I've defended Shoop in the past. And to an extent, I still think a first-year DC sustaining injuries to nearly the entire starting defense is a perfect storm. Having said that, this is unacceptable. You don't give up 45 to an anemic Vandy team. You don't get murdered by Kyle ****ing Shurmur. These are things that don't happen to good coordinators. There was a lot of speculation that we were a stepping stone for Shoop - that he was a mercenary, here to make bank for a year or two while he fortifies his resume for a shot at a head coaching gig. I hope he gets that idea out of his head. For now, he needs to prove that he's even a good DC away from James Franklin (never thought I'd say that).
I'm just about done with all of our defensive assistants. We have technical issues and missed assignments at all three levels of the defense. We lack talent at LB and CB. Bring in some coaches who can identify and sign elite talent, and then coach them into stars when they get here.
I don't have as many issues with the offense, but we need to emphasize ball security in the offseason. Too many turnovers. I don't really like our third down offense sometimes - too often, we throw short of the sticks in third-and-medium, expecting YAC when the opportunity just isn't there. Where is Jennings on plays like this? He has a large catch radius and will come down with the ball in traffic. I'd prefer to toss one up to Jennings, rather than throwing a two-yard pass to Croom and expecting him to get the other five on his own (which isn't his strength). At the very least, run the route to the proper depth. Also, I don't like the Jennings wildcat. You already have a QB who can run, and he probably runs better than Jennings. If you want to run this play, just run it with Dobbs. There are other ways to involve Jennings.
Ultimately, the next couple of months are important for this program. Shoop has a month to demonstrate that the defense will improve under his watch. Injuries or not, another horrible performance in the bowl game would be unacceptable. And the staff needs to recruit its ass off. A couple of our big targets announce this month, and my guess is that potential coaching changes may shift the makeup of this class as well. Still hoping for the upgrades that VQ mentions every so often, because we need them.
Go Vols.
