When you have great team speed, coaches look like geniuses on the field.
When there isn't enough speed... coaches look like they can't scheme their way past a high school team.
The true measure of coaching, this year, was how the team performed early in games against top flight competition. The first quarter is an indication of how a coach prepares his team.
Later...speed takes over...and there is no "adjusting" a coach can do to make up for it. The team is fatigued, the benefits of adrenaline have worn off and the players spirit is broken because they don't believe that they can get to their "spots" in time.
You want to measure coaching... look at the first 10 minutes against Oregon and Auburn...the entire Georgia, South Carolina, Vandy and Western Kentucky games.
This staff outcoached Richt, Petrino, Spurrier and (yes) Franklin. This team didn't have the defensive speed to hang with Georgia, South Carolina or even Vandy. They matched up evenly with Western Kentucky and tore the Hilltoppers apart.
The days of the Vols being blown out by the top half of the SEC are rapidly coming to a close.