Vols looking to soften schedule
I say lets play-em and get a little tougher, but that is just me. I don't see how a team is going to get better playing a team like Buffalo
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP)?Tennessee wants to eliminate a trip to North Carolina from its 2011 football schedule, even if it means paying a $750,000 buyout of a contract with the Tar Heels.
The two schools have a contract to play in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 2011 and in Knoxville in 2012, but Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton requested several months ago that the series be pushed back to future seasons.
Tennessee?s tentative 2011 schedule has the Vols hosting Cincinnati before trips to Florida and North Carolina, home games against Georgia and LSU and a trip to Alabama.
?Going into the season having two BCS non-conference opponents is problematic when you?re trying to rebuild a team,? Hamilton said. ?This is not a change in our scheduling philosophy, however.?
Hamilton said he?s been told by North Carolina officials that the Tar Heels won?t be able to delay the series to future seasons, which led to talks of a buyout of the contract. North Carolina senior associate athletic director Larry Gallo said the final outcome hasn?t been decided, though, and the Tar Heels would prefer to play the series.
?The discussion obviously involves whether we?re going to play, whether we?re going to reschedule or whether we?re going to not play at all,? Gallo said. ?We understand their reasons and so forth, however we have not come to any decision yet. I?m hopeful that will happen in the next few days.?
Tennessee is in rebuilding mode after two seasons of coaching turnovers which prompted a number of players to leave the program. The Vols currently have 76 scholarship players, and coach Derek Dooley likely will need a few seasons to build the roster back to the maximum 85 scholarship positions allowed by the NCAA.
Dooley said the decision was Hamilton?s.
?He doesn?t do anything without at least getting my thoughts on it,? he said. ?He has a real good understanding of what?s important to the fans and to the program, and I have a lot of trust in how he?s managing the schedule. Obviously if I was in big disagreement with what he wanted to do I would express that.?
Hamilton said the cost of the buyout would be made up by scheduling an eighth home game next season against Buffalo on the Vols? Oct. 1 open date. Sept. 24, the date scheduled for the Tennessee-North Carolina matchup, would become their new open date.
Tennessee has already rescheduled one 2011 game after North Texas decided to open its season at home in its new stadium instead of on the road at Neyland Stadium. The Vols scheduled Montana in its place.
Hamilton also turned down a chance for Tennessee to face Southern California and former coach Lane Kiffin in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game because of concerns about the Vols? already difficult schedule.
AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this story.
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
It's all a ploy......Brandon Willis who was once a Vol commit last year has decided to leave UNC before this upcoming season. He will not be released to anyone on UNC's schedule so Hamilton dropped them so we could get Willis back on board.
Not really true but that's the best I got.
And this is all I'm gonna say about the schedule change. I don't like it, but I understand it. I really don't care who we play OOC to be honest, when you play Bama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, etc year in and year out it really doesn't matter who you play OOC. I would rather it not be Division I-AA opponents but it doesn't have to be a Top 25 team.
Now for some schools who have weaker in conference schedules then they are the ones who really need to play tougher OOC schedules to bolster their resume. JMO
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
There are things I don't really like about dropping it but when you really think about why it was done I understand it.
I would much rather see UNC game than a game against buffalo looking at it from just being a fan. But the facts are we are in pretty bad shape right now. We have 72 kids 13 short of the 85 we should have. Not to mention how young most of those kids that will be playing are. We need to build some depth. To build that depth we need some games those type kids can play in. We also need a little bit of a breather in the middle of that stretch. The game was scheduled in the middle of UF and UGA. Really that is the two most important games we have from an SEC standpoint.
People can get their shots in. But honestly from hearing Hamilton explain it as well as Dooley. Who know more about the state of the program than anyone. I am not going to rake them over the coals like most have over this. I think looking at the 2011 schedule most of those home games we could be favored in. I think they want to try and set the program up to make some improvement and I think we can.
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
It's about money. They're paying 3 coaching staffs right now. They pay UNC 750K to get out of the game, have another home game and more than double that amount. They tried to get UNC to start the series one year later and they refused. It's not about weakening the schedule, I don't think anyone's afraid of UNC (especially after this year). Hamilton doesn't want to say we're paying 3 coaching staffs, we're doing a billion dollar renovation on the stadium, we just rebuilt TBA, we just rebuild the baseball stadium, and we need some freaking money.
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
LoL at UT not wanting to play a middle of the pack ACC team.
I can see where their coming from, but it's still funny.
I wonder how many games UT won't come close to selling out this year?
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
Neyland never got anywhere near as empty as Doak did last year. At boths lowest points last year UT probably still had 25-50,000 more people in the stadium. There were games where Doak looked empty. I think it was either Maryland or NCST where it was a ghost town. Neyland even in the 90's would have a few empties in the uppers but I've never seen empties like at Doak last year even behind the benches.
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
btw...Eddie Gran is worth every penny he ever gets. Whatever he's paid, it's not enough.
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ironlung
btw...Eddie Gran is worth every penny he ever gets. Whatever he's paid, it's not enough.
:2thumbsup: Agree 100% :2thumbsup:
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
By buying out of the UNC game and hosting Buffalo its a $2.25 million advantage to UT. No brainer when you are in a tough money situation with the recent hiring and firings.
Re: Vols looking to soften schedule
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ironlung
It's about money. They're paying 3 coaching staffs right now. They pay UNC 750K to get out of the game, have another home game and more than double that amount. They tried to get UNC to start the series one year later and they refused. It's not about weakening the schedule, I don't think anyone's afraid of UNC (especially after this year). Hamilton doesn't want to say we're paying 3 coaching staffs, we're doing a billion dollar renovation on the stadium, we just rebuilt TBA, we just rebuild the baseball stadium, and we need some freaking money.
I agree money is a part of it. But I think Dooley has more to do with this than alot of people are thinking. I also don't think we are paying 3 staffs. They are still paying Fulmer. Besides that I don't think they are paying anyone other than the current staff. Except maybe the strengh coach Smith. But it seems he got a job somewhere?
