The CheckerBoard

Not ready to face that scenario- I think we win the final four all by double digits.

If that happens, I'm deferring to you and others to educate me here on the best available option.

These next four games mean everything to this program.

I agree Cutcliffe is a much better coach then Dooley, just don't think we should go down that path. As for Dooley vs. Strong. Are we seriously going to have this argument. Strong wins by a landslide. Dooley has a career record of 31-39 vs. Strong's 22-13. But Dooley plays tougher competition you say. Let's look at conference record. This is where a coach should be judged in my opinion. Strong has had a winning conference record in 2 out of 3 seasons and currently sits at 11-6 in conference. First year he went 3-4, then 5-2, currently 3-0 this year. That's called improvment. Dooley in 6 seasons has only had 1 winning season in conference. He's went 4-4, 5-3, 3-5, 3-5, 1-7, and currently 0-5 this year. Not seeing any improvment there. His conference record at UT is 4-17. Oh wait, here comes the but we've lost to top teams argument. Well guess what, that's who plays in the SEC and if you can't beat them you don't belong....Strong would be a MAJOR upgrade.

Strong is unproven. Playing in the big east is different than our conf. We need a proven coach or keep dooley. Dooley would do good at louisville. We need a homerun hire or keep coach dooley.

I like Strong's toughness and demeanor just as much as the next guy but I wonder if he is what this program needs right now. Strong has a lot of potential but is he proven? Despite his success, Strong has had to play only two ranked teams during his tenure at Louisville, ORSt and WV, of which he is 1-1. Tennessee's schedule doesn't afford him that luxury. Strong is a good coach but he has not proven he can be successful with a schedule loaded with top 20 teams. Furthermore, the Louisville AD is willing to make him the highest paid coach in college football if that's what it takes to keep him at Louisville. So the natural question becomes, "Is Strong worth that much to TN?" and if so, "Should he be?"

I think recruiting is one area that Dooley has done extremely well in. There are alot of guys Dooley has recruited who will be playing on Sundays. Conversely, Louisville has not had a recruiting class ranked anywhere near the top 25 in Strong's tenure. Obviously Strong is getting results with these players and he would be an improvement in several other areas. Just don't think recruiting is an area that Strong is a major upgrade over Dooley.

You are one of the better posters on here, you know that if he came to UT his recruiting classes would be far superior to what he's been able to bring in at Louisville. I agree no way he's able to compete week in and week out with the talent he has access to at Louisville, but he'll be recruiting top 20, top 15, hopefully top 10 talent at UT year in and year out- he'll be loaded just like everyone else. I also agree that UT shouldn't get into some irresponsible bidding war with Louisville for Strong.

How can anybody say that Strong is unproven? He has coached defense in the SEC and had really good if not great defenses. He has a national championship or 2 I can't remember , e has southern recruiting ties. He has Louisville in the top 10 regardless of what conference he is in. Hell everybody was on there knees salivating when Petrino was doing things like that. He is also a great recruiter and probably the only realistic coach we would have a shot at right now that may come here

Not me. There is no proof he could recruit better than Dooley. Supposition on your part as is the 95% statement.