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#1
VolMax

VolMax

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#1
My position has been (and continues to be) that we were so bad, the cupboard so bare, the timing so awful, that 2.5 years is totally unfair when it comes to judging Dooley. I love the guy for taking the job, cleaning up the image, recruiting well when he didn't have much to sell, funny as hell, etc...

So far this season we looked pretty dang good in a win over a decent NC St. team, won vs Akron and G St (neither was very pretty), and COULD have beaten FL, GA, M State, and I felt hung in there with Bama until midway through 3rd quarter. Our run game is MUCH improved. We have switched D's and I expected some difficulties... landing DM and DS was exciting, but do we really have guys "built to play" the 3-4? So that might take another year or two...

What's starting to bother me are the "little things"...

A couple of penalties for not lining up right on punts... MR letting a poch kickoff land and settle while he just looked at it... Going deep on 3rd and short when our run game is so improved... Looking like crap in 1st half of M State game coming off an open week... The drops... Zero balls to ZR vs Bama... About 7 too few touches per game for CP on O... Goofy timeouts... Having a Bama receiver the ONLY guy in the end zone... TB not facing the press after Bama... False starts on the O-Line... Somehow allowing your only 1st, 2nd or HM All SEC guy to even get within 100 yards of a joint...

I so get that we don't have two deep talent like Bama, UF or LSU, but at what point does that not matter? Shouldn't we be able to line up in punt formation or know to cover a loose ball on a kickoff? What's the first Maxim?

I started thinking about this after the M State game. It was a road conference game, they were a slight favorite and they are now #11 in BCS rankings. It would be easy enough to say we're just not quite there yet to win in that situation. The problem is, we should have won that game. They jumped us in the first half coming off of an open week, they were disciplined as hell, committing one penalty for 10 yards (to our six for 64) and had zero turnovers (to our three - not counting the pooch kickoff), and you can't tell me they have more talent than we do.

I don't want Dooley fired - again, love the guy (not as in Gay4Bray...). I think another coaching change would be awful right now but I'm beginning to wonder if he is the man for the job. Face it, we are a very undisciplined football team. On top of that, if we are really going after Chuckie like the rumors suggest, I have to admit I'd be all for it. I'd hate to see us sack Dooley for Kirby or the next up and comer.

Have I read too many Negavols/NegaDools posts and lost my perspective or am I on to something?
 
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#2
#2
VolMax said:
My position has been (and continues to be) that we were so bad, the cupboard so bare, the timing so awful, that 2.5 years is totally unfair when it comes to judging Dooley. I love the guy for taking the job, cleaning up the image, recruiting well when he didn't have much to sell, funny as hell, etc...

So far this season we looked pretty dang good in a win over a decent NC St. team, won vs Akron and G St (neither was very pretty), and COULD have beaten FL, GA, M State, and I felt hung in there with Bama until midway through 3rd quarter. Our run game is MUCH improved. We have switched D's and I expected some difficulties... landing DM and DS was exciting, but do we really have guys "built to play" the 3-4? So that might take another year or two...

What's starting to bother me are the "little things"...

A couple of penalties for not lining up right on punts... MR letting a poch kickoff land and settle while he just looked at it... Going deep on 3rd and short when our run game is so improved... Looking like crap in 1st half of M State game coming off an open week... The drops... Zero balls to ZR vs Bama... About 7 too few touches per game for CP on O... Goofy timeouts... Having a Bama receiver the ONLY guy in the end zone... TB not facing the press after Bama... False starts on the O-Line... Somehow allowing your only 1st, 2nd or HM All SEC guy to even get within 100 yards of a joint...

I so get that we don't have two deep talent like Bama, UF or LSU, but at what point does that not matter? Shouldn't we be able to line up in punt formation or know to cover a loose ball on a kickoff?

I started thinking about this after the M State game. It was a road conference game, they were a slight favorite and they are now #11 in BCS rankings. It would be easy enough to say we're just not quite there yet to win in that situation. The problem is, we should have won that game. They jumped us in the first half coming off of an open week, they were disciplined as hell, committing one penalty for 10 yards (to our six for 64) and had zero turnovers (to our three - not counting the pooch kickoff), and you can't tell me they have more talent than we do.

I don't want Dooley fired - again, love the guy (not as in Gay4Bray...). I think another coaching change would be awful right now but I'm beginning to wonder if he is the man for the job. Face it, we are a very undisciplined football team. On top of that, if we are really going after Chuckie like the rumors suggest, I have to admit I'd be all for it. I'd hate to see us sack Dooley for Kirby or the next up and comer.

Have I read too many Negavols/NegaDools posts and lost my perspective or am I on to something?
Click to expand...

I don't think you have, but I do think your starting to watch more and more what people are really saying. Look, it's great to have orange tinted glasses on, especially when we are winning, but when we are losing, sometimes putting the shades down and looking at the situation at hand is what needs to be done. JMO, IMO, TIFWIW.
 
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#3
#3
Is there some reason people feel like they need to start a new thread and write a book telling their opinion? I get it's a messageboard but there are already tons other threads like this.
 
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#4
#4
VolsSportsFan said:
Is there some reason people feel like they need to start a new thread and write a book telling their opinion? I get it's a messageboard but there are already tons other threads like this.
Click to expand...

Then go watch porn...

Ok...that's harsh...

I don't think I have seen a thread attempting to discuss actual team discipline issues amoung the Sunshine Pumpers. Freak started a whole new forum for the Chicken Little's. Sorry if I wasted your time by attempting to have a rational discussion about our situation.

Now, go watch porn...

:hi:
 
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#9
#9
Keep polishing his boots Max. Stay in the dream world, please. I look forward to seeing you and your fellow Dooley lovers jump off the edge of a cliff when UT fires his sorry coaching a$$ in a few shorts weeks if not sooner. Haha
Posted via VolNation Mobile
 
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#10
#10
VolBeef88 said:
Keep polishing his boots Max. Stay in the dream world, please. I look forward to seeing you and your fellow Dooley lovers jump off the edge of a cliff when UT fires his sorry coaching a$$ in a few shorts weeks if not sooner. Haha
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

Did I polish his boots in my post or did you read it?

:crazy:
 
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#12
#12
VolMax said:
My position has been (and continues to be) that we were so bad, the cupboard so bare, the timing so awful, that 2.5 years is totally unfair when it comes to judging Dooley. I love the guy for taking the job, cleaning up the image, recruiting well when he didn't have much to sell, funny as hell, etc...

So far this season we looked pretty dang good in a win over a decent NC St. team, won vs Akron and G St (neither was very pretty), and COULD have beaten FL, GA, M State, and I felt hung in there with Bama until midway through 3rd quarter. Our run game is MUCH improved. We have switched D's and I expected some difficulties... landing DM and DS was exciting, but do we really have guys "built to play" the 3-4? So that might take another year or two...

What's starting to bother me are the "little things"...

A couple of penalties for not lining up right on punts... MR letting a poch kickoff land and settle while he just looked at it... Going deep on 3rd and short when our run game is so improved... Looking like crap in 1st half of M State game coming off an open week... The drops... Zero balls to ZR vs Bama... About 7 too few touches per game for CP on O... Goofy timeouts... Having a Bama receiver the ONLY guy in the end zone... TB not facing the press after Bama... False starts on the O-Line... Somehow allowing your only 1st, 2nd or HM All SEC guy to even get within 100 yards of a joint...

I so get that we don't have two deep talent like Bama, UF or LSU, but at what point does that not matter? Shouldn't we be able to line up in punt formation or know to cover a loose ball on a kickoff? What's the first Maxim?

I started thinking about this after the M State game. It was a road conference game, they were a slight favorite and they are now #11 in BCS rankings. It would be easy enough to say we're just not quite there yet to win in that situation. The problem is, we should have won that game. They jumped us in the first half coming off of an open week, they were disciplined as hell, committing one penalty for 10 yards (to our six for 64) and had zero turnovers (to our three - not counting the pooch kickoff), and you can't tell me they have more talent than we do.

I don't want Dooley fired - again, love the guy (not as in Gay4Bray...). I think another coaching change would be awful right now but I'm beginning to wonder if he is the man for the job. Face it, we are a very undisciplined football team. On top of that, if we are really going after Chuckie like the rumors suggest, I have to admit I'd be all for it. I'd hate to see us sack Dooley for Kirby or the next up and comer.

Have I read too many Negavols/NegaDools posts and lost my perspective or am I on to something?
Click to expand...

So if I'm reading you correctly you are saying (and I think I am) that you aren't opposed to firing Dooley but you "don't think he is the man for the job?" I think think are very few, if ANY, kind of a coach that could take a program like this (especially considering where it's been) and win. The problem is to me you see two new schools enter into the most difficult conference in the country--coupled with your Georgia/Florida/Alabama/LSU schools that are a factor in the BCS ALWAYS and you find yourself behind the 8 Ball. What really tore it for me was losing to Kentucky. I don't care what year or how much talent you have-it shouldn't happen and it shouldn't be acceptable. I've never seen a coach lose in some of the bizarre ways that Dooley has lost. The disturbing thing is that while you expect most teams to unite under the adversity this team seems to revert to an undisciplined, unconfident mess that can't execute in crunch time. The bottom line for me at least is that Dooley, in my opinion has given me enough of a sample size coaching wise and recruiting wise to know that I've seen enough. This program needs to start catching up with the other SEC powers and I think it can in the right head coaches hands---it ain't Dooley. It's been long enough and while I wasn't expecting beating Alabama---I, and other fans, were expecting more than this.
 
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#15
#15
volswillrise12 said:
So if I'm reading you correctly you are saying (and I think I am) that you aren't opposed to firing Dooley but you "don't think he is the man for the job?" I think think are very few, if ANY, kind of a coach that could take a program like this (especially considering where it's been) and win. The problem is to me you see two new schools enter into the most difficult conference in the country--coupled with your Georgia/Florida/Alabama/LSU schools that are a factor in the BCS ALWAYS and you find yourself behind the 8 Ball. What really tore it for me was losing to Kentucky. I don't care what year or how much talent you have-it shouldn't happen and it shouldn't be acceptable. I've never seen a coach lose in some of the bizarre ways that Dooley has lost. The disturbing thing is that while you expect most teams to unite under the adversity this team seems to revert to an undisciplined, unconfident mess that can't execute in crunch time. The bottom line for me at least is that Dooley, in my opinion has given me enough of a sample size coaching wise and recruiting wise to know that I've seen enough. This program needs to start catching up with the other SEC powers and I think it can in the right head coaches hands---it ain't Dooley. It's been long enough and while I wasn't expecting beating Alabama---I, and other fans, were expecting more than this.
Click to expand...

I am opposed to firing Dooley if it is just because we lost to 4 of the top 11 BCS ranked teams. The KY game was inexcusable, but it happens - see Memphis. The facts I mentioned about lining up for a punt and not getting the ball in CP's hands are a different story...
 
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#16
#16
VolMax said:
My position has been (and continues to be) that we were so bad, the cupboard so bare, the timing so awful, that 2.5 years is totally unfair when it comes to judging Dooley. I love the guy for taking the job, cleaning up the image, recruiting well when he didn't have much to sell, funny as hell, etc...
Click to expand...

Well 7th best SEC recruiting class ain't gonna fill a bare cupboard. :hi:
 
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#17
#17
VolMax said:
I am opposed to firing Dooley if it is just because we lost to 4 of the top 11 BCS ranked teams. The KY game was inexcusable, but it happens - see Memphis. The facts I mentioned about lining up for a punt and not getting the ball in CP's hands are a different story...
Click to expand...

It's the body of work for me, And 3 out of the 4 losses could have EASILY been wins. Miss St? Are you kidding? Losing to Kentucky anytime for any coach should be a pretty damning sign---Georgia struggled to beat them and Dawg fans are not happy---and they are only a 1 loss team so far. What's "significant progress" to you and when should it be shown?
 
#18
#18
Truth is we hired a man that was a prov-en looser and have paid him millions to run our business and make it successful and he has failed. Time to move on
 
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#19
#19
I stopped reading when the OP said we got some good wins over a good NCST , Ga St, Akron team. Dooley was and is in over his head. I don't hate the man but I don't want him coaching Tn any longer.
 
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#22
#22
VolsSportsFan said:
Is there some reason people feel like they need to start a new thread and write a book telling their opinion? I get it's a messageboard but there are already tons other threads like this.
Click to expand...

Yes. There is a reason. All we needed was one thread to bash Dooley and one to extoll the virtues of Gruden. Freak ended up having to create a new forum. Apparently folks have a lot to say these days. Imagine that.
 
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#23
#23
VolMax said:
So far this season we looked pretty dang good in a win over a decent NC St. team, won vs Akron and G St (neither was very pretty), and COULD have beaten FL, GA, M State, and I felt hung in there with Bama until midway through 3rd quarter. Our run game is MUCH improved. We have switched D's and I expected some difficulties... landing DM and DS was exciting, but do we really have guys "built to play" the 3-4? So that might take another year or two...
Click to expand...

Sure, if only the team hadn't quit at halftime of the UF game, decided to show up for the 1st half against Miss State and if UGA had put the ball on the ground for us a couple more times at the 20, we could have won those games.
 
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#24
#24
I agree with a lot of what the OP has said.

This team was in shambles when he took over. I firmly believe Dooley was a risk that the AD had to make because nobody with proven success wanted to take such a gamble with their career.

The team is not in shambles anymore. This is a talented team that has played pretty well through easily the toughest schedule-to-date in the country. The only blowout loss was to #1 Bama. I honestly don't know how many of those games we win with Gruden as HC this year, if any (and I'm a big Gruden fan).

Does having Gruden on the sideline make CP catch the bomb against Florida or fix Hunter's hands vs. Georgia? Does Bray suddenly throw a few less interceptions? Does the defense adapt better to the new defensive scheme that Gruden's DC would install instead of Sunseri's?

Maybe. But for how far Dooley has brought this ship, I think it's really sad that the fanbase has turned on him so quickly.

Tennessee will likely be favored as #1 or #2 in the East w/ Florida in 2013. It will be Dooley's work the past 2.5 years that has made that happen.
 
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#25
#25
tnvols72 said:
I stopped reading when the OP said we got some good wins over a good NCST , Ga St, Akron team. Dooley was and is in over his head. I don't hate the man but I don't want him coaching Tn any longer.
Click to expand...

Uh, OP didn't say that...

"So far this season we looked pretty dang good in a win over a decent NC St. team, won vs Akron and G St (neither was very pretty), and COULD have beaten FL, GA, M State, and I felt hung in there with Bama until midway through 3rd quarter."
 
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