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Derek Dooley's first year is complete. The football is done, Dooley has his first full, true recruiting class, and we are already looking to year two. So, how did he do in year one? Let's go over some things and give him a final grade.
1. How did he do in-game coaching? Obviously the most important thing for a head coach is...coaching. Well, this one has mixed reviews. In late game situations (LSU, UNC) the team failed miserably. From not running a QB sneak with inches to on 4th down to letting UNC drive down the field and get a FG (albeit some controversial calls), the team could not close out games. Doesn't 8-5 sound a hell of a lot better than 6-7 for the program? The team played solid against the SEC East champion the entire game, and competed very well in the first half of Oregon/Bama and had good gameplans. The sidelines were a zoo till later on the year, and we had too many illegal formation/shift/offsides penalties in my opinion. He did well rallying the team from a bad start and getting to a bowl. You can't put a lot of blame for Dooley against UNC. It was just a lot of help for UNC from the officials. The LSU game you can blame him. Letting Jarrett Lee convert a 4th & 13 just can't happen. And that thirteen men thing.
2. Did the team improve? Yes and no. The offense became better when Tyler Bray was named the starter and had some explosiveness to it. However, against a decent team we probably lose the final two games of the season if we play the way we did. Luckily it was Vandy and Kentucky. The Ole Miss game was impressive and the best game all year, and everything went our way. That was a solid win for this team. The defense didn't seem fixed and while the offensive line gelled pass protection wise, the running game was significantly worse.
3. How much can be blamed on the talent/depth of the team? A lot of it. To be honest, the defense was pathetic talent wise. We had very few bodies at tackle, and our ends were disappointing till late. The backers couldn't run with Bama's offensive line it seemed sometimes and our most consistent corner was playing wide receiver in the spring. The offense had talent, and had good moments, but with a green offensive line (three true freshman and a redshirt freshman started the UNC game), there just wasn't any consistency for the run game. This was, in no way, a nine or ten win team.
4. How did we do against the best team? The most exciting part of the Lane Kiffin era was how we played against the top tier teams. After getting destroyed by Bama and Florida the two previous years, Kiffin was a healthy kicker from shocking Bama and a decent quarterback from beating Florida. This year? It wasn't pretty. We played four good/solid teams (Oregon, LSU, Alabama, USCe) and went 0-4 with a total combined score of 143-61. That's an average loss of 36-15 (21 point loss on average). The team wasn't as good this year, and the depth hurt us a lot. However, we played Oregon and Bama well in the first half. But there is a first half and a second half.
5. How was the recruiting class? For a 6-7 team in the SEC getting a top ten-twelve class...very good. He addressed almost every need (still short on LB's) and pulled in very, very good players. There are guys who can contribute immediately and some interesting prospects for the future. You can't really ask for much else other than a better NSD finish, but it's not like we picked up nobody that week. We obviously need to see results, but in terms of getting good prospects ranking/offer list wise, it's look like we'll be solid as long as Dooley is here.
6. Is there stability? Yes. We only had one coaching casualty with Chuck Smith, but replaced him with someone inside the program who played in the pros. We had some players leave, but that was going to happen no matter who was coach. We haven't had any legal incidents in a while (knock on wood) and the fanbase is at peace for a moment (the first time in a while). Dooley has done a good job calming the storm.
Conclusion: So what's the final verdict? Dooley didn't do anything spectacular for the season. There wasn't any sort of stamp on the season. When your best win is against a 5-7 Ole Miss team, what does that say about the year? The team was young, didn't have a lot of talent, and had to go through another type of system however. The recruiting will help this year and in the future. The talent base is getting better. Jim Chaney and the offense has a bright future and I believe that it will only get better. I'm not sold in any capacity on the defense and Justin Wilcox. You can't show me anything that says Derek Dooley is a championship coach. You can't show me anything that says Derek Dooley won't be a championship coach.
My final grade for year one: B-
Go Vols!!! :hi:
1. How did he do in-game coaching? Obviously the most important thing for a head coach is...coaching. Well, this one has mixed reviews. In late game situations (LSU, UNC) the team failed miserably. From not running a QB sneak with inches to on 4th down to letting UNC drive down the field and get a FG (albeit some controversial calls), the team could not close out games. Doesn't 8-5 sound a hell of a lot better than 6-7 for the program? The team played solid against the SEC East champion the entire game, and competed very well in the first half of Oregon/Bama and had good gameplans. The sidelines were a zoo till later on the year, and we had too many illegal formation/shift/offsides penalties in my opinion. He did well rallying the team from a bad start and getting to a bowl. You can't put a lot of blame for Dooley against UNC. It was just a lot of help for UNC from the officials. The LSU game you can blame him. Letting Jarrett Lee convert a 4th & 13 just can't happen. And that thirteen men thing.
2. Did the team improve? Yes and no. The offense became better when Tyler Bray was named the starter and had some explosiveness to it. However, against a decent team we probably lose the final two games of the season if we play the way we did. Luckily it was Vandy and Kentucky. The Ole Miss game was impressive and the best game all year, and everything went our way. That was a solid win for this team. The defense didn't seem fixed and while the offensive line gelled pass protection wise, the running game was significantly worse.
3. How much can be blamed on the talent/depth of the team? A lot of it. To be honest, the defense was pathetic talent wise. We had very few bodies at tackle, and our ends were disappointing till late. The backers couldn't run with Bama's offensive line it seemed sometimes and our most consistent corner was playing wide receiver in the spring. The offense had talent, and had good moments, but with a green offensive line (three true freshman and a redshirt freshman started the UNC game), there just wasn't any consistency for the run game. This was, in no way, a nine or ten win team.
4. How did we do against the best team? The most exciting part of the Lane Kiffin era was how we played against the top tier teams. After getting destroyed by Bama and Florida the two previous years, Kiffin was a healthy kicker from shocking Bama and a decent quarterback from beating Florida. This year? It wasn't pretty. We played four good/solid teams (Oregon, LSU, Alabama, USCe) and went 0-4 with a total combined score of 143-61. That's an average loss of 36-15 (21 point loss on average). The team wasn't as good this year, and the depth hurt us a lot. However, we played Oregon and Bama well in the first half. But there is a first half and a second half.
5. How was the recruiting class? For a 6-7 team in the SEC getting a top ten-twelve class...very good. He addressed almost every need (still short on LB's) and pulled in very, very good players. There are guys who can contribute immediately and some interesting prospects for the future. You can't really ask for much else other than a better NSD finish, but it's not like we picked up nobody that week. We obviously need to see results, but in terms of getting good prospects ranking/offer list wise, it's look like we'll be solid as long as Dooley is here.
6. Is there stability? Yes. We only had one coaching casualty with Chuck Smith, but replaced him with someone inside the program who played in the pros. We had some players leave, but that was going to happen no matter who was coach. We haven't had any legal incidents in a while (knock on wood) and the fanbase is at peace for a moment (the first time in a while). Dooley has done a good job calming the storm.
Conclusion: So what's the final verdict? Dooley didn't do anything spectacular for the season. There wasn't any sort of stamp on the season. When your best win is against a 5-7 Ole Miss team, what does that say about the year? The team was young, didn't have a lot of talent, and had to go through another type of system however. The recruiting will help this year and in the future. The talent base is getting better. Jim Chaney and the offense has a bright future and I believe that it will only get better. I'm not sold in any capacity on the defense and Justin Wilcox. You can't show me anything that says Derek Dooley is a championship coach. You can't show me anything that says Derek Dooley won't be a championship coach.
My final grade for year one: B-
Go Vols!!! :hi:
