Tennessee Football: Vols Need To Restructure Their Schedule

The Tennessee Vols’ football schedule is an annual mess and it needs to be addressed.

If you take a look at the Tennessee Vols’ 2018 schedule, it’s easy to see why folks think it could be a tough first year for new head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

In 2018, the Vols have a five game stretch that sees them play Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama and South Carolina (Georgia, Auburn and South Carolina are on the road).

That’s an incredibly difficult gauntlet of games.

Tennessee finishes the season against Charlotte, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt.

It’s entirely possible that Tennessee loses five straight games and then wins four straight games. But it’s also possible that a five game losing streak prevents Tennessee from gaining any momentum to finish the season strong.

By the way, this isn’t anything new. Tennessee almost always plays Florida in late September and they typically play Georgia in late September/early October. It’s also not uncommon for them to play South Carolina, a team that always plays them tough, in mid to late October.

I tend to think teams get better as the season progresses (or they should, despite what the Butch Jones era taught us). If the Vols’ schedule was structured differently, I think next year’s results could be a bit better.

Here’s how the season is currently scheduled:

• West Virginia (Charlotte) — September 1
• ETSU — September 8
• UTEP — September 15
• Florida — September 22
• @ Georgia — September 29
• @ Auburn — October 13
• Alabama — October 20
• @ South Carolina — October 27
• Charlotte — November 3
• Kentucky — November 10
• Missouri — November 17
• @ Vanderbilt — November 24

And here’s how I would prefer to see it scheduled:

• West Virginia (Charlotte) — September 1
• ETSU — September 8
• UTEP — September 15
• Kentucky — September 22
• @ Georgia– September 29
• @ South Carolina — October 13
• Alabama — October 20
• Charlotte — October 27
• Florida– November 3
• @ Auburn — November 10
• Missouri — November 17
• @ Vanderbilt — November 24

As you can see, the toughness of the schedule clearly isn’t going to change, but I think Tennessee’s odds of gaining some momentum would be better in this scenario.

It would allow Tennessee to get to the November with, at worst, a 4-4 record, instead of possible 2-6 record the other way (without changing the outcome of the games).

(I’ve always thought the Florida game should be played later in the year, and I still think the Vols should always finish with Vanderbilt.)

It’s obviously too late to worry about the 2018 schedule (it’s set in stone at this point), but here’s how I think the 2019 schedule should look for Tennessee.

• Georgia State — August 31
• BYU — September 7
• Chattanooga — September 14
• @Kentucky — September 21
• Georgia — September 28
• South Carolina — October 5
• @ Missouri — October 19
• @ Alabama — October 26
• UAB — November 2
• Mississippi State — November 9
• @ Florida — November 23
• Vanderbilt — November 30

I just think it would be better on Tennessee’s football program for the schedule to unfold this way, instead of bunching up the Florida, Georgia and Alabama games. I’ve always felt they needed to be spread out a bit.

Hopefully this is something Tennessee can work on with the SEC. It would definitely be in their best interest.