it'd be hype if he came in w/out ever having done anything before.
and i'm not going to say there's ever a reason to give up the rushing yards we did back half of last season.
but purely from a coaching standpoint, the way we lost players, especially up front, all season long, and it trickled in to every level of the defense, i just think some of you are downplaying the impact that has on a much bigger picture than simply dialing up plays.
you go in to every season, every game with a plan agianst a particular offense, you have a roster that you plan on using, rotatins you plan on using, contingencies based on what you have seen from players in games and in practice. you have a sense of what each of these guys strengths and weaknesses are, who plays and communicates well within whatever personnel packages are called for in a given situation. you have contingencies for injuries or gaps that could need to be filled, if the situation calls for it.
we started the season thin at LB (didn't even list a SAM LB for the opener), and it got really thin, really quick, once JRM and DK jr went down. then you lost some depth with Sapp getting hurt for the season (his position on ST had to be addressed too). McDowell also missed time early on. so you're already in a scheme that's not what you wanted (4-2-5), you lose 4 LB's for various lengths of time early in the season, you have a hodge podge of line ups in the seconary past week 2, and then mid point on, the nail in the coffin hits by way of 3 DL disappearing from the roster all together.
i hate injuries as an excuse. but typically that's the case when you lose a guy or two, and you wnat to play the 'what if' game.
that's not what happened here last year.
heck thru the Alabama game, we only started 2 games with the same line up in the secondary.
that's a lot of personnel shuffling having to be done week to week, and to work out all the communication and personnel packages, sometimes not knowing until later in the week who's available to even play, i think as it all accumilated last year, it was a worst case scenario. especially on the DL. we had guys playing out of position just because of needing bodies.
you don't think all of that affects game planning?
it doesn't exucse the performance we saw. i just think it's too convenient to simply say shoop needs to prove he's not just hype.
a lot of things need to improve so this doesn't happen again, no argument. but the root cause is deeper than just saying "shoop can't coach".
http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/10/20/13322306/tennessee-volunteers-injuries-2016
http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...-volunteers-total-injuries-2016-season-101816