Tennessee football: Signs suggest Vols DBs will be historically bad in 2018

Tennessee football’s system changes on defense and their schedule suggest the Volunteers’ secondary is going to be historically bad in 2018.

From the outset, this was going to be a concern. Tennessee football fans remember the 2012 season, the one time the Vols made a transition to a 3-4. It resulted in one of the worst defenses in school history.

The root of that horrendous defense came in the secondary, which looked awful. So when Jeremy Pruitt took the job and confirmed that he and Kevin Sherrer would install that 3-4 system again, there was already reason to believe that the Vols would struggle in the secondary this year.

Spring ball pretty much confirmed that. The first-team secondary was awful in the spring game, and Pruitt was either praising the offense or scolding the defense, in particular the secondary, for most of his press conferences in the spring.

These signs alone suggested an awful secondary this year. But if that wasn’t enough, Athlon Sports released its ranking of predicted starting quarterbacks on all 130 FBS teams this year.

It had Tennessee football at No. 72 with Keller Chryst as the predicted starter. However, the real story is how the rankings reflect the Vols’ brutal schedule. The struggling secondary facing this schedule now figures to be awful.

More from Vols Football

With the secondary having to adjust to Pruitt’s 3-4 system and already reminding Rocky Top of 2012, the Vols face seven of the Top 25 quarterbacks on the roster. The face six of the Top 15 quarterbacks on the list, four of the Top 10 quarterbacks and each of the top two quarterbacks. That’s going to be brutal.

Pruitt’s team opens 2018 against the top ranked quarterback on Athlon’s list, Will Grier and the West Virginia Mountaineers. Everybody in Knoxville remembers what Grier did to the Vols when he played for the Florida Gators in 2015.

Well, now he’s three years better. And he’s playing a Tennessee football secondary that will be worse, at least for this year, as it learns a new system and replaces all its quarterbacks. And that’s just the opener.

At the end of September, they begin a brutal four-game stretch against top 15 quarterbacks. This includes the Georgia Bulldogs and Jake Fromm (No. 11), the Auburn Tigers and Jarrett Stidham (No. 9 on Athlon’s list), the Alabama Crimson Tide and Tua Tagovailoa (No. 2), and the Then they face the South Carolina Gamecocks and Jake Bentley at quarterback (No. 14).

So that’s four straight games against teams with Top 15 quarterbacks on Athlon’s list. And they also open the season against the top overall quarterback on the list. Then, Tennessee football closes the season against two more Top 25 quarterbacks, against the Missouri Tigers and Drew Lock (No. 6) and then the Vanderbilt Commodores and Kyle Shurmur (No. 24).

Lock’s offensive coordinator is now Derek Dooley, whose final year as Tennessee’s head coach was in 2012 with that awful 3-4 defense. It’s really what got him fired.

Meanwhile, look at what Shurmur did to the Vols last year, completing 65 percent of his passes for 283 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. And don’t forget he torched the Vols in 2016 as well.

Must Read: Top 5 losers from Vols spring practice

Simply put, the Vols hardly get any breaks on the year with this new secondary. It suggest that this is going to be a historically awful year for them, one that could even surpass 2012. This is no knock on Pruitt and Kevin Sherrer and the defense they’re installing. It’s just pointing out that the growing pains coming with their new system combined with the schedule make for a brutal road.

By the way, while Tennessee football faces seven teams with quarterbacks on the list, the other teams are brutal too. What should be an easy win in ETSU, the second game of the year, is a game against former Vols offensive coordinator Randy Sanders. He has coached a Heisman Trophy quarterback and won a national championship as a coordinator since leaving Knoxville.

Two weeks later, they still have to face the Florida Gators. We all know that Dan Mullen is a wizard with quarterbacks, no matter where one ranks.

And late in the year, they have to face the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite the departure of Stephen Johnson, Mark Stoops also has a great offensive mind and can maximize quarterback talent.

Next: Top 10 Vols 2019 NFL Draft prospects

This makes for 10 games in which Tennessee football is facing either an elite quarterback or an elite offensive mind. And in many cases they are facing both. Doing that with a secondary transitioning to a 3-4 defense and replacing all of its cornerbacks is going to be beyond rough. Simply put, Tennessee football will need help elsewhere if it’s going to have a decent season.

Home/Vols Football

Tennessee football: Everything points to Vols secondary looking historically bad in 2018

By Caleb Calhoun | May 9, 2018

Tennessee football’s system changes on defense and their schedule suggest the Volunteers’ secondary is going to be historically bad in 2018.