"Five promising rebuilding jobs"- ESPN

#1
volsfansince4387

volsfansince4387

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#1
2011: 5-7
Past five years: 33-31
Strengths: Quarterback, linebackers
Weaknesses: Running backs, offensive line

That August day at Syracuse, Marrone kept using a school where he had coached as the one most similar to his current situation. That school was Tennessee. "I don't think people realize how backwards some things had gotten here," he said. "And they really don't understand how messed up it got down there."

Keep in mind, he said that in August. By Thanksgiving, it had become pretty obvious to everyone. No one was surprised when an offense with only one senior and an injured quarterback was crushed by a four-game game stretch of Georgia-LSU-Alabama-South Carolina. But people were plenty surprised when the Volunteers fell to Kentucky for the first time since Ronald Reagan's first term. That handed them back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since William Howard Taft was in the White House.

But despite all of that, and even after losing a stunning six coaches this winter, Derek Dooley started his third year in Knoxville by signing a recruiting class that ESPNU ranked 21st in the nation.

"I'm genuinely excited because, for the first time, I feel like we have enough quality players to actually compete," Dooley said on signing day. "It's the first time I've honestly felt like that since I got here. It doesn't mean we're as good as everyone in the SEC, but now we're finally closing that gap."

An SEC schedule is never easy, but even-numbered years are typically much kinder to the Vols. They get Florida and Alabama at home and trade LSU and Arkansas for Mississippi State and Missouri, and their four nonconference games are North Carolina State (in Atlanta), Georgia State, Akron and Troy. And the Fulmer/Kiffin-tied upperclassmen who never saw eye to eye with Dooley and "his players" also are largely gone. Tennessee returns the third-most starters in the nation, according to Phil Steele, including a quarterback with huge upside in Tyler Bray.

If all of the above still add up to a fourth losing season, Dooley can start packing. Patience in Knoxville isn't what it is in upstate New York. But chances are good he won't have to worry about that.
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Goes on to list other teams like ND, 'Cuse, WSU, etc. But, it seems pretty dead on to me. If Dooley doesn't produce this year then he is gone. I personally don't expect a BCS game, but I do think a 9 win season is reasonable.
 
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#2
#2
It will be a good year as long as everyone stays off the orange Kool-aid. Now I am hearing BCS and 9 wins or he's gone. By the time the season starts everyone will want his head if we lose one game.
 
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#5
#5
tvolsfan said:
Dooley has to do more than just avoid another losing season.
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Which that point has been made over and over again by everyone. My point is that Dooley's "you better win __ or your fired" bar seems to be getting raised more and more.

How about we hope for a good season and let the cards fall before we start declaring "or he's fired" comments.
 
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#6
#6
SolidRockGolf said:
Which that point has been made over and over again by everyone. My point is that Dooley's "you better win __ or your fired" bar seems to be getting raised more and more.

How about we hope for a good season and let the cards fall before we start declaring "or he's fired" comments.
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I don't know about that. I've been hearing people say 8 or 9 wins or he's gone for about as long as I can remember. I think the bar is still set right there at the 8 or 9 wins limit. Beat the teams you're supposed to. If you upset somebody, bonus.
 
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#7
#7
volsfansince4387 said:
Goes on to list other teams like ND, 'Cuse, WSU, etc. But, it seems pretty dead on to me. If Dooley doesn't produce this year then he is gone. I personally don't expect a BCS game, but I do think a 9 win season is reasonable.
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8 is enough, for '12, anything more will be a bonus... imho... 2 games over .500 the last 5 years... let's say i have tempered expectations this year... '13 we can say we expect ''great'' things... imho

:hi:
 
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#8
#8
There shouldn't be a win or else attitude. We should all be 100% behind Dooley until December and only then should judgement be made.

Talking about it like a bunch of 3rd grade girls hurts recruiting and serves as a distraction to the coaching staff.

Luckily the men with $ and the AD are smarter than most of the fans.
 
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#9
#9
SolidRockGolf said:
Which that point has been made over and over again by everyone. My point is that Dooley's "you better win __ or your fired" bar seems to be getting raised more and more.

How about we hope for a good season and let the cards fall before we start declaring "or he's fired" comments.
Click to expand...


Eh, Dooley could lose the 4 in a row but as long as he makes 9 wins then I would be satisfied. But then again my opinion has very little impact on Dooley. I am very excited about next year, but like other fans, I am becoming somewhat aggrevated.
 
#10
#10
The 2013 schedule is brutal, we will be lucky to win 8 games. Tennessee needs to back out of the Oklahoma series immediately in '14/'15. This program needs to get back to BCS games and it won't happen playing OOC opponents like that on the road. Scheduling makes a huge difference we will see it next year when we get 2-3 more wins due to Ark. and LSU being off the schedule and a medicore OOC opponent.
 
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#11
#11
led0321 said:
There shouldn't be a win or else attitude. We should all be 100% behind Dooley until December and only then should judgement be made.

Talking about it like a bunch of 3rd grade girls hurts recruiting and serves as a distraction to the coaching staff.

Luckily the men with $ and the AD are smarter than most of the fans.
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you said it better then I did. :hi:
 
#14
#14
to get to 8 wins, he would have to beat n c state, missouri, and miss st. 5 pretty much given wins over the other 3 non-con and ky, vandy. u t would have to upset either fla or s carolina to get to 9 wins. forget georgia and alabama. 8 wins plus bowl will keep his job one more season at least. i think he does the 8 wins, but no more
 
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#15
#15
volsfansince4387 said:
Eh, Dooley could lose the 4 in a row but as long as he makes 9 wins then I would be satisfied. But then again my opinion has very little impact on Dooley. I am very excited about next year, but like other fans, I am becoming somewhat aggrevated.
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I don't think another 0 for October is acceptable. I don't really care what the bottom line number is for Dooley. I want to see signature wins. He needs to beat good teams in the SEC. Take 2 of 3 from UGA, USC, UF.
 
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#16
#16
09/01/12 vs. North Carolina State Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Ga.) TBA

09/08/12 vs. Georgia State Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

09/15/12 vs. Florida * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

09/22/12 vs. Akron Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

09/29/12 at Georgia * Athens, Ga. TBA

10/13/12 at Mississippi State * Starkville, Miss. TBA

10/20/12 vs. Alabama * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

10/27/12 at South Carolina * Columbia, S.C. TBA

11/03/12 vs. Troy Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

11/10/12 vs. Missouri * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

11/17/12 at Vanderbilt * Nashville, Tenn. TBA

11/24/12 vs. Kentucky * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

got to win 8 of those(if everybody is/stays healthy)
 
#18
#18
barring a horrible season , such as 5 wins or less I believe Dooley returns for 2013 .7 will not be satisfactory , but he will not be fired either
 
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#20
#20
this is exactly the kind of thread that needs to stop being posted, it hurts recruiting in a big way! If you bleed orange then stay positive and let the coach do his job!
 
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#22
#22
UrbanCryer said:
09/01/12 vs. North Carolina State Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Ga.) TBA

09/08/12 vs. Georgia State Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

09/15/12 vs. Florida * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

09/22/12 vs. Akron Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

09/29/12 at Georgia * Athens, Ga. TBA

10/13/12 at Mississippi State * Starkville, Miss. TBA

10/20/12 vs. Alabama * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

10/27/12 at South Carolina * Columbia, S.C. TBA

11/03/12 vs. Troy Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

11/10/12 vs. Missouri * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

11/17/12 at Vanderbilt * Nashville, Tenn. TBA

11/24/12 vs. Kentucky * Knoxville, Tenn. TBA

got to win 8 of those(if everybody is/stays healthy)
Click to expand...

That schedule says 9-3 to me.
 
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#23
#23
I think 8 wins with this schedule and amount of returning starters is the standard. If we are below 8-5 (including bowl game), he needs to go. I like him and want him to be here a long time, but we can surely win 8 games with this schedule.
 
#24
#24
We can win every game this year!!!
That being said I do not expect every game to be a win, just the Next one ... every time.
I don't think anyone should be putting Ws and Ls on any list till those Games are in the books.
Part of the problem is everyone saw snap shoots of the talent we have last year and the year before that. Then guessed based on those pieces that we would beat FL, and GA, and SC. When those guesses were wrong instead of being upset with themselves for guessing wrong, they were upset @ the Coach, and the Players. We had the peices, those peices were not put together yet. If we see Team work this year, I think we CAN win every game. We have the depth now that when one or 2 of these pieces start trying to force themselves into the puzzle where they do not need to be. That the coaches can finally say No, you dont fit in this puzzle.

We have the Edges down, and the peices are comming together. It will not be long before we see this bamboo puzzle come into view.
I couldn't resist.
 
#25
#25
Everyone has a guess what that magic number is but Hart is the one pulling that number.I believe 9 would for sure save his job. I say either 7 or 8 wins
 
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