Sunshine Pumpers - I am here to convert you

#1
Stevorino

Stevorino

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#1
Believe it or not, I too was a Sunshine Pumper not long ago. But the MSU & USC games changed my mind. Here are my pre-conversion pumper arguments and how I have now come to terms with each.

1) The man inherited a mess and has made progress.

I agree with this 100%. I think Dooley has done a wonderful job on two fronts: Recruiting & Cleaning up the image of the program.

I think he deserves a lot of credit for both of these tasks as they were not easy and have both improved the program considerably.

But now it is time to coach up the talent, and Dooley & Co has not done that. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, this is a team that looks lost much of the time. You don't see Bama looking confused.

2) It's not 'fair'. Hart should see his contract through, Dooley deserves more time.

The man was given arguably one of the greatest sporting opportunities of all time. I list it second behind (the fictional) Rocky Balboa.

His coaching background is NOT that impressive and Hamilton fast-forwarded his career 3-5 years minimum. Tennessee is a destination job for 90% of the coaching profession.

Dooley was also given a contract that compensated Dooley extremely well win or lose. The man could theoretically go buy a modest home and retire after 2.5 years of mixed success.

3) We have played the hardest schedule-to-date in college football.

I agree with this entirely and this argument kept me a Sunshine Pumper until Saturday. But MSU is not THAT good (as we saw vs. Bama, their first non-UT test) and USC was beat up almost as bad as we were last year.

If Dooley had made a better decision when hiring on the defensive side of the ball, maybe he gets some W's and keeps his job. I don't buy that Hart forced Sunseri without Dooley giving him a reason to do so.

4) But Dooley deserves to have a graduating class.

Here's another big problem - the program is far more attractive to a big name now than after 2013 when we are guaranteed to lose Bray, Hunter, Neal, Patterson, JaWuan James, Fulton, Stone, Bullard, Sentimore, C.Miller, Couch, Walls, McCullers, Jacques Smith, Brewer, and Moore.

Do you really think Tennessee can attract a big name after losing that squad? Many of the issues we saw when hiring Kiffin/Dooley was that the cupboard was so bare that nobody would come because it was a death sentence.

I remember a very well-sourced Volquest poster during Dooley's hiring that stated the Board of Trustees planned this very outcome: Hire a middle-tier coach to come in, clean up the glaring issues and add some decent talent, then fire and hire the real next coach. Whether or not the guy was just Nostradamus or in-the-know will never be proven, but it was spot on.
 
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#4
#4
Good Points OP. Listen my take on a "Sunshine Pumper" is someone who follows the UT program just on the sole fact of support. I will support DD while he is the coach of University of Tennessee and that is final. Thou shall not Convert Me !!!
 
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#5
#5
SmokeySC said:
Good Points OP. Listen my take on a "Sunshine Pumper" is someone who follows the UT program just on the sole fact of support. I will support DD while he is the coach of University of Tennessee and that is final. Thou shall not Convert Me !!!
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The sunshine pumper sees that their team and coaches are playing hard equating to good, when in fact the players are not performing adequately and the coaches have failed to properly recruit/train/coach the team.
 
#6
#6
It seems to me the primary question is--could we have hired someone who would have done better over the past 3 years? Secondarily, is there someone better waiting in the wings who will take the job?

It's easy to say fire him but the answer to these questions make one think a bit deeper (not a VN strength, I know). I'm not saying wether he should, or should not be fired-- I think the answer will vary from person to person.
 
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#7
#7
Tennessee is a destination job for 90% of the coaching profession.

Dooley wasn't the first choice. Several offers were made before him and they wouldn't take the job.
 
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#8
#8
images
 
#9
#9
VolFootballlover said:
The sunshine pumper sees that their team and coaches are playing hard equating to good, when in fact the players are not performing adequately and the coaches have failed to properly recruit/train/coach the team.
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Well that's you definition of sunshine pumper, which sounds :crazy: . I just don't see what good can come from bickering all day longggggg .... about Dooley. Yes we suck, but I will support UT with or without Dooley.
 
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#10
#10
Volinnooga said:
It seems to me the primary question is--could we have hired someone who would have done better over the past 3 years?
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CDD has virtually matched joker phillips' record at kensucky, is 1-1 against him head to head, and this year is fielding a D ranked below kensucky and everyone else in the SEC for that matter.

look at the recruiting and rosters of both teams, and i think the question becomes, could we have hired anyone who could have done worse?
 
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#11
#11
You lost me when you compared us to Bama. Of course they dont look confused - they have great players and a proven system. We have terrible players and a new system. We are not Bama and never will be, stop expecting us to be and things wont seem so bad.
 
#12
#12
FittyElevem said:
Tennessee is a destination job for 90% of the coaching profession.

Dooley wasn't the first choice. Several offers were made before him and they wouldn't take the job.
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Before both Kiffin and Dooley we had a chance to hire a top flight coach. Makes one wonder why no one bit. Seems like they knew what they would be getting themselves into. And determined it was not worth the trouble.
 
#13
#13
SmokeySC said:
Well that's you definition of sunshine pumper, which sounds :crazy: . I just don't see what good can come from bickering all day longggggg .... about Dooley. Yes we suck, but I will support UT with or without Dooley.
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Well then you tell me what your definition of sunshine pumper is?
 
#14
#14
I was a die-hard Dooley man. Drank to Dool aid daily for three years. No longer. I can see the evidence on the field. Lack of coaching , not talent. Our defense sucks and nobody can deny that. Gone down since Sunseri arrived. Just like someone else has said, you cannot win the sec east or the sec period with three star talent. Sure, we have a sprinkling of four star players. We also are likely to fill our roster with two or three star players for the remainder of this year. Cannot see many elite players breaking our door down to play for our beloved Vols. Just trying to be real. Would prefer Gruden but would settle for Charlie Strong too.
 
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#19
#19
AlumniChase said:
You lost me when you compared us to Bama. Of course they dont look confused - they have great players and a proven system. We have terrible players and a new system. We are not Bama and never will be, stop expecting us to be and things wont seem so bad.
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I just can't stand for this! Stop expecting us to be Bama bc we never will be? I grew up watching UT kill Bama every year. We better start watching the best teams in the country if we want to see how to win these days. We can get back there and we will get back there with the right coach. Bama will fall to thrown of UT once again and UT will rise guys.
 
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#20
#20
PimpVol said:
Before both Kiffin and Dooley we had a chance to hire a top flight coach. Makes one wonder why no one bit. Seems like they knew what they would be getting themselves into. And determined it was not worth the trouble.
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Kiffin was a top flight hire. He may have been over rated but 2 different top 10 schools do not both hire a guy nobody wants. If you are too stupid to see that Kiffin was and probably still is a top tier coach I question your knowledge.
 
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#21
#21
jortfreeTN said:
Kiffin was a top flight hire. He may have been over rated but 2 different top 10 schools do not both hire a guy nobody wants. If you are too stupid to see that Kiffin was and probably still is a top tier coach I question your knowledge.
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I totally agree but you may get lite up here for saying this...
 
#22
#22
PimpVol said:
Before both Kiffin and Dooley we had a chance to hire a top flight coach. Makes one wonder why no one bit. Seems like they knew what they would be getting themselves into. And determined it was not worth the trouble.
Click to expand...

I honestly believe it has to do with how the Fulmer situation played out. If we do that to a guy who spent the better part of his life at this university, bled for it (literally and metaphorically), etc, what would we do to someone who wasn't in the family at the first sign of trouble? I'll bite that Kiffin was a bigger name hire. However, this place was never going to be anything but a stepping stone, but too many people didn't see it. This job is career suicide for too many good coaches.
 
#23
#23
Stevorino said:
Believe it or not, I too was a Sunshine Pumper not long ago. But the MSU & USC games changed my mind. Here are my pre-conversion pumper arguments and how I have now come to terms with each.

1) The man inherited a mess and has made progress.

I agree with this 100%. I think Dooley has done a wonderful job on two fronts: Recruiting & Cleaning up the image of the program.

I think he deserves a lot of credit for both of these tasks as they were not easy and have both improved the program considerably.

But now it is time to coach up the talent, and Dooley & Co has not done that. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, this is a team that looks lost much of the time. You don't see Bama looking confused.

2) It's not 'fair'. Hart should see his contract through, Dooley deserves more time.

The man was given arguably one of the greatest sporting opportunities of all time. I list it second behind (the fictional) Rocky Balboa.

His coaching background is NOT that impressive and Hamilton fast-forwarded his career 3-5 years minimum. Tennessee is a destination job for 90% of the coaching profession.

Dooley was also given a contract that compensated Dooley extremely well win or lose. The man could theoretically go buy a modest home and retire after 2.5 years of mixed success.

3) We have played the hardest schedule-to-date in college football.

I agree with this entirely and this argument kept me a Sunshine Pumper until Saturday. But MSU is not THAT good (as we saw vs. Bama, their first non-UT test) and USC was beat up almost as bad as we were last year.

If Dooley had made a better decision when hiring on the defensive side of the ball, maybe he gets some W's and keeps his job. I don't buy that Hart forced Sunseri without Dooley giving him a reason to do so.

4) But Dooley deserves to have a graduating class.

Here's another big problem - the program is far more attractive to a big name now than after 2013 when we are guaranteed to lose Bray, Hunter, Neal, Patterson, JaWuan James, Fulton, Stone, Bullard, Sentimore, C.Miller, Couch, Walls, McCullers, Jacques Smith, Brewer, and Moore.

Do you really think Tennessee can attract a big name after losing that squad? Many of the issues we saw when hiring Kiffin/Dooley was that the cupboard was so bare that nobody would come because it was a death sentence.

I remember a very well-sourced Volquest poster during Dooley's hiring that stated the Board of Trustees planned this very outcome: Hire a middle-tier coach to come in, clean up the glaring issues and add some decent talent, then fire and hire the real next coach. Whether or not the guy was just Nostradamus or in-the-know will never be proven, but it was spot on.
Click to expand...



Nice title. I was intrigued enough to open it up
 
#24
#24
Donvolson said:
Some merit, but it's just easier on my constitution to blame Hamilton solely
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Why would you blame the messenger? Hart works for the board of directors that make the decisions. Blame them and not Hart.:mf_surrender::mf_surrender::mf_surrender::mf_surrender:
 
#25
#25
All of that is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the future of the program. Not what Dooley inherited. Not progress. Certainly not "fairness".

If Hart by some logic I cannot see determines that keeping Dooley is best for the future of the program then that's what should be done. If Hart sees things the way I do then Dooley should already be on notice that I am looking for his replacement and that he's coaching to improve his resume for his next job.
 
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