Is Sunseri Dooley's Clawson?

#27
#27
I'm wondering if you are in my Facebook page because I said the exact same thing during the game. Sunseri , like Clawson, had bad idea written all over him. He brought in a new defense that took a long period of time to master..... Much like the Clawfence. Neither Fulmer nor Dooley had the job stability to bring in something that took time to get the job done.
 
#28
#28
RoanokeVol said:
I'm wondering if you are in my Facebook page because I said the exact same thing during the game. Sunseri , like Clawson, had bad idea written all over him. He brought in a new defense that took a long period of time to master..... Much like the Clawfence. Neither Fulmer nor Dooley had the job stability to bring in something that took time to get the job done.
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Unfortunately, no facebook for me. I don't need to post the happenings of my life for all to see. But apparently there are quite a few vol fans that reached the same train of thought as you and I. :hi:
 
#31
#31
volmaniac18 said:
In Fulmer's last year, our offense was abysmal. The offseason prior was when Fulmer decided to hire Dave Clawson as his OC. It's pretty fair to say the Clawson hire was pretty detrimental to Fulmer's job.

This past offseason Dooley hired Sunseri, so far the DC hire has been crippling to Dooley this year.

Both guys were trying to implement an offense/defense that was new to Tennessee. It seems to me that a head coach who is in dire need of a successful season should not hire a coordinator that needs to overhaul one side of the ball before he can run his scheme successfully.
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Yes - even the announcers said so
 
#32
#32
volmaniac18 said:
It seems to me that a head coach who is in dire need of a successful season should not hire a coordinator that needs to overhaul one side of the ball before he can run his scheme successfully.
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I agree with you about Sunseri being Dooley's version of Clawson. I'd have to take a different slant on the overhaul issue.

What if Chaney had left and Gus Malzahn had become available as OC? Would you make the switch, even if you were on the hot seat? I know I would. Even if it's risky, Gus Malzahn has a solid track record and hiring him might help you keep your job in the long run. You can't sit back and play conservative your entire life.

I don't think the risk factor was the biggest issue with Clawson and Sunseri. The real problem is that neither of them had really proven themselves for the position they were taking. Coaching in the SEC is tough. Neither Clawson nor Sunseri really had the experience or record to suggest they would succeed.

Clawson had three years as an OC at a I-AA school, and then three years as head coach of Richmond. Richmond was good, but not great under Clawson. He went 3-8 his first year, then had a 9-4 second year where he made it to the I-AA playoffs (quarterfinals), and then had 6-5 third season. It's really tough to make much of that. It was definitely a gamble.

Same deal with Sunseri. He was represented as being brilliant at what he does, because he worked under Saban. But when you dig beneath the surface, he'd really been a position coach for 26 years. Never got offered a DC gig before Tennessee. Maybe there was a reason for that. (Same deal with Ron Zook before Florida.)

Overhauling a scheme is certainly risky, but I think as long as Dooley was showing significant progress, us (the fans) and the athletic dept might be optimistic about things for the long haul and cut him some slack. The real problem is that both with Clawson and Sunseri, there was no improvement as the season went on. We played game 8 today, and we look much worse than we did in games 1, 2, and 3. We keep getting worse ever week. That's what is really killing Dooley.
 
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