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But if Dooley is going to coach like Fulmer, we might as well bring Fulmer back.  :inughout:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/854655-time-for-derek-dooley-to-reassess-his-future-as-tennessees-football-coach

 :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

There are all kinds of knee jerk reactions out there that just make me shake my head.

"Wilcox is in over his head", "Chaney can't get it done"

I'm bummed just like we all are, but those folks need to get a grip.

That is the most idiotic thing I've read all morning, and the least surprising at the same time. We have thousands of fools like that among our fanbase and always have, but now they have keyboards and internet access and so we get to read how stupid they are firsthand.

I'm disappointed about Saturday, and really upset for Justin Hunter. I'm not sure I want to talk about the UF game any further than that but I'm not giving up on Dooley or this team.

I think it was stated by most everyone early on -- Dooley needs 3 years to really start seeing results and getting this team rebuilt.....it's his 2nd year!  And look at how excited we were about the "possibilities".   I didn't think we'd beat UF, but I hoped we'd compete...and we did for much of the game.   I don't expect to see huge improvement until next year...and possibly 2013 before I expect us to compete for the SECC.

I think we all got amped up for UF because we saw how potent we were on offense.  But deep down we know we're still a couple of years away.  I just lost a lot of my optimism for this year, but I'm still behind this staff.

I think you are only 1 year away.  Bray is the real deal; a very talented QB that is starting on an SEC team in his Soph. year. Not too shabby. He will be really good next year.  If you have at least most of your OL returning, as well as Poole, your Offense could be really good in 2012.

Better hope next year is a great year, though, being as the world will end in Dec.

Pretty much where I am at with it.

OL will be back but Poole is a sr which prob isn't a bad thing.

Unless Poole steps up I see his role diminishing as Lane picks up more of the offense.

BTW, I noted to BDV during the game Saturday how diferent it was between Dooley and Fulmer in that Lane was playing such a significant role with the game on the line vs when Jamal Lewis wasn't playing as a FR in 97.
Sure Dooley has to play FR a lot but with the gae on the line in the 2nd half the FR, not the Sr, was in the game.

I thought the article made some very good points. The statement about Fulmer was just to emphasize what he was saying about Dooley taking a few more risks. And the particular risks he was talking about weren't too risky given the situation of that game.

And by the way, I hear people saying that "we have the dumbest fans in the world". Funny, I read that on every messge board. I'm not a big fan of Colin Cowherd but he said something a couple of months ago that is true regarding "dumb fans". And I believe it to be true. He said, those fan bases that bitch and moan the loudest in college football usually get results. If you think about it, it's true. We have a long, long way to go before we reach the level of Alabama, Florida and the like when it comes to putting pressure on a coach to win.

I don't think anyone (with a brain) wants Fulmer to return. At the same time, Dooley, as much as we love him, deserves his share of criticism. Hell, he loves to dish it out on his players (rightly so) so why shouldn't he take his medicine from time to time? I am squarely behind Dooley and I think it is going to take a while to get on the right track. He is following two Buffoons in Kiffin and Fulmer (the latter part of his career especially). It will take time but he's got to do a better job. It's just the way it is.

CW

I've been pretty much without any criticism of Dooley from the time he was hired.  I love his style, approach, discipline, recruiting and most everything else.  I now have one criticism:

He wasn't prepared for it and didn't have the team prepared for it when disaster struck.  Maybe "prepared" isn't the best word, but it took way too long to get heads screwed back on straight.

I still think he's a great fit for Tennessee and am optimistic for the future.

Under the circumstances he inheirited, Dooley has done about as well as realistically could have been expected of him.  Many of those who are making those remarks are either more fans of Phillip Fulmer than they are of UT, or they just don't have a clue.  Most likely a little of both. 

And if that onside kick hadn't worked against Cinci last week, this guy probably would've been bitching about that too. :frown:

Agree totally with Stogie.  Disaster struck and no one had a clue what to do for a quarter and a half.

I agree... Dooley is responsible for that, but that's also a function of having young players. I think Dooley is the kind of coach that even though he will play young players, he will work better with experienced guys who've been through the wars.

Oh, and I did not read the original article and won't, and will not visit Volquest, Volnation, or any other non-VTTW UT board this week because I know what is going on at those boards. I would rather get game analysis from the VS than read what the typical "jump-to-conclusions" internet UT fan has to say.

I think the reason why so many of us always harp on lowering expectations is because of the way the fans react after losses. It's OK to expect an irrational win, but when the loss comes you have to look at it realistically and understand why it happened. I think VTTW is handling this loss pretty well... I'm pretty deflated about Hunter's injury but when you look at the game, Florida is more talented and at least as well coached... we were on the road and we can't run the ball... pretty easy to see why it happened.

As much as people have complained about the "deer in the headlights" look and the "usual Florida collapse" I see it differently.  I think we showed that behavior...at times.  I think that at other times, probably the majority of the time, we showed composure, courage and fight.  We never gave up, but might have let up a couple times.

I don't see us being that far off from being composed the entire game.  It's just going to take awhile.  None of us really thought this was "the year" anyway. 

I think we can have a good season still.  There is a lot of work ahead of us.   This is probably a great time to have a week off followed by a scrimmage.  Plenty of time to prepare for that grueling run in October.  With some luck, we can be 2-2 during that stretch.  And that's as optimistic as I will get....but who knows. :biggrin: