The CheckerBoard

How did we have clock management issues? The refs failed to stop the clock, so Dooley had no choice but to call a timeout.

So should we keep saying this year after year?!?! You are basically saying that Tennessee isn't as good as the teams that have beaten them. And if that is the case then a CHANGE needs to be made!

Guess what? Actual good football teams tend to have good records. And when you lose to them, it makes their records even better. Don't worry though I am confident Vandy will be more fired up than they have been in modern history when we go into their stadium and James Franklin will spank Dooley's tail and give him the final shove out the door.

They are better than us because they aren't in the middle of rebuilding. Dooley took on a team that would take 4-5 years to build back up. He's had less than 3 years.

Exactly! Dooley is making strides.

IMO - Dooley embraces the school, our fans, our tradition, great with alumni and great with the media. He fixed the running game with average running backs and the kicking game is much better except for the kickers (easy fix b/c the foundation and philosophy is there, so recruit a 5 Star kicker). If the defense can get turned around, I think we can compete for league championships.

As I have said before, if we could get Gruden, I would replace Dooley. But to replace Dooley with someone who is not a proven winner is a huge RISK.

I would give him another year b/c he is young enough to learn from his mistakes and smart enough to capitalize on opportunities going forward.

Replacing a guy who has started the sec 0-5 three years in a row is not a huge risk. Replacing a guy who has beaten only Vandy in conference the past two years isn't a huge risk. replacing a guy who has never beaten a ranked opponent in 6 years is not a huge risk. replacing a guy with 4 wins against teams with winning records over 6 years isn't a risk at all.

We can find a ton of guys who can do just what Dooley has done.

3 yrs ago we needed stability. Now we need somebody who can get the job done. And 'the job' isn't to beat Troy and Kentucky and not get blown out by good teams.

You may be right! I may stand behind your opinion next year but this year I'll wait. Thanks for the discussion.

So what had you rather have a coach that runs a dirty,classless program goes 12-0 or 11-1 each season or a coach that runs clean program with class and dignity yet has ups and downs ? Personally I would rather be able to be proud of my program so maybe we don't win has many games but we do the right way . Dooley does it the right way we have a program you can be proud of ,one that has class and dignity not strife and scandal. So, maybe we do not win has many games as we hope for but the wins will come . There is something to be said for stability in College Football , 3 years does not constitute stability.

This tells me two things:

1) the Vols have played a really hard schedule so far.

2) there is an upper tier of SEC teams, and clearly we are not in it.

All of those teams (plus LSU and minus MSU who I still think is a fraud) are the top of the SEC. Only Bama is undefeated and the rest have been only losing to each other. We've played some of them close, but we've fallen short. And in the closest games (UGA, MSU, USC), we dug a deep hole and made big rallies that gave us hope, only to choke it away. I think in those games in particular, i blame the loss on the poor start more than the turnovers at the end. We were in big holes because of poor preparation and not being ready to play from the start. That falls on the coaches. Players have to make plays, but coaches need to put them in that position. I'm not putting 100% of our losses on the coaches, but I really believe this team is talented enough to be at least 6-2, maybe 7-1, with better coaching. I hate it for these players that they can't break through to that upper tier and I really think a better coaching staff, particularly on defense, could get it done.

I tend to agree that you don't fire Dooley now unless you know you can get a major upgrade, and that doesn't mean Gruden or bust, there are other good coaches we could pursue. But the sooner that happens the better. They need to move on, if for no other reason than to give hope. This isn't a Fulmer situation where the players are going to be devastated and furious for the firing of their legendary coach. I'm sure the players support him for the most part, but they will understand the reason and move on. And hope does two other things: it sells tickets and excites recruits.

One more thing, I really disagree with the idea that we have had bad "luck" and that it is bound to turn around eventually. In football you create your own breaks, and when you get them, you capitalize. Our close, heartbreaking losses may feel like bad luck, but I believe it is more about poor coaching and execution. The ball may have bounced the wrong way a few times, and we've been screwed by officials, but as one of my old coaches used to say, "good teams win anyway." If we sit around and wait for Dooley's luck to change, I'm afraid we will be very disappointed.

I think it all comes down to this: Does Dave Hart believe Dooley can get things turned around quick enough to stay in competition with Bama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Miss State, etc? If you look at Tennessee's recruiting classes, they've been about 14th in the nation on average. To be able to beat our rivals, we need someone who can recruit the 4 and 5 stars and have recruiting classes in the top 10 consistently. I like Dooley, and I truly believe with two or three more years he could put an 8 or 9 win team on the field. I don't think, however, that Dooley can keep up with the big fish in the SEC without winning against quality opponents.