Amazing how one man can play such a large role in completely derailing a dominant program like ours. Overlooking Gary Patterson, hiring loose-cannon Kiffin,
My memory is slightly fuzzy around that time because of all the speculation and Gruden Part 1.
I thought Patterson HAD been contacted but turned it down. I'm willing to be corrected on that, though.
and then hiring completely unproven Dooley still haunt this program to today. Urghhh... all this still hurts!
Based on the precise timing of Kiffin's departure (I want to say it was around 3ish weeks before signing day?), I think a lot of folks knew there wasn't a lot available to get at that point. I doubt any proven, legit, 'winner' was willing to take on the dumpster fire that Tennessee had become overnight, and I doubt Dooley was #1 on the list in any case.
Quite frankly, if you want to blame anybody for Dooley coming to Tennessee, Pete Carroll should get at least part of it. Pete Carroll bolted from USC not just because the NFL came knocking, but because he also knew the hammer was about to fall heavy on USC. If Pete Carroll doesn't leave USC on January 11th, then Lane Kiffin doesn't leave Tennessee on January 12th, and then we don't hire Derek Dooley on January 15th...
Kiffin may not have been the ultimate answer to UT's future, and maybe the school would have been hit with some sanctions. But worse than any sanctions over, say, a 3-year tenure at UT would have been nothing compared to the fallout that happened when he left in January after just one year. The instability in the program at that point cost us in scholarship players and potential recruits.
Anyway, Had Kiffin stayed for about 3 years at least, Dooley wouldn't have been on the radar, and the program (or at least the roster) would have been in much better shape, and there's a good chance that not even Trumpet Playin' Jones would have been hired either.
So in the BIG picture, I -- for one -- blame Pete Carroll for our woes.
... and Fulmer, because nobody should forget how and why we ended up shopping for a head coach in the first place.