I'm honestly of mind that there MAY be some that legitimately believe the allegations. But that also said, in this case, that's absolutely not what this is about. Vols vans legit drank the kool-aid that Gruden would actually consider the position which frankly is flat out laughable. And the over-reaction to getting Schiano was all too expected with that being the case. Quite frankly they need to realize where they're at as a program, and that's a hell of a lot further removed from national relevance then they realize. Frankly they remind me of where Pitt was as a program in the 90s, only with more delusion to their relevance in the grand scheme of things.
You're not wrong. The thing is, they're experiencing a radical paradigm shift that they're unprepared for and that sort of shift can rock a fanbase to its foundations. You've got the fifth-largest stadium in the US and have the highest home-field win total in college football for any school at its current home field. You have 6 national championships, 13 conference championships, and 5 division championships to your name. For years after the SEC expanded in the early '90s, the SEC East race was between Florida, Tennessee, and Georgia with occasional incursions by South Carolina or Kentucky into that mix.
Then, starting in 2010, things began to change and increasingly you're on the outside looking in as South Carolina becomes more of a threat and they take the place you once had. Sure there had been years before where you fielded bad teams and the division pecking order deviated from what you were used to, but this? 5 consecutive years of losing records in conference and 4 consecutive years of losing records. Your best finish is 4th in 2010 and in 2014 and at your lowest point you finish last in the division in 2011 and next to last in 2012 and 2013. But then in 2015 the ship is righted - 2nd in the division once again! Clearly it was coaching. Or a rebuilding year. Or getting adapted to an even bigger SEC once Mizzou and A&M joined. It's one of those things, but it doesn't matter - you have something to pin it on. 2016 again brings a 2nd place finish. But then the bottom falls out again. You're better than this - you know it. You remember guys like Manning and Berry on the field as you sang "Rocky Top" at the top of your lungs. This was a program with prestige. The worst jokes that could be hurled at you were Spurrier's throw-away jokes about Peyton wanting to be a 3-time Citrus Bowl MVP or not being able to spell Citrus without "UT." Now? You'd kill for bowl eligibility. It's been a decade since you've been to the SEC Championship. It's hard to admit that maybe your program has lost some luster, so of course, the old excuses have to come back. Coaching. We're a prestigious program, we just need the right coach to whip us into shape again. We can land Gruden, why wouldn't he want to come to Rocky Top? We've got the facilities, we've got the fans, and we've got the boosters.
Next year will be interesting for Tennessee fans, I think. Whomever the new coach is there will, IMO, be on an incredibly short leash with the fans and if he doesn't almost immediately return the Vols to the top tier of the SEC, he'll be in trouble - but, in so doing, Tennessee's program will likely crater even further as coaches become reluctant to take on a job with boosters with unreal expectations who aren't shy about firing you if you fail to meet them.
