Dooley = Genuis?

#27
#27
Great post, VolClass.

I'm not sure if I agree with it, but I like hearing well thought out arguments one way or another. You can say I'm on the fence about Dooley right now. I'd definitely like for your analysis to be correct, but I'm not so sure.

However, you're definitely correct about the issues. Our recruiting class this year is one of the worst we've had in a while and it's precisely because Dooley is perceived to be on the hot seat. The Coaches Hot Seat blog ranks Dooley as #2 in the nation on their "hot seat rankings". I tend to think they are wrong about that, fwiw, as they have Dooley ranked higher than Joker Phillips at Kentucky and Ron Akey at Idaho; but all the same, it's hard to deny that he should be in the top 10 somewhere.

Even if you're correct and Dooley does turn out to be an A-list coach, it's difficult to see how he can win so long as there is such a huge perception that he's on the hot seat. It's obviously hurting recruiting tremendously, and you have to have top talent to compete effectively in the SEC.

I'm not sure what Dooley has to do this year, but certainly, if we go 6-6 with such a favorable schedule, and so much talent on offense, it's hard to imagine Dooley keeping his job. If we go 9-3, he's safe for another year at least and I think we'll start seeing more confidence in him.

But the two more likely scenarios are tricky. If we go 8-4, but lose to every single good team we play (Florida, UGa, Bama, SC), that's not going to be overly impressive, but probably buys him another year. But the perception that he's on the hot seat will continue to linger, so long as he lacks any sort of quality win --- making it more difficult for him to succeed.

If we go 7-5, that's more troubling. Unless we beat Bama or SC ... in which case things get confusing. That means we probably lost to Miss State and either Mizzou or Vandy. I think 7-5 with a win over Bama or SC might actually instill more confidence in Dooley, though, than a 8-4 season where we don't beat anyone good. 7-5 with losses to Miss St, Bama, and SC will be borderline on whether Dooley keeps his job. Which is why ... that's probably what will happen.

If there's any big disadvantage for Dooley, it's that he has no real opportunities to prove himself in November. It's obvious that it's going to take awhile for the defense to adjust to the 3-4 and play well under Sunseri. Seeing progress on that front might help buy Dooley more time, but ... no one is going to see holding Kentucky or Vandy to 10 points as all that impressive.


I don't know what is going to happen. I'm rooting for Dooley to win and succeed; but just don't know if it will happen. I'm not convinced he's a good coach at this point, especially given that we've seen so many other good coaches come in and turn around worser situations in a few years. But he definitely deserves credit for "restocking the cupboard" and getting the program back on track for success. It's just unclear that he's a good enough coach to really get over the hump and take things to the next level (competing for the SEC East title).
 
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#29
#29
WesternKyVol said:
When Hart finally gets around to hiring a real coach who comes in here and starts winnning, all of these irational Dooley supporters will be saying that Dooley would have had the same success if he had been allowed to stay.

These people believe that it is all about recruting--not that Dooley has been an above average recruiter, because he hasn't-- when really recruiting is only 1/3 to 1/2 of the equation.
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I wouldn't say it was all Dooley or mostly Dooley but I would give him some credit for putting together a solid team.

Just like Kiffin deserves credit for leaving us very short handed.

You can hate on Dooley all you want but he wants to win more than most of you want to cry on here. Atleast he's trying to do something positive and working hard at it.
 
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#30
#30
WesternKyVol said:
Are you saying that Dooley is not trying to "get good" ASAP? That he has some kind of master plan to take it slow because eventually that will cause us to win more?

Then why has he recruited so many Juco players?
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I'm saying at first, Phase 1 aka first two years, he basically had a free pass. At least in my opinion. The ultimate goal in any program is to win football games. But I'm saying that I believe he knew before he could win big here, there were some things he knew had to be done first. I.e. culture change, actually recruit a roster etc etc. We're not there yet, but we're enough of the way there after two years for it to not be an excuse anymore. So no, that's not what I'm saying. But if he does have success, it's going to seem like it came out of nowhere because like I said, the job Dooley has done (which is a thankless one btw), is not something that could be measured in W/L. Now this year and next year has to be about W/L, but the first two years weren't. Got me?
 
#31
#31
VOLCLASSOF2014 said:
I'm saying at first, Phase 1 aka first two years, he basically had a free pass. At least in my opinion. The ultimate goal in any program is to win football games. But I'm saying that I believe he knew before he could win big here, there were some things he knew had to be done first. I.e. culture change, actually recruit a roster etc etc. We're not there yet, but we're enough of the way there after two years for it to not be an excuse anymore. So no, that's not what I'm saying. But if he does have success, it's going to seem like it came out of nowhere because like I said, the job Dooley has done (which is a thankless one btw), is not something that could be measured in W/L. Now this year and next year has to be about W/L, but the first two years weren't. Got me?
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You should probably just not post for the next day or two until this atrocious thread blows over.
 
#34
#34
Well written and informative post. I would rather wait on Dooley than go through another coaching change.
 
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#35
#35
DocVol said:
Dooley will not be here in two years to test your theory. For your sake, he better become a genius, um, starting now.
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Well I'm glad your opinion is superior to mine Doc. Perhaps we can leave you responsible for paying Dooley's buyout after he gets fired this year...
 
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#38
#38
Dooley might be a "genuis" (according to the spelling in the OP, assuming that it means pathetic loser) but he is definitely not a genius, or he would have figured out out to beat at least ONE ranked team in his career. So far he is 0 for his entire career against ranked teams. That does not qualify for genius status in my book.
 
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#41
#41
VOLCLASSOF2014 said:
The Bottom Line: Regardless of whether Dooley is the man for the job or not, he deserves respect.
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The bottom line of the initial post was enough. The rest was fluff.


The fact that Dooley is in over his head does not equate to I/we do not respect the man. No argument. He walked in to a crappy situation. He is though, in my opinion, in over his head. He will at some point be let go. The University should at that point have a "big fish" on the line. If they don't, then they need to go with an interim head head. Don't delay the pain.
 
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#42
#42
87Vol said:
Dooley might be a "genuis" (according to the spelling in the OP, assuming that it means pathetic loser) but he is definitely not a genius, or he would have figured out out to beat at least ONE ranked team in his career. So far he is 0 for his entire career against ranked teams. That does not qualify for genius status in my book.
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1. If you're going to call me out on a typo, at least respond without making one yourself. :eek:k:

2. Well I suppose it's subjective, but I didn't exactly expect us to beat anybody noteworthy the last two years with what we've had plus injuries. I said from the beginning, year three I will begin to judge Dooley. So far he has played 2 ranked teams that are/were in the top 5 might I add. You all act like we had a chance the last two years. And you all act like we've lost to some scrubs. It wasn't a ranked team technically, but NCST was a quality opponent that we beat. There is still time to beat a ranked team this year though so don't jump off that ledge yet buddy.
 
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#43
#43
Year 4 or 5? THEN the recruiting will pick up? And you really think this is a plan that can work? Dooley can not out coach anyone. He has proven that time and time again. If he does not have more talent at every position, he loses. If it is even talent, he loses. Recruiting has taken a step back this year in my opinion as kids are starting to lose faith in what Dools is selling. All you see being posted on the recruiting forum is "that kid is just waiting to see if we win before he commits". So, by some miracle that Dooley learns how to coach between now and 2015, we can figure on landing some high profile recruits. Yeah, let's just pay this lame duck another 6+ million dollars to see if he can figure it out. :crazy:
 
#44
#44
HE LED US TO A LOSS AGAINST KENTUCKY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 27 YEARS!!!!! IT WAS ONE OF THE WORST TEAMS IN RECENT KENTUCKY HISTORY.....A TEAM UTILIZING A WR AS THEIR QB!!!!!

That blows a hole in your theory of not getting beaten by scrubs.
 
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#45
#45
GreyWolf1129 said:
I actually think 2014 might be on to something here. It sounds like something Dooley would do, or at least plan to do.

The problem is that Dooley inherited a program that had been going downhill for anywhere between 3 and 7 years, depending on whom you ask. So what Dooley saw as "Year Zero" was actually Year 4 or more for the Vol faithful. His timeline was way off, right from the start.

A signature win would have helped him gain more time. Sadly, that shortcoming alone may be the reason he ends up leaving UT within the next 2 years.

Go Vols.
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Your right. Ever since LSU beat us in the Championship game in 2001, UT has been on a steady decline, while other teams have been on the rise.
Then, we lose to Vandy, and I can remember Fulmer calling it "Rock Bottom".
Randy Sanders leaves (Same OC hat called the National Championship game, BTW)
And then Fulmer makes the worse mistake of his career and hires Clawson as OC.
More Decline..
Fulmer Fired midseason, loose to Wisconsin at home..
more decline..
In Comes Kiffin and the NCAA..
More decline..
Kiffin bolts west and his "better than it was when we got here" Class later becomes a joke..
More decline...
If you don't think UT was a T totally mess when Dooley got here, then everyone needs to take off their orange glasses and take a dose of reality.

Why do you suppose that no other "Big Name" coach didn't get hired instead of Dooley?
UT has the money and resources..
Because the state of the program was horrible..
then our AD quits!

Face it folks..UT has been down a long time and you HAVE to have a solid foundation in order to build your house..

"house built on sand quickly crumbles during a storm"..

How many "Big Name" coaches, win first 2 years and then start losing after that?

Think about that..:peace2:
 
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#46
#46
LebanonVolunteer said:
Year 4 or 5? THEN the recruiting will pick up? And you really think this is a plan that can work? Dooley can not out coach anyone. He has proven that time and time again. If he does not have more talent at every position, he loses. If it is even talent, he loses. Recruiting has taken a step back this year in my opinion as kids are starting to lose faith in what Dools is selling. All you see being posted on the recruiting forum is "that kid is just waiting to see if we win before he commits". So, by some miracle that Dooley learns how to coach between now and 2015, we can figure on landing some high profile recruits. Yeah, let's just pay this lame duck another 6+ million dollars to see if he can figure it out. :crazy:
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Well what do you suppose he had to sell the last couple of years? If he wins it will pick up. If you are judging him based on anything that happened the last two years (maybe minus the Kentucky game), then it can be argued that you're not even giving hiim a chance. We've played 5 games so far. 2 of them to teams that have been in the top 5 at some point this year.

They're losing faith in what he's selling? Is that why the number 2 WR in the nation has us number 1 on his list. Is that why the number 1 RB in the nation has us in his top 2-3? These are the types of recruits we weren't getting his first two recruiting classes because there wasn't much to sell except just the name Tennessee alone and playing time.
 
#47
#47
'Boro-vol said:
HE LED US TO A LOSS AGAINST KENTUCKY FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 27 YEARS!!!!! IT WAS ONE OF THE WORST TEAMS IN RECENT KENTUCKY HISTORY.....A TEAM UTILIZING A WR AS THEIR QB!!!!!

That blows a hole in your theory of not getting beaten by scrubs.
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the "WR at QB" line is one of the worst to be used on this board
 
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#48
#48
What ever makes you feel better man. Lol he is slowly tearing the program down. Your slow and steady approach theory would work if every other team wasn't be recruiting with hot sauce. Its not like other programs are just bring in scrubs. But if you love him that much then ok.
 
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#49
#49
DocVol said:
Didn't get past the title and already I'm laughing.

Is this for real?
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Your nothing but a negative pos, you add nothIng to thIs board. Why don't you go put a Bama sticker on your car ( if there's not one already on it) because the University of Tennessee doesn't need bandwagon/faIr weather fans like you. Troll
 
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#50
#50
VOLCLASSOF2014 said:
Actually it is. Basically all you need to know is this. I laid out what I believe Dooley's plan was when He took the job followed by some modifications he's made along the way, and what could be if he has some success within the next 2 years that I believe he will get. If he knew the lumps he would have to take early on, yet believing in his "slow and steady wins the race" plan for success and sustained success after that, while risking his career on it, then yes, Dooley will be a genius.
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Dooley's plan was losing to anyone with a pulse? Great plan! The more amazing thing is Dooley's precise execution of said plan. He's clearly a genius!
 
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