- Not recognizing Dobbs' talent earlier
- Bad game management and play calling vs Florida in 2014 (and for some, 2013 too)
- Losses of exceptional # of players from the '13 (and, lesser extent, '14) signing classes
- Tolerance of Coach Bajakian and his predictable, uninspired play calling for so long
- Selection of Coach DeBord as OC
Go Vols!
VFL-82-JP, thanks for the summary of some of our fans' concerns. Below are my thoughts on the listed items:
Dobbs: If Dobbs does not prepare or present himself well in practice, how is CBJ supposed to evaluate his talent? With the lack of performance during practice and the request of Dobbs' family for the redshirt, I do not have a problem with this decision. The OL was awful last year and wanting to subject a running QB to that level of play was a huge gamble.
FL: Agree there were some questionable calls. However, with no OL success, the offense was going to struggle. I do not think losing a close game to an SEC rival (as long as it isn't Vandy or KY) is necessarily indicative of a poor game day coach. Over the years, TN has won some games we should have lost and lost some games we should have won. This happens to all coaches. Do we label CPF as a poor game day coach because he lost to Memphis with Peyton as QB?
Loss of players from signing classes: Not indicative of a poor game day coach. Perhaps it was a poor decision to sign some of the players and perhaps certain players did not respond to tough coaches, but I do not recall any of them leaving due to CBJ's game day coaching.
CMB: CMB coached with CBJ for 8 years, so there was a level of familiarity with CMB's style and knowledge of the game. CMB was an OC from 2007-2014, had been the OQC for the Bears, and is now the QB coach for the Bucs. I guess our fans' saying he is predictable was good enough for the NFL. Talent has a lot to do with play calling.
CMD: We have not had one game under CMD's offense, so it is ridiculous to criticize the selection until we see some results. CMD started coaching in 1982...before some on here were out of diapers. He also spent 5 years in the NFL. With the positive response from non-TN players and coaches familiar with CMD, I would say it was a good hire. If the results are not positive, then we move on to the next person. The attention to detail in TN practices seems to indicate things are going well for the offense.