The CheckerBoard

Unknown. This is a rebuilding PROCESS, not a quick fix. To make judgments after what Dooley himself called "Year One" implies that the team was much greater than the sum of its parts. They lost Hunter early in the Florida game, Leathers was out all year, and Bray missed six games. Add in the loss of Janzen Jackson, and there were a lot of obstacles in the way of this team.

Something that's being overlooked post-UK is that this team was picked to finish 6-6 or 7-5 by most prognosticators, not 8-4 or better as some people seem to think was the only acceptable outcome. I would argue that the October stretch this year was actually worse for the team than last year, mainly because of the loss of Bray and the resulting QB shuffle. And when there's no consistency to the running game, you have to live (and die) by the pass.

At this point, there is a lot to look forward to for next season. Having a healthy Bray and Hunter will push Da'Rick to be better (he played his best when Hunter was lining up across the field from him), and new additions to the OL, DL, RB corps, and secondary is going to make this team better. Dooley will also have a team almost entirely made up of his recruits. There might be a handful of Fulmer recruits still around due to redshirts, but Kiffin's one class is virtually extinct at UT. Next year is when the expectations should rise.

I do expect some changes on the coaching staff next year, most likely on the OL. I think the "UT needs a RB coach" argument is flawed, because if the OL can't run protect, then no amount of RB coaching is going to make up for that. The OL regressed in the run game, and that's on Coach Hiestand.

If you want yes or no I will say YES. I doubt you could put any other coach in his place with what he had to work with and the adversity they had during the season and get much more. Next year will be the first year to judge him - always has been.

USC starts 3 Freshman LB's. They are just as young as us, and have no depth at all.

Agreed. We have to take into account that we are very young and are not expirenced at all. Just b/c we get some 4 and 5 star guys doesn't mean that they will translate into all americans their freshman year. Their bodies have to have time to adjust to this level. Then you have to take into consideration the injuries and nautral attrition. (kicked off team and what not)

I will agree that some of the play calling was questionable and the oline play was aweful, but i'm trying to stay positive, b/c I love my VOLS.

IMO CDD did a pretty good job with what he had to work with.

Ok, so essentially you are saying those type of players shouldn't have an expectation of improvement throughout the season?

If so, then yes, you can't judge Dooley based on this season.

I obviously think otherwise but fair enough on your opinion!

I think you can expect freshmen to improve if they are nurtured and play in an established system. If you ask a large number of them to be key contributors on short notice and en masse then it's going to be a problem. But I think players like Randolph, maggitt, Johnson, among others improved throughout the year. But as a team they didn't come together and get better as a unit and that's because you can't ask that many first year players to win game against the schedule we had. KY is a different deal and I think we had a bunch of players literally quit in that game which is really the only thing I am mad about.

IMO, aside from any freshmen issues, our offense was one dimensional from day one because our o line can't run block and we had a very average RB. Then we lost our 2 top play makers and became a zero dimensional offense. I equate it to baseball. Give me a 110 mph fastball with no other pitches, and I won't make it out of the 3rd inning. Now make my fastball 90 mph, and I can't get out of the first inning. But why we can't run block is a great mystery. Clifton thinks its scheme and not a bad o line coach. I'll defer to him

Seems reasonable enough.....

NO.... heck NO.... HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!

1. How do you improve after you're star players are injured? Is Bray supposed to be better after not playing 5 weeks? No, arguably shouldn't have even been playing, but we don't have any depth so no one to plug in for those losses.

2. Overall, pleased with defense, but that seems to be common among the losing seasons i remember.

3. And I think special teams did improve, we actually found someone to catch punts without muffing them. Kicking game is the same.

And someone else made a good point. His job includes recruiting, off field incidents, etc. So put me down for a big fat YES. He managed this dumpster fire of a season as best he could. Expected about 7 wins, then injuries made that unrealistic.