, solid reasoning, not!

        Reply
    • Christopher Robert Foster says

      August 24, 2017 at 12:08 pm

      Silly to think UT has “no QB” when they have two blue chippers competing and let a third walk away. some of Tennessee’s best seasons came under first year QBs.

      Reply
    • Rex Reese says

      August 24, 2017 at 1:25 pm

      QB problems?
      Butch has an embarrassment of riches at QB.
      He stole Dormady from Saban and Guarantano from Meyer.

      Reply
      • Rex Reese says

        August 24, 2017 at 1:27 pm

        Oh, and he’s had 2 top 50 classes in 4 years, and is now sitting at #6 for 2018.
        Tennessee has the most talent in the SEC except Alabama.

        Reply
        • Tyler says

          August 25, 2017 at 8:18 am

          How many times did that talent make it to Atlanta?

          Reply
  2. Cam says

    August 25, 2017 at 6:27 am

    Uga has an unproven head coach and lost to Vandy is on the road at Ut …..Fl has backed into to the east 2 but could easily be on a 4 game losing streak to UT…….Mac is Zook 2.0

    Reply
  3. Bill says

    August 26, 2017 at 12:57 am

    Your Ph.D may be from Stanford but this logic must’ve been pulled from your @#$!

    This guy is a MAC coach, plain and simple; yes he’s had multiple top 10 recruiting classes. And what has he done with them? Parlayed one of the most dynamic rosters in the country into an 8-4 team. (2 years in a row.) And how exactly do you beat Georgia and Florida and then lose to South Carolina and Vanderbilt?? He’s a gym teacher.

    Hopefully, this will be his last season making us look like Keystone Cops.

    Reply
  4. Tony L. says

    October 12, 2017 at 7:20 am

    This post hasn’t aged well, has it.

    Reply
    • Dr. Ed Feng says

      October 12, 2017 at 7:36 am

      Yes, sir. I’m done with hot takes with little data to back it up.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Wednesday morning buffet | Get The Picture says:
    August 23, 2017 at 3:43 am

    […] “I think Tennessee is headed in the right direction, a statement I won’t make for Georgia and Florida.”  There’s always somebody. […]

    Reply

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