Here's how I see things. Most fans were upset with how slow this offense full of young talent was developing under Bajakian. We think it's just the adjustments to SEC play and using freshmen. Some start to notice that Auburn's offense under Malzahn is already one of the best in the league. Forget the fact that Malzahn is THE offensive guru in college football right now, and hold a roster with a seasoned offensive line and a RB that was a few votes from winning the Heisman. Since we don't show immediate impact and have little to no big plays, we start to look for someone to blame. It's just the volunteer way. The most obvious Salem witch is the offensive coordinator. Despite calling great games against Georgia and South Carolina games with a completely new Oline, RB, TE and losing A LOT of WR depth to injury, the overwhelming understand amongst Vols fans is this: "our defense is miles ahead of where we were a few years ago, it's gotta be the offensive playcalling that is keeping us from greatness". From the Oregon game to the South Carolina game, I read at least one poster a week say some form of "fahr BuhJakeean". So what's an OC to do when almost an entire fan base is calling for his ass? Find a new job before getting the axe. The pressure was on for him and he knew it. And even though most of you won't accept it, he's got a good offensive reputation amongst the coaching ranks.
So back to what I said about most fans thinking playcalling is what held us back. Welp, you got what you wanted. A vacancy at offensive coordinator. At the end of January. A week before signing day. Who cares? We're Tennessee! We can hire anyone in the country, right? It's not just self-serving bias to ease the seven year itch of bad UT football. No not at all. So all these posters jump on Volnation, VQ, anything to get the inside scoop and be able to be the first one of their friends to make the right prediction. But then these posters start reading some names that interest them, not realizing that it's just conjecture from other fans. One poster says QB/ OC from TCU, and a thousand posters read it. There are some crazies that take this mentality of "this guy or bust". It's almost as if you guys have money on the line for which guy will get hired.
Eventually Debord interviews, visits with the team, etc. Then like a girl in an arranged marriage, you all say to yourself "well, what about MYYYY guy. I don't like this new guy". Look, we all got what we wanted and what was supposed to be the last piece of the puzzle, but you're just not going to get the up and comer guy as soon as you want. What we do get is a guy with a 52-11 OC record, a national championship ring, NFL coaching experience, familiarity with how butch operates, and above all else EXPERTISE AT COACHING O-LINE. oh? The thing we struggled with the most? Oh no, don't worry about that, our new up and comer coach will save us with his new scheme, replacing current staffers with his guys, and trying a double reverse pass in the fourth quarter. Guys TCU isn't in the mountain west anymore, and assistant coaches aren't going to move their families thousands of miles across the country just for a $50K pay increase. We were dealt a ****ty hand. And we're just about to finish cleaning up the mess. Let's see if the Comet works before going to get Lemon Pledge.
Rant over. Goodbye volnation. You are intolerable. Gonna go have a pint at the Winchester until this all blows over