National college football writer who slammed Tennessee in early 2021 now says the Vols are underrated
I've lost count of the national football writers that routinely love to throw shade at the Tennessee Vols. We've been over it ad nauseam at this point. Guys like Dan Wolken, Pete Thamel, Pat Forde, and Dennis Dodd seem to loathe Tennessee. I have no idea why — though one theory is that they hate […]
I've lost count of the national football writers that routinely love to throw shade at the Tennessee Vols.
We've been over it ad nauseam at this point. Guys like Dan Wolken, Pete Thamel, Pat Forde, and Dennis Dodd seem to loathe Tennessee. I have no idea why — though one theory is that they hate the way Vols fans manage to control the narrative surrounding the program…which takes away from their "power".
Dodd, specifically, slammed Tennessee in early 2021, just after the program fired Jeremy Pruitt.
“It’s a program that thinks of itself better than it is,” said Dodd. “It doesn’t compete for championships, it last won one in 1998. They won the first BCS title. They’re not in an orbit with Georgia, Florida in their division, certainly not Alabama, and I would say Texas A&M and LSU from the other side. So it has a great history, but it doesn’t have a great program right now. That’s not to say they can’t get it back. But now you’re looking at spending money to hire a new coach, new staff, trying to compete. Paying all that money and trying to get relevant in the SEC. That’s just not going to happen anytime soon.”
19 months ago, Dodd said that Tennessee becoming relevant in the SEC wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
I don't know how Dodd defines "soon", but he's changed his tune a bit since that interview.
In CBS Sports' SEC season preview, Dodd had to pick one team in the conference that he felt was underrated. Surprisingly, he went with the Vols.
Here's what he had to say about Tennessee:
Josh Heupel has a quarterback (Hendon Hooker). If you have that in the SEC, you have a chance. Squint and you can see the Volunteers winning nine games, but they could just as easily go in the opposite direction. Still, Tennessee is clearly on the rise.
Dodd still worked in a small jab at the Vols, saying they could go in the opposite direction (though that really just feels like he's hedging), but he finished his comment with "Tennessee is clearly on the rise".
There's a stark difference in Dodd's tone from 2021 and his tone now. That's a credit to Josh Heupel and the program he's built over the last 19 months in Knoxville.
Dodd has been one of Tennessee's biggest critics for the last 5-plus years. If Heupel is making him a believer, then it won't be long before the rest of the national media believes as well.
Maybe things finally are changing for the better on Rocky Top. When folks like Dodd start praising Tennessee, you know things must be going well.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
