I Drank The Kool-Aid

#51
#51
I don't think it can be overstated, the devastating effect of losing your best defensive player before the season, your best offensive player on the first play of the third game, and now, the leader and perhaps, the most important player on the entire team in Tyler Bray.

With a young team with a fragile psyche, and no depth, this is a lot, and probably too much to overcome.
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#52
#52
We had been saying that 2012 would be the year since the offseason. All of the sudden, we act like that's too long. We're younger than we were last year, and we recognized that before the season. How come as soon as we lose a game, we act like our freshmen should be sophomores or juniors after 5 games? Are we really expecting them to grow up faster than any other freshmen in the league? How can we expect them to grow up so fast, especially without very little senior leadership?

Guys, it's been 5 games, not 3 seasons. I have seen, "We've got a lot of youth," and "We won't be decent until 2012" all off-season, and now that the season has come, we act like these kids have been playing four years of college ball and should be fully developed by now.
"When are we going to stop using the 'we're young' excuse?" -When we're not playing 17 freshmen with barely any senior leadership against teams like Florida. It's not really an excuse more than it is a fact that physically takes more than five games to change. Give it time.
 
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#54
#54
BTW, the reason we will know by the end of next season isn't on the offensive side of the ball. UGA is credible because they have improved on D. Bama's D has won for them more than their O. As good as the great UF teams were on O, their D's were the difference. LSU's O hasn't been very good in awhile... but their D has carried them.

The ONLY team in recent memory that has won the SEC on O was last year's Auburn team. Before that it was Spurrier at UF but even he cannot win like that at USCe.... it is a different day in the SEC.

IF... HUGE IF... UT's D turns the corner next year then Dooley will survive and succeed at UT.
 
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#55
#55
Sikerth said:
We had been saying that 2012 would be the year since the offseason. All of the sudden, we act like that's too long. We're younger than we were last year, and we recognized that before the season. How come as soon as we lose a game, we act like our freshmen should be sophomores or juniors after 5 games? Are we really expecting them to grow up faster than any other freshmen in the league? How can we expect them to grow up so fast, especially without very little senior leadership?

Guys, it's been 5 games, not 3 seasons. I have seen, "We've got a lot of youth," and "We won't be decent until 2012" all off-season, and now that the season has come, we act like these kids have been playing four years of college ball and should be fully developed by now.
"When are we going to stop using the 'we're young' excuse?" -When we're not playing 17 freshmen with barely any senior leadership against teams like Florida. It's not really an excuse more than it is a fact that physically takes more than five games to change. Give it time.
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Hard to find much to argue with here.
 
#56
#56
If this team comes out flat against LSU and gets torched, expect the wheels to fall of.
 
#57
#57
#8 especially bothered me. Also, Arnett has caught everything thrown near him so I'd like to see him targeted a bit more. And where did the quick slant go?
 
#59
#59
sjt18 said:
I disagree. I don't think Dooley has panicked. Except for the injury to Hunter, the other contingencies seem to have been accounted for as well as can be expected at this point. I honestly don't buy the "in over his head" argument at all except for game day. He seems to be VERY good at managing a program from team discipline off the field to practice mgt.

The jury is out on his game day/game planning abilities IMO. He has beaten the teams he should have beaten and lost to the teams he should have lost to... nothing is proven.

I don't know that this is true. They certainly don't look "apathetic" to me.

Preparation, mistakes, and ability to adjust are just as much a function of experience as coaching if not more so.

I am not trying to make excuses for DD. He knew what it was. He should get a "reasonable" amount of time to move the program in a clearly positive direction or lose his job.

At the same time, I don't buy excuses for a fanbase that should know better than to lay blame at Dooley's feet at this point. The decisions and actions of Fulmer plus Kiffin are still more of a factor than Dooley's failures. Next year, you can't say that nearly as much. By the following year you cannot say it at all.

I still think we will know by the end of next season whether Dooley will be able to get it done at UT or not.

What will be interesting is the reaction of the stone throwers if Dooley goes on to success elsewhere.
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Come sit behind the UT bench next week and watch the players and team on the sidelines. There's a big difference in what you can see with your own eyes and the snippets you're shown on TV. There were problems that the coaches didn't know how to fix. There was panic. Some players gave up. Some didn't care. Some did. There was a lack of leadership, a lack of "team" and a lack of control that I haven't seen before. Perhaps it will be different this Saturday. I hope so.

Leadership comes from the top down. We need a coach that can turn this group of players into a team and make them win. I like Dooley and would like it to be him. But I don't want to wait till next year (and next year and next year) to see signs that he is that guy. If he can hold the team together after the loss of Bray, coach up Simms and keep them fighting down Murderers' Row, then that's a pretty good sign.
 
#60
#60
LA Vol said:
Come sit behind the UT bench next week and watch the players and team on the sidelines. There's a big difference in what you can see with your own eyes and the snippets you're shown on TV. There were problems that the coaches didn't know how to fix. There was panic. Some players gave up. Some didn't care. Some did. There was a lack of leadership, a lack of "team" and a lack of control that I haven't seen before. Perhaps it will be different this Saturday. I hope so.

Leadership comes from the top down. We need a coach that can turn this group of players into a team and make them win. I like Dooley and would like it to be him. But I don't want to wait till next year (and next year and next year) to see signs that he is that guy. If he can hold the team together after the loss of Bray, coach up Simms and keep them fighting down Murderers' Row, then that's a pretty good sign.
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Bray will carry a different assignment this week and hopefully be good at it.
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#61
#61
TNinSC said:
Remember. All off-season, Dooley began every presser with, "well, we're still not a very good football team..." I guess we should've listened...
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We are abunch of know it all fans. Why should we listen to some stupid coach that grew up in this and has coached for years? It's time for the coaching staff to listen to VolNation if we're ever gonna win again.
 
#63
#63
What do you guys want out of Dooley?...You expect him to compete with Ga, Fl and SC with Vanderbilt and Kentucky type players.This is kiffin's mess, not Dooleys!..He has to be given time. He will not be an overnight sensation because he started in the hole and he won't climb out of the hole very fast. The destruction caused by kiffin and company will take years to overcome and unless UT is ready to lay down 6 to 8 million to get Saban to come over, anyone else you get is going to have the same problems Dooley is facing and probably won't have near the fit as Dooley...You are just going to have to suck it up Vol fans and let Dooley do his thing for at least his 4 full years. Had everyone remained healthy this year, we may have done what we all hoped this year, but it did not happen..get over it, thats the breaks..but he has a lot of talent growing up and he has the interest of alot of other young talent looking our way because he has a plan that makes sense to them and those who put him in that position...You have to let it play out and just grit your teeth as we go through these growing pains..Dooley is going to do it right and if it turns out that doing it the right way is not successful, we can always go throw upteen million at the next hot thing on his way to where he wants to go and pretend that we are there also...it's not going to happen.
 
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#64
#64
Good post Rex. I can argue with nothing and add several of my own.

Don't understand why posters call dedicated Vol fans with currently negative views the "lunatic fringe". After what we have seen over the past season and a half, the Dool-aid drinkers would clearly be the "lunatic fringe". I give good marks in coaching to Baggett, Hinshaw, Sirmon and Thompson at this point. The others, including CDD, are not getting it done. Game management, play calling, scheme, technique, etc. issues continue to create problems. Yet they continue to do the same things the same ways with the same players. That is lunacy.
 
#65
#65
I figured they'd be somewhere between 7-9 wins, which is still attainable if you count winning some insignificant bowl game. That said, the thing that's most jarring to me is that they're nowhere near as good as I thought they'd be. That's the main source of my frustration.

This team has been showing us evidence of its deficiencies all season long. Most of us chose to ignore it and believe otherwise.
 
#66
#66
I still fully support CDD, but what will be telling to me is how he handles this season's weaknesses in the off season. IMO, Hiestand has not lived up to his billing as an o-line coach. If the line continues to show no improvement in the run game, CDD will have to evaluate Hiestand's status as a coach here moving forward. I feel much the same about Russell. If we continue to see blocked kicks and punts, his status will have to be evaluated as well.

I think the defensive coaches are doing well considering what they are working with. They deserve time to get better players before they are really assessed. Lack of DTs has really hurt us.
 
#67
#67
The only weakness I see on this coaching staff is OL. The only thing that will help this team is recruiting and the staff seems to be very good at this under the circumstances. It is just going to take time and patience, but we will get there.
 
#68
#68
Realistically, if we lose to vandy and beat mtsu and Kentucky but lose to everyone else what changes do you think will be made first? New coordinator? Running backs coach?, idk. What say you?
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#69
#69
Vols4us said:
Good post Rex. I can argue with nothing and add several of my own.

Don't understand why posters call dedicated Vol fans with currently negative views the "lunatic fringe". After what we have seen over the past season and a half, the Dool-aid drinkers would clearly be the "lunatic fringe". I give good marks in coaching to Baggett, Hinshaw, Sirmon and Thompson at this point. The others, including CDD, are not getting it done. Game management,
play calling, scheme, technique, etc. issues
continue to create problems. Yet they
continue to do the same things the same
ways with the same players. That is
lunacy.
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Bingo.
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#70
#70
joemactuba said:
Realistically, if we lose to vandy and beat mtsu and Kentucky but lose to everyone else what changes do you think will be made first? New coordinator? Running backs coach?, idk. What say you?
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If Dooley loses to Vandy he can take his ass back home to Mom immediately. End of story. If Hart didn't fire him after the game, I would want a new AD. I understand Vandy is better, but my God we should have no problem beating them
this year, if that whole "talent and youth" theory Dooley sticks to is something we all have to believe.
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#71
#71
If Chaney keeps running this offense it won't work here, if teams are really being tipped off to when we're running. How we're running is a even bigger joke. Something has to change scheme wise or Chaney and his offense will probably need to find employment somewhere else. It's fun to watch them throw the ball all over the yard, but this isn't Purdue and this sure the hell isn't the Big Ten.
 
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#73
#73
WesternNCVol said:
I think Da'rick was pretty much double teamed all night taking him out of it. My bigger concern is why no one else was able to step up and get open more.

Our D looked pretty decent overall, but got smoked on some big plays. Too bad JJ messed up and had to leave. I miss having a good safety back there. We've been spoiled for the last 4 years at that spot with him and EB. I think our D will be the strong point in the long run though. We've recruited a good safety in this class so we are not "converting" another player like we are now.

Simms scares me too. Maybe he will get better. Any chance we see Nash on some plays just to see what he does in a game environment? He needs some snaps in my opinion just in cash Simms gets crushed. Simms is a tough guy though, just not a great decision maker.

Our O line is up in the air to me. They get no push, but can pass block like champs. Beats me.
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Dooley stated that Worley is the backup for Simms from now on. Nance is equal to that of a Heritage High School QB:ermm:
 
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