If you’re a Tennessee Vols fan on the internet right now, ESPN’s Pete Thamel is trying to gaslight you. 

Yes, you.

During a segment on this week’s ESPN College Football Podcast, a discussion broke out about SEC coaches who could potentially land on the hot seat this season. And Thamel, who thinks UT will be a good team this fall, made some comments about Tennessee that I thought were very out of touch with the Vols fan base. 

“The place where if things went sideways could get a little hot, and I’m not saying that’s deserved, by the way, because I was there before Josh Heupel got to Tennessee, and the program was an utter dumpster fire,” said Thamel. “It was Phillip Fulmer as the AD, McDonald’s bags of cash. Jeremy Pruitt – the clown prince of SEC football coaches in my lifetime is Jeremy Pruitt.

“And Josh Heupel took that thing from complete and utter disarray and made it respectable, made it fun, made it vibrant. But it does feel like a segment of the fan base at Tennessee has forgotten where they were, and is now focused on where they’re not. They were a playoff team two years ago, I think they’ll be very good again this year. I’ll be very clear about that. Heupel’s (buyout) number is $28 million.”

Every college football fan base has a small segment of fans who think their coach should be fired after a loss. It’s just part of the sport. So I don’t know why Thamel is singling out that very small portion of the Vols fan base (which again, every fan base has that same small portion) as an example of Tennessee fans forgetting where the program’s been.

Tennessee fans are smart, and they understand exactly where they’ve been. They haven’t forgotten about Derek Dooley or Butch Jones or Jeremy Pruitt. No one has to tell them how bad off the program was from 2008 to 2020 (minus a few fun moments). 

Vols fans want to win every single game, and they’re disappointed when losses happen. They’re disappointed when Tennessee loses to Vanderbilt to end the season. And they’re disappointed when the Vols lose to Illinois in the Music City Bowl. But to suggest that Tennessee fans aren’t smart enough to realize how good they have it right now under Heupel, but yet Pete Thamel does? That’s a bit pretentious.

And look, I have nothing against Thamel. He’s a smart guy and an excellent reporter. He’s good at his job. But we all have bad opinions and bad takes – every one of us (I know I’ve contributed my fair share). I think this one is a bit of an insult to Tennessee fans. I don’t think any Vols fan who uses real logic and understands football and competitive sports has any thoughts of Heupel being on the hot seat if Tennessee has a tough season with a freshman starting quarterback because the ball doesn’t bounce their way a few times.

Vols fans have lived through the dark years under Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt – they know what a program in freefall actually looks like (better than anyone), and they can recognize stability and progress when they see it. Vols fans don’t need Pete Thamel telling them what they should or shouldn’t feel about their head coach or the program as a whole.