It is my current view that this historic loss has made next year pivotal for coach Dooley. With a win over Kentucky, and a good showing in a bowl, his program would have had at least until after the 2013 season to be finally evaluated. That may not be possible now. As a result coach Dooley will not survive a 6 and 6 season next year no matter the circumstances, his margin of error has probably been exhausted.
Although the final chapter of Dooley's career at Tennessee has certainly not been written, as one of his supporters I am sadden by these developments since Tennessee is in dire need of many of the characteristics that Dooley brings; intelligence, work ethic, integrity, and youthful energy. I hoped against hope that these desirable human characteristics would prove to be successful in a sport and program that I care about, we shall see. If however, these characteristics prove not to matter in the building of a successful program, then football will forever be the looser at a time when the sport can ill afford any more losses.
And finally, no matter the outcome of the Dooley era, I will argue that the coach himself has been as much victim as villain. Decades of incestuous cronyism in the UT athletic department has produced what incestuous cronyism always produces; a focus on individual self interest, incompetence, corruption, and collapse. Power, big money, and inside politics has often been a recipe for human failure and once again it has played itself out, this time at UTAD, and its consequences will be felt years into the future.
The rabid Dooley haters may indeed get what they so hysterically seek as early as next year. But, I will be left to ponder why evil seems to live forever, while the good die young, and why the good guy's seems to always finish last.
Although the final chapter of Dooley's career at Tennessee has certainly not been written, as one of his supporters I am sadden by these developments since Tennessee is in dire need of many of the characteristics that Dooley brings; intelligence, work ethic, integrity, and youthful energy. I hoped against hope that these desirable human characteristics would prove to be successful in a sport and program that I care about, we shall see. If however, these characteristics prove not to matter in the building of a successful program, then football will forever be the looser at a time when the sport can ill afford any more losses.
And finally, no matter the outcome of the Dooley era, I will argue that the coach himself has been as much victim as villain. Decades of incestuous cronyism in the UT athletic department has produced what incestuous cronyism always produces; a focus on individual self interest, incompetence, corruption, and collapse. Power, big money, and inside politics has often been a recipe for human failure and once again it has played itself out, this time at UTAD, and its consequences will be felt years into the future.
The rabid Dooley haters may indeed get what they so hysterically seek as early as next year. But, I will be left to ponder why evil seems to live forever, while the good die young, and why the good guy's seems to always finish last.
