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Tennessee Vols: What Constitutes A Successful 2017 Season?

By Zach Ragan

COLUMBIA, SC - NOVEMBER 01: Head coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates with his team after defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 45-42 in overtime at Williams-Brice Stadium on November 1, 2014 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SC - NOVEMBER 01: Head coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates with his team after defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 45-42 in overtime at Williams-Brice Stadium on November 1, 2014 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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What do the Tennessee Vols need to do in 2017 in order to have a successful season?

We’re less than two months from the start of the 2017 season and we still have no idea what to expect from the Tennessee Vols.

Last season, the Vols were facing lofty pre-season expectations. They were predicted to win the SEC East and possibly contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

For the first five games of the season, it looked like Tennessee was going to deliver on those expectations.

But tough losses to Texas A&M and Alabama, combined with inexplicable losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt, prevented the Volunteers from winning the SEC East.

There are no high expectations for the Vols this pre-season. In fact, a lot of the talk has revolved around whether or not Butch Jones is the best coach to lead the the program.

Tennessee isn’t where they once were in the 90’s/early 2000’s, but they’re also not where they were when this decade started.

Jones has the program in a much better place than it was when he inherited it. But he didn’t help the program reach its full potential in 2016.

Is it fair that Jones is facing questions about his job despite leading Tennessee to their most successful back to back seasons in a decade?

Probably not. But that’s the landscape of college football these days.

The only thing Jones can do to get the entire fan base united behind him is to have a successful 2017 season.

Does anyone, however, have any clue what will define a successful season for Tennessee in 2017?

Again, probably not. But we can at least try to discern what success might look like this season for Jones and the Vols.

We know that simply reaching a bowl game isn’t going to cut it — and it shouldn’t.

This isn’t Vanderbilt or Kentucky we’re talking about. Reaching a bowl game in 2014 was good enough because it showed progress from where the program had been under Derek Dooley. Now that Tennessee football has been raised from the dead, it’s going to take a bit more to satisfy fans.

On the flip side, however, you can’t expect the Vols to be a 10 or 11 win team next season. Sure, it’s quite possible that Tennessee could win more than 10 games, but it isn’t likely with the youth at the skill positions.

But the Vols are definitely going to have to win more than 8 games for 2017 to be considered a success.

Which leaves us, once again, at nine wins.

Had Tennessee won at least 10 games last season, and won the SEC East, then fans would universally accept nine wins as a successful season in 2017, simply due to the amount of talent the Vols lost.

Unfortunately, a lot of fans will view another nine win season as Tennessee “accepting mediocrity”.

But I don’t necessarily think that’s fair. I don’t think you can factor 2016’s disappointments into how you view 2017. If Jones only wins seven or eight games, then I think it’s fair game to criticize him. Winning nine games in a season where you start a new quarterback and replace six NFL draft picks is, at least in my opinion, a successful season.

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Anything more than nine wins is gravy for Jones.

And if Jones is able to win 10 or more games, or win the SEC East, then I think you can safely say that Tennessee has found their long-term coach.

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