What if? The Derek Dooley Story

[DadlyVols]

Guys, I want you all to just hear me out as this opening line may shock you. If Derek Dooley never would have been fired Tennessee would be a perennial powerhouse with at least two national championships under his regime right now. Some of you may wonder what brand of meth I am on. I assure you its nothing but good ole oxygen and water in this body. Let me at least cite 1-2 of the many reasons why this is a fact. If Derek Dooley was never fired we would have been scoring with the best of teams in the SEC. Just look at what Missouri has been doing since he took the OC position there. Meaning we would have never seen the likes of Mike Deboard or Tyson Helton. That alone is worth a few wins in itself. We would have also had stability and discipline. Derek Dooley was a hardnose, smashmouth coach who didn't take crap from anyone. He made the players learn everything from shower techniques to proper alignment on the field. The program was trending in an upward direction as Dooley hit the dusty trail. Butch didn't inherit a mess. Butch inherited a team of well rounded athletes that were prime for a title run and pissed it away. Derek Dooley catches a lot of heat for the time he spent here. I am here to say that was unjust and we should be apologetic to him. Derek Dooley, I appreciate your greatness and the amazing things you did during your tenure at Tennessee.

 

[Neyland Law Vol]

You forgot the blue font.

 

[Pride85]

Derek, stop trolling this board.

 

[KingtUT]

 

[KingtUT]

id definitely take DD over Butch

 

[livefaith]

OP, I agree w one thing. It's NOT meth. It's ...

 

[photovol]

id definitely take DD over Butch

Both are buried down by the creek, RIP LOSERS

 

[05_never_again]

Guys, I want you all to just hear me out as this opening line may shock you. If Derek Dooley never would have been fired Tennessee would be a perennial powerhouse with at least two national championships under his regime right now. Some of you may wonder what brand of meth I am on. I assure you its nothing but good ole oxygen and water in this body. Let me at least cite 1-2 of the many reasons why this is a fact. If Derek Dooley was never fired we would have been scoring with the best of teams in the SEC. Just look at what Missouri has been doing since he took the OC position there. Meaning we would have never seen the like of Mike "cuck" Deboard or Tyson Helton. That alone is worth a few wins in itself. We would have also had stability and discipline. Derek Dooley was a hardnose, smashmouth coach who didn't take crap from anyone. He made the players learn everything from shower techniques to proper alignment on the field. The program was trending in an upward direction as Dooley hit the dusty trail. Butch didn't inherit a mess, unlike Donald Trump. Butch inherited a team of well rounded athletes that were prime for a title run and pissed it away. Derek Dooley catches a lot of heat for the time he spent here. I am here to say that was unjust and we should be apologetic to him. Derek Dooley, I appreciate your greatness and the amazing things you did during your tenure at Tennessee.

Barbara?

 

[jwilliams]

Can't tell if this is serious, but I'll bite...

I actually agree with a bit of that. Dooley's downfall was hiring a new DC that wanted to switch to a 3-4 in his 3rd year. Our offense was nasty in 2012... really fun to watch. Our defense was one of the worst I've ever seen that year.

However, if I'm not mistaken, he recruited 0 offensive linemen one year (maybe his last year), which is pretty unforgivable. In fact, I seem to recall everyone talking about how bad of a situation Jones inherited because of that very thing.

Anyway, he doesn't make that DC hire, and he might still be here... orange pants and all.

 

[dcm3w]

Tell me how many winning seasons he had in 6 head coaching seasons? 1.

Dooley has proved that he has a great offensive mind but just because he is a great OC does not mean he is a good HC. Pruitt could be in the same boat if he doesn't produce here or somewhere else.

 

[HollowaytoSeivers]

Yeah, I remember when I had my first beer.

 

[maotai]

 

[BootheelVol]

Dooley might be a decent coordinator(jury is still out). But he couldnt manage a program of this size. Remember the police escort to bring a soccer player to Neyland stadium to kick for us....

 

[Dudleys87]

Derek is exhibit A as to why you never hire based on last name.

 

[EZE]

I’m at a loss for words. B@tsh!t crazy talk.

 

[aaronvol]

 

[Dudleys87]

If Vince never had Walker would the name Dooley even mean anything in College Football?

 

[Tallman]

Our O-line has yet to recover from Dooley.

 

[coffeevol]

Offensively we we fantastic under ole double D, but defense...yikes....I would say if Wilcox stuck around Dooley might have gotten another few years. Sunseri was worst hire ever but he could not get better because he was on hot seat and his hands were tied at the time. Word was that Steele was all but set to come here but West Virginia just scored again.

 

[utvolpj]

Op's first post. Just shows there is no cure

Serious question. I like what Butch is doing with our program, don't get me wrong. But I honestly feel like Dooley ran a more smash mouth style and gameplan. I think ultimately we could have been more successful under his regime if he was given 2 more years. Does anyone agree with this logic based on his smashmouth gameplan and style of offense?

 

[Alto1]

He got beat by a very bad Kentucky team that was playing a WR at QB.

No thanks!


SMDH!!!!

 

[Backwards K]

He never had control of his team, they quit on him at the end of at least one year and he was just a total buffoon. Intersting that you call Mike DeBord names when he coordinated one of the most productive offenses in UT history (total yds and TDs). The best thing Dooley did in his tenure at UT was get fired and leave.

 

[GTBATV]

 

[vols 30]

id definitely take DD over Butch

What a decision. I'll take none of the above

 

[05_never_again]

Can't tell if this is serious, but I'll bite...

I actually agree with a bit of that. Dooley's downfall was hiring a new DC that wanted to switch to a 3-4 in his 3rd year. Our offense was nasty in 2012... really fun to watch. Our defense was one of the worst I've ever seen that year.

However, if I'm not mistaken, he recruited 0 offensive linemen one year (maybe his last year), which is pretty unforgivable. In fact, I seem to recall everyone talking about how bad of a situation Jones inherited because of that very thing.

Anyway, he doesn't make that DC hire, and he might still be here... orange pants and all.

You are correct about the bolded. If he had simply an adequate defense in 2012, he would have stayed at least another year because as you said the offense was actually really good. Probably wins 8, maybe even 9 games with an adequate defense (probably would have won at #5 Georgia, at #19 Miss St, at #17 South Carolina, and Mizzou). 2012's defense, by some measures, was the worst in school history. He had Sunseri install a total schematic change and the last time he had run a defense was in 1998-99 at Alabama A&M.

Did you see the interview DD did with Clay Travis? He actually attempts to justify the recruiting of zero offensive linemen in 2011 (or was in '12?). Pretty hilarious.

 

[butchna]

Smashmouth gameplan sounds great until your guys are the ones getting regularly smashed.