Quality depth....

[g8terh8ter_eric]

We don't have it, and won't for a couple of years. I've even tempered my expectations of next season as well, due to the drop off of quality players from our starters. There is a reason we have two freshman LBs starting. We just don't have the horses right now, and it's painful to watch.

Now, with that being said, those of you who maybe calling for Dooley to be on the hot seat, or any other coach for that matter, are truly delusional and have no sense of reality. The cold hard reality is, back in the golden years we could out talent most teams, and had the ability to beat all the great teams out there. Now, we just don't have that luxury, so you need to get those days out of your mind.

I realized last year, that even thinking about any achievements prior to when Dooley took over would make my expectations way too high. No matter what anyone says on here about us "being UT", that doesn't help us create depth on a depleted roster right now.

So, you really either have two options, have 1998 expectations that will just piss you off watching the product on the field today, or you can have no expectations and enjoy the game much more. I've chosen to have zero expectations at this point, so I can enjoy our football team. They are just not very good right now, and they won't be until we have quality people who can step in when people get hurt and play up to the expectations we would all like to have for our team.

 

[Biopsyman]

I had no idea about our depth issue until I read this.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

Fortunately for the program, most of us have expectations through the roof. Expectations drave people to do idiotic things like contribute and spend huge amounts of money on something that they could watch for free in HD from the comfort of their sofa. Expectations make people spend countless hours on sites like this, cross dissecting every aspect of the program. Expectations are good. It sounds like the OP has accepted either defeatism or apathy and both of those are death to any program.

 

[justdooleyit]

My point is, if we are going to have to watch a high school team, why not charge high school admission? I spend a boat load of money on my tickets and trips to the games. Just sayin....

 

[UTMVol76]

We don't have it, and won't for a couple of years. I've even tempered my expectations of next season as well, due to the drop off of quality players from our starters. There is a reason we have two freshman LBs starting. We just don't have the horses right now, and it's painful to watch.

Now, with that being said, those of you who maybe calling for Dooley to be on the hot seat, or any other coach for that matter, are truly delusional and have no sense of reality. The cold hard reality is, back in the golden years we could out talent most teams, and had the ability to beat all the great teams out there. Now, we just don't have that luxury, so you need to get those days out of your mind.

I realized last year, that even thinking about any achievements prior to when Dooley took over would make my expectations way too high. No matter what anyone says on here about us "being UT", that doesn't help us create depth on a depleted roster right now.

So, you really either have two options, have 1998 expectations that will just piss you off watching the product on the field today, or you can have no expectations and enjoy the game much more. I've chosen to have zero expectations at this point, so I can enjoy our football team. They are just not very good right now, and they won't be until we have quality people who can step in when people get hurt and play up to the expectations we would all like to have for our team.

Amen Brother!

Right now the enjoyment of watching the Vols has to be the process, and watching these guys mature. This is not easy having watched through the good times. Just look around the nation right now, and you will see other power programs that are, or have gone through the same thing. Most forget that USC was an afterthought in the 90's, and it did take Pete Carroll a couple years to get it back, and that wasn't the SEC, and he had pick of the crop in a fertile recruitng state. Also see: Nebraska, Florida St., Miami, etc....

Now, for those of you in school right now: This sucks, and I completely understand. I would be VERY frustrated that while I got a short time to be in college, that my teams were not competing for the SEC, and frankly painful to watch at times. It will change, though, and as you continue to be a fan after school you will take a great amount of pleasure when your alma mater is successful. But it will be a process, and anything done right will, by nessesity, take time. But I feel we will all be proud soomer than later!

GO VOLS!

 

[MTSUDaff]

Watching us get steamrolled in the second half was disheartening, but I think every fan who knows football knew it was inevitable going into this game. The bottom line is we jsut don't have the defensive personnel, or size on either side of the ball, to seriously contend in SEC games right now.

The future is bright, but even with guys like Dalton and O'Brien coming in, it's going to take time for them to get stronger and learn how to combine that improvement with better technique. This program is still about 3threeyears away from being serious in the SEC, in my opinion.

If you're patient, though, and understand what it means to build something up (especially from what this staff inherited), it's going to be a lot of fun in a few years.

 

[UTMVol76]

What will be ironic, is if in the foreseeable future, we're able to do to LSU what they did to us in 2001. For those of you who don't know how it all went down, look up LSU in wikipedia and see where their program went from there. And what Saban inherited from DiNardo was bad, but nothing compared to our dumpster fire.

Dooley spoke about what that win vs, TENN did for LSU. History does repeat itself, now we just have to sit back and watch. And, unless you can suit up and play, what else can you do?

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

Fortunately for the program, most of us have expectations through the roof. Expectations drave people to do idiotic things like contribute and spend huge amounts of money on something that they could watch for free in HD from the comfort of their sofa. Expectations make people spend countless hours on sites like this, cross dissecting every aspect of the program. Expectations are good. It sounds like the OP has accepted either defeatism or apathy and both of those are death to any program.

The love for the Vols cause us to do those things, not expectations. If it were all expectation driven, then we wouldn't be doing anything like that right now, because it wouldn't be worth the investment. It's kind of like blind love.

 

[TNFishingReport]

I expect them to compete, thought they did yesterday, they didn't quit, second half was just too much. I have controlled expectations and personally I really like this coaching staff

 

[Cartervol]

Fortunately for the program, most of us have expectations through the roof. Expectations drave people to do idiotic things like contribute and spend huge amounts of money on something that they could watch for free in HD from the comfort of their sofa. Expectations make people spend countless hours on sites like this, cross dissecting every aspect of the program. Expectations are good. It sounds like the OP has accepted either defeatism or apathy and both of those are death to any program.

It's why unless Dooley gives the fanbase something to get excited about next year i don't expect him to be around after that. 5 years of this would have fan apathy and more empty seats at Neyland at a all time high. They won't allow it. Too much at risk for that.

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

It's why unless Dooley gives the fanbase something to get excited about next year i don't expect him to be around after that. 5 years of this would have fan apathy and more empty seats at Neyland at a all time high. They won't allow it. Too much at risk for that.

It took Spurrier 5 years to resurrect USCe, and we all know that they were part of the whipping post teams in SEC. Giving Dooley 5-6 years to try and turn it around is acceptable to me, because you can't have like 5 coaches in 15 years and be a poster child for successful.

 

[Cartervol]

It took Spurrier 5 years to resurrect USCe, and we all know that they were part of the whipping post teams in SEC. Giving Dooley 5-6 years to try and turn it around is acceptable to me, because you can't have like 5 coaches in 15 years and be a poster child for successful.

Just the same i don't think he gets that long. 4 years at the most. Dooley won't get the benefit of the doubt because his track record doesn't deserve it. He's a stopgap in my opinion and if the right guy is out there in the future, i wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the trigger in a year or so. Jmo.

 

[phowell23]

It took Spurrier 5 years to resurrect USCe, and we all know that they were part of the whipping post teams in SEC. Giving Dooley 5-6 years to try and turn it around is acceptable to me, because you can't have like 5 coaches in 15 years and be a poster child for successful.

Agreed 101%! :hi:

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

Just the same i don't think he gets that long. 4 years at the most. Dooley won't get the benefit of the doubt because his track record doesn't deserve it. He's a stopgap in my opinion and if the right guy is out there in the future, i wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the trigger in a year or so. Jmo.

If Dooley is gone before the 2012 class become seniors, I will be surprised. That will allow plenty of time to flush the team of unwanted players, and allow the AD time to dedicate more to the football program, which is something Dave Hart has talked about already. There were a lot of people whining and wailing when Dooley offered Devrin Young, now those people look foolish. It's going to take time and the right personnel and coaching staff decisions to get us back on top. When all that gels at once, watch out man.

 

[Cartervol]

If Dooley is gone before the 2012 class become seniors, I will be surprised. That will allow plenty of time to flush the team of unwanted players, and allow the AD time to dedicate more to the football program, which is something Dave Hart has talked about already. There were a lot of people whining and wailing when Dooley offered Devrin Young, now those people look foolish. It's going to take time and the right personnel and coaching staff decisions to get us back on top. When all that gels at once, watch out man.

Well you got more faith in them than i do. He was a unknown when they hired him, that right there gives people a reason to doubt.

 

[Volinnooga]

Has next year's schedule been finalized? I don't think it has but I wonder who we will play from the west besides Bammer.

 

[Cartervol]

Has next year's schedule been finalized? I don't think it has but I wonder who we will play from the west besides Bammer.

Arkansas for sure. Slive probably gives us a early christmas present and adds A&M to our schedule. I think otherwise it would be Miss St in the rotation from the west.

 

[bigorangepoppa]

Were you an unknown when you started you job?

 

[TOP]

We don't have it, and won't for a couple of years. I've even tempered my expectations of next season as well, due to the drop off of quality players from our starters. There is a reason we have two freshman LBs starting. We just don't have the horses right now, and it's painful to watch.

Now, with that being said, those of you who maybe calling for Dooley to be on the hot seat, or any other coach for that matter, are truly delusional and have no sense of reality. The cold hard reality is, back in the golden years we could out talent most teams, and had the ability to beat all the great teams out there. Now, we just don't have that luxury, so you need to get those days out of your mind.

I realized last year, that even thinking about any achievements prior to when Dooley took over would make my expectations way too high. No matter what anyone says on here about us "being UT", that doesn't help us create depth on a depleted roster right now.

So, you really either have two options, have 1998 expectations that will just piss you off watching the product on the field today, or you can have no expectations and enjoy the game much more. I've chosen to have zero expectations at this point, so I can enjoy our football team. They are just not very good right now, and they won't be until we have quality people who can step in when people get hurt and play up to the expectations we would all like to have for our team.

I think next season will be better personally. They don't really lose much. Losing Malik Jackson is the only real blow. I would have said Poole but given the running game so far this season, his loss isn't a big deal. Austin Johnson's void will be filled by the return of Herman Lathers. The only other loss is Art Evans?

QB JR Tyler Bray
RB SO Marlin Lane
FB SR Ben Bartholomew or JR Channing Fugate
WR JR Justin Hunter
WR JR Da'Rick Rogers
WR SO DeAnthony Arnett
TE SR Mychal Rivera
OT SR Dallas Thomas
OT JR Ja'Wuan James
OG JR Alex Bullard
OG JR Zach Fulton
C JR James Stone

DE SR Willie Bohannon or JR Corey Miller
DE JR Jacques Smith
DT SR Maurice Couch or JR Marlon Walls
DT JR Daniel Hood
LB SO Curt Maggitt
LB SO A.J. Johnson
LB SR Herman Lathers
CB SR Izauea Lanier
CB SR Marsalis Teague
FS SR Prentiss Waggner
SS JR Brent Brewer

Maybe Randolph will be ready to start and Waggner can move to corner.

Probably made some mistakes with that depth chart but most of the starters will be in their 3rd year with this coaching staff. I have faith that the team will be improved next year. If not, that's when I'm really gonna start to worry

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

Well you got more faith in them than i do. He was a unknown when they hired him, that right there gives people a reason to doubt.

It's not really about faith for me at this point. For me, it's kind of like watching someone have surgery, then taking out the doctor who's botching it, and replacing him with another doctor, and that doctor trying to redo what was already 75% done in the first place. Dooley has done more with this roster, than I expected him too at this point, so when he gets the patient completely done, I'm interested to see how quickly the patient recovers. Then Dooley and his coaching staff become more like physical therapists.

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

I think next season will be better personally. They don't really lose much. Losing Malik Jackson is the only real blow. I would have said Poole but given the running game so far this season, his loss isn't a big deal. Austin Johnson's void will be filled by the return of Herman Lathers. The only other loss is Art Evans?

QB JR Tyler Bray
RB SO Marlin Lane
FB SR Ben Bartholomew or JR Channing Fugate
WR JR Justin Hunter
WR JR Da'Rick Rogers
WR SO DeAnthony Arnett
TE SR Mychal Rivera
OT SR Dallas Thomas
OT JR Ja'Wuan James
OG JR Alex Bullard
OG JR Zach Fulton
C JR James Stone

DE SR Willie Bohannon or JR Corey Miller
DE JR Jacques Smith
DT SR Maurice Couch or JR Marlon Walls
DT JR Daniel Hood
LB SO Curt Maggitt
LB SO A.J. Johnson
LB SR Herman Lathers
CB SR Izauea Lanier
CB SR Marsalis Teague
FS SR Prentiss Waggner
SS JR Brent Brewer

Maybe Randolph will be ready to start and Waggner can move to corner.

Probably made some mistakes with that depth chart but most of the starters will be in their 3rd year with this coaching staff. I have faith that the team will be improved next year. If not, that's when I'm really gonna start to worry

See, this is most fans problem. They look at how wonderful the starting lineup would look, instead of looking how it would look if one of those starters went down. As we can all see, the problem isn't necessarily the starters, it's the depth chart after them.

 

[TOP]

See, this is most fans problem. They look at how wonderful the starting lineup would look, instead of looking how it would look if one of those starters went down. As we can all see, the problem isn't necessarily the starters, it's the depth chart after them.

But if the team only loses a few seniors... that means the depth would get better next year because all of the young guys are a year older.

I have no problem, we're obviously looking at different pictures.

 

[g8terh8ter_eric]

But if we only lose a few seniors that contribute... that means the depth would get better next year because all of the young guys are a year older.

I have no problem, we're obviously looking at different pictures.

Get better yes, contribute and perform to a SECC level, I highly doubt it.

 

[Cartervol]

It's not really about faith for me at this point. For me, it's kind of like watching someone have surgery, then taking out the doctor who's botching it, and replacing him with another doctor, and that doctor trying to redo what was already 75% done in the first place. Dooley has done more with this roster, than I expected him too at this point, so when he gets the patient completely done, I'm interested to see how quickly the patient recovers. Then Dooley and his coaching staff become more like physical therapists.

I hear you. I see some positive things, still hard to take a lot from a game that they were clearly overmatched. Yesterday wasn't the staff's fault. They were simply outclassed. eace2:

 

[Cartervol]

Were you an unknown when you started you job?

It's not a knock on Dooley, it's just a fact.