Tennessee Vols: ESPN Still Casting UT As “Little Brother”

The Tennessee Vols, according to some, are still lurking in the shadow of the Georgia Bulldogs.

The last several games between the Tennessee Vols and the Georgia Bulldogs have come down to the last play.

But ESPN says that on paper, that should’t have been the case.

Here’s the thing, recent games between Georgia and Tennessee have turned out to be exactly what “paper” said they’d be.

Tennessee’s recruiting classes 2013-2016:

• 2013 — 25
• 2014 — 7
• 2015 — 4
• 2016 — 14

Georgia’s recruiting classes 2013-2016:

• 2013 — 12
• 2014 — 8
• 2015 — 6
• 2016 — 6

Obviously Georgia has a slight advantage, but Tennessee’s average recruiting ranking over that four year period is 12th. Georgia’s is 8th.

On paper, that’s pretty close.

It feels like a lot of folks in the media, at both the national and local level, are treating the Vols football program, and by extension the coaching staff, with kid gloves.

THIS IS TENNESSEE!

It’s embarrassing to see national analysts talk about the Volunteers year after year like they’re the little brother to schools like Florida and Georgia.

And what’s even worse is there’s a section of Vol fans that are ok with the narrative that Tennessee is going through a ten year rebuild under Butch Jones.

Wake up, folks. We know what Jones is at this point, and we’ve know it for a while. He’s Tennessee’s version of Al Golden and Ron Zook. He’s a good recruiter, that’s done some great things in the program. But when it comes to Saturdays in the fall, he just doesn’t get it done.

The Vols are never going to shed the little brother label with Jones in Knoxville.

Hell, just take a look at how opposing fan bases view Jones — they don’t want Tennessee to fire him.

That should tell you all you need to know.

Next: Expectations Aren't Too High At Tennessee

It’s time for Butch to go.

And the sooner it happens, they better of the Vols will be.