CollegeBowlProjections.com

Phil Fullmer is out as head coach and the Lane Kiffin era begins at the University of Tennessee.  Kiffin has put together a stellar staff around him to bring the Volunteers back to bowl eligibility and national prominence in the near future.

The hiring of his father Monte Kiffin will draw defensive stars across the country wanting to be tutored by one of the brightest NFL defensive minds in the last decade.  Ed Orgeron hiring will sure up recruiting for the Volunteers.  Orgeron’s recruits at Ole Miss are proving he can recruit with the best in the nation.

The 2008 season left a terrible taste for Volunteer fans. Tennessee was ranked #18 in both the AP and coaches poll to begin the season.  After the Vols handed the victory to the UCLA Bruins in the second half in the Rose Bowl, it was all downhill.  The loss at home to Wyoming sealed Phil Fullmer’s fate.

The 2009 schedule is very kind to the Volunteers with eight home games.  The non-conference schedule games are all at home and winnable.  After notching four victories outside of the SEC, the Vols have a favorable schedule in the SEC as well.  The Vols play their toughest games on the road at Florida, Alabama and Ole Miss.  This means they should be either favored or have a great shot to win all their home games in the SEC.

Expect the Tennessee Volunteers to turn the ship around and compete in a bowl game this season.   CollegeBowlProjections.com has The Volunteers in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in our preseason picks.

2009 Tennessee Volunteers Football Schedule:

Popularity: 29% [?]

The Georgia Bulldogs ended the 2008 season with a 24-12 victory over Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl. They finished the season 10-3 and ranked 13th in the AP and coaches poll.

You would think this was a successful season but many Bulldog fans were disappointed since Georgia was the preseason #1 team in both the AP and coaches poll. The Bulldogs couldn’t overcome injuries during the year.

The Bulldogs embarrassing loss to Alabama in September finished off the Bulldogs season for the national title. They finished the season 4-2 at home, 5-0 on the road and 0-2 on a neutral field. Here were the Bulldogs results in 2008.

The Bulldogs lose their top quarterback(Matthew Stafford), top running back(Knowshon Moreno), and top receiver(Mohamed Massaquoi) for the 2009 season. Their replacements will need to mature immediately if the Bulldogs hope to fight for the SEC title.

The Bulldogs schedule is brutal this upcoming year as they will have one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Many top SEC teams play a weak out of conference schedule in 2009. You must give Georgia great respect for scheduling a Big 12(Oklahoma State) and Pac-10(Arizona State) team during the season. This doesn’t even include their showdown at Georgia Tech at the end of year.

The Bulldogs success will be determined by their road games. The Bulldogs play five very good teams away from Athens and this doesn’t include their Jacksonville match-up versus Florida.

If the young talent doesn’t gel immediately, this will be a down year for Georgia.

2009 Georgia Bulldogs Football Schedule:

Popularity: 6% [?]

The Florida Gators will be defending their title in the SEC and nation next year.  Before we look at their schedule for the upcoming season, let’s look at the 2008 schedule and the results. The Gators were 6-1 at home, 4-0 on the road, and 3-0 on a neutral field.  The Gators defeated their SEC rivals (outside of the Ole Miss defeat) by an average of 33 points.

Florida will play only four road games again this season with their traditional game in Jacksonville against Georgia.  They will play grueling opponents Charleston Southern, Troy and Florida International at home and avoid Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss on the schedule.

The toughest road game appears to be at LSU.  However LSU will still be trying to resolve their QB issues and the Gators will get them early enough on the schedule to cause havoc in the LSU backfield.  The Gators will have plenty of time to prepare with a bye week before they enter Baton Rouge.  

This schedule would be perfect for a “rebuilding” year in Florida.  Instead the Gators return almost everyone and will breeze through this schedule.  Challenging title teams from other conferences better hope the Gators have another “Ole Miss” hiccup against Tennesee, Arkansas or Vanderbilt.

Expect Florida to win the SEC title in 2009 and visit Pasadena in 2010 for the national championship.

The 2009 Florida Gators Football Schedule:

Popularity: 8% [?]

Popularity: 8% [?]

New Tennessee head coach, Lane Kiffin strikes gold again landing former Ole Miss head coach Ed Orgeron.  Kiffin announced his father Monte—legendary defensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—would coordinate the defense shortly after he was tabbed to take over the Volunteer program.  Now he has added Orgeron as the recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach.

Orgeron is widely regarded as one of college football’s best recruiters and developers of defensive lineman.  He is credited with developing the like of Cortez Kennedy, Russell Maryland and Warren Sapp as an assistant at Miami and Mike Patterson at USC.  If Orgeron can accomplish a similar feat at Tennesse we should see them back in the SEC hunt soon.

Orgeron’s Resume:

2008 New Orleans Saints DL Coach

2005-2007 Ole Miss Head Coach

1998-2004 USC Assistant Head Coach

Defensive Line Coach

Recruiting Coordinator

1995-1997 Syracuse Defensive Line Coach

1994 Nichols State Linebacker Coach

1988-1992 Miami Defensive Line Coach

Popularity: 3% [?]

ESPN.com is reporting LSU will name Tennessee’s defensive coordinator John Chavis as their new defensive coordinator.  LSU had a job opening since co-defensive coordinator Bradley Dale Peveto is leaving for the head coaching position at Northwestern State and co-defensive coordinator Doug Mallory is rumored to be leaving to New Mexico to be their new defensive coordinator.

John Chavis was available since Monte Kiffin will be taking over the defense for his son Lane at Tennessee.  The hire appears to be a great selection for LSU as you examine the numbers this year.  Tennessee ranked 3rd in the SEC in points allowed and 2nd in yards allowed.  Tennessee also ranked 11th in points and 3rd in yards in the nation.  The defense was very good considering Tennessee had a losing season.  Compared to LSU, Chavis defense was far better this season.  LSU ranked 9th in points in the SEC(36th in the nation) and 11th in points(65th in the nation).

We wanted to know if this was a usual year between Tennessee and LSU’s defense.  We knew LSU had some incredible defensive seasons and wanted to compare the last four years.  Here is what we found:

2007 Season

SEC total points: Tennessee 10th, LSU 2nd
SEC total yards: Tennessee 11th, LSU 1st

2006 Season

SEC total points: Tennessee 8th, LSU 1st
SEC total yards: Tennessee 9th, LSU 1st

2005 Season

SEC total points: Tennessee 6th, LSU 4th
SEC total yards: Tennessee 6th, LSU 2nd

2004 Season

SEC total points: Tennessee 7th, LSU 3rd
SEC total yards: Tennessee 7th, LSU 2nd

This is a no-brainer hire if you just look at the 2008 season however looking deeper into the numbers it looks like the LSU Tigers might not be upgrading on their defense.  Tennessee hasn’t even been close to LSU’s defensive numbers between 2004-2007.  Perhaps John Chavis will bring new energy to the defensive side of the ball but LSU fans should be concerned if they will return to their defensive dominance.

Popularity: 3% [?]