Alabama football won’t have to worry about Tennessee for a while
Alabama football has been in a life-changing rivalry against the Tennessee Volunteers for decades, but that rivalry hasn’t been as interesting since Nick Saban came to town. Due to the current state of affairs in Knoxville, this rivalry won’t be competitive for the foreseeable future.
While we don’t know all of the facts right now, the Vols are undergoing a massive NCAA investigation. They have already fired head coach Jeremy Pruitt with cause, and the official punishments from the NCAA haven’t yet been announced. In the meantime, Phil Fulmer also stepped down from his role with Tennessee.
We have seen program-shifting scandals in the past, and most programs are able to recover. Baylor overcame a scandal to immediately become competitive in the Big 12, and Penn State overcame one of the biggest scandals in the history of college sports. That is not to compare what happened at either school to what is happening at Tennessee. Again, we have to wait for all of the facts. It just goes to show that it is possible to rise from the ashes. However, that won’t be the case for the Tennessee Volunteers, and here’s why.
One thing every program rebuild has in common is strong leadership with coaches who can develop talent. Bill O’Brien turned around the Penn State Nittany Lions, and Matt Rhule carried the Baylor Bears to the Big 12 Championship. Both of those coaches were great leaders who helped build the programs from the ground up. When your college football program is in ruins, it will be hard to recruit for the foreseeable future. These programs took C- players and turned them into studs.
So, why can’t the Vols follow that path? They probably have the least-appealing job in the Power 5. Recruiting sanctions will likely be heavy, and you have to play Florida, Georgia and Alabama football every season. There is nothing going right for the program right now, so they likely won’t get one of the top names on their wish list.
Also, Tennessee has been trending downward for nearly 20 years. Alabama football has destroyed Tennessee’s legacy as a quality SEC team, and they aren’t going away. Before, you might have recruits who want to bring the Vols back to the forefront of college football. After this much time since they were last relevant, recruits will only recognize Tennessee as an absolute failure, and they would be right in that assessment.
While it would be good for Alabama football’s rivalry to see Tennessee rise from the ashes, Tennessee isn’t a phoenix. They’re a dumpster fire.