The CheckerBoard

Love the question.

Like the answer.

Would be interested to hear what Dooley would consider the anchors that were weighing the program down that are now gone.

The obvious ones I can think of are:

1 - NCAA investigation
2 - Fractured team (3 coaches in 3 years with 3 visions of what the program would look like)
3 - Depleted Roster (attrition from players leaving and being dismissed)
4 - Questionable leadership at the top (I think there are still questions about Cheek, but Hart has settled the dust some)

The weight around our ankles that HASN'T been relieved is coaching instability. Until Dooley can win some big games and convince the world that he isn't going anywhere, people outside VolNation will still very much perceive this as a tumultuous situation.

Interesting comments from Dooley... I tend to agree with much of what he said. Poor team chemistry is not something the fans can recognize easily, but it is extremely important. Dooley is smart, and understands there has to be results this year, not just in wins, but in how competitive we are against the top teams in the SEC. We should NEVER get blown out like we did against Arkansas.

I like what Dooley said but I think the better tack would have been to tell the guy to give his evaluation and then respond. It would put the pressure on the guy to state his position and then defend it. Thanks for the update +1.

I do believe that CDD is putting his "heart and soul" into this program. It is so easy to sit on the outside and judge the wins and losses. Any moron can do that. What's more difficult is to take a bad situation and make it better. So, I'm going to give him a chance until it is proven that he can't turn things around, and I really believe he's on the right track and that we'll be more competitive this year and even better next year.

Being an ex lawyer has really paid off in these type of situations.

He may have side-stepped the nitty-gritty details, but his answer was spot-on. The best way for him, me or anyone to evaluate Dooley's performance is to look at the record at the end of the season, or after several seasons, taking into account how the team got there.

And, that will be done by each and everyone of us. Hopefully, if we are fair, we will look at the record on the whole and against each team it played; how each game was won or lost; the conduct of the players during the season, injuries, recruiting, etc.

But, if we aren't fair, we will look only at how many games were won and lost. After all, that is the only enduring statistic, or so we are told.

Personally, I believe Dooley's approach is the right one. I think that we will see results that will please all of us by the time this season is over. I expect it will be done in such a way that the wins won't be vacated because someone cheated.

Two asides.

First, if Dooley had given a detailed, direct response to the question, we might have received the equivalent of the Allies D-Day plans, with charts, graphs and visual demonstrations.

Second, hopefully, we won't be bitchin' about lousy officiating this year as we have the last two years.

Good article. I'm really looking forward to the product we put on the field next year.