It's stunning how many tickets are available, considering the quality of the opponent and considering how many fans (~15k) BYU is expected to bring to town. That speaks volumes. I'll forever maintain that it's the butts in seats that determines a coach's fate quicker than anything else. Dooley getting canned after Year 3 had a lot more to do with declining attendance than the product on the field.
We're a primetime game on Saturday. The number of empty seats, and the disproportionate level of BYU fans vs. UT fans (it's going to seem even more even than it really is due to all the empties) is going to be another major embarrassment for this program.
I don't agree about Dooley. Based on what Hart said in December of 2011, right after Dooley lost to Kentucky, we kept him because we were in a really bad financial state and could not afford the buyout at that point in time. This is why 8 of 10 assistant coaches left, they knew Dooley was very likely gone the next year after his buyout significantly reduced and Hart had time to implement belt-tightening measures, such as pulling back the money donated to academics by the AD. That's what I recall anyway. Don't recall seats being empty ever having anything to do with it.