The CheckerBoard

I say we save our money and let Dooley and Sunseri go after next season. We dont ahve the cash to buy them out and hire a BIGTIME Headcoach. I blame the inept Defense for most of the losses. The Offense has mostly done their part scoring 30+, but the fact the Defense is so atrocious they need to average 50 to win.

I kind of wonder. Dooley said his first year in '10 that we were "small, weak and slow" and he wanted to be "big, strong and fast." He's had 3 recruiting classes to improve the team since then, and most everybody on the field (and probably all our starters except Wagner) are Dooley's recruits.

The only starters I can think of that graduated last year from this D were DT Malik Jackson & LB Austin Johnson. Jr. CB Izauea Lanier played last year but not this year. So. safety Brian Randolph went down early this season with a knee injury. So. LB Curt Maggitt's had nagging injuries but kept playing. Other than that, everyone on the D is a year more experienced, stronger, etc than last year -- and almost certainly moreso than 2 years ago. Probably moreso than Kiffin's team 3 years ago.

I think the talent level actually increased from Dooley's previous 2 years as head coach, while the defense is performing worse than either of those teams. The defense's troubles then seem to be either 1) trouble switching to the 3-4 (learning it schematically, learning new LB & DT positions, playing more slowly because of one of either of those, adapting to increased pressure on the DB's, etc), 2) Sunseri's coaching / play calling, 3) adapting to new coaches (the entire defensive coaching staff changed from last year), 4) not having the right players to run a 3-4 (we've run a 4-3 as long as I can remember prior to this year), or 5) something I haven't heard mentioned previously.

Last year, we had mostly 4-star recruits on the OL, but our running game was horrid. This year, we've got a lot of 4-star recruits on the DL & in the LB corps and at least a few among the DB's. We don't have Bama talent, but we have way more talent than giving up 500yds and 40-50 points/game. I don't think talent is the problem.

Given GA's & Bama's troubles switching to a 3-4, I'd be inclined to give the 3-4 another try next year, hoping for better results. We're paying the (big) price for the switch this year, we might as well see what the fruits can be in year #2, which were good for GA & 'Bama. Besides, most pro teams run the 3-4 and many recruits are going to want to run a D in college that prepares them for the NFL.

Y'all are crazy. We don't have elite talent but to have a defense that may well be the worst in Tennessee history has to include bad coaching. Look at the numbers, it's not just good SEC teams lighting us up.

The history of teams going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 tells us this will get better. Let's finish strong by blowing out the last four opponents, win a bowl game after the extra practice time to finish 8-5 and bring home a strong recruiting class. Now that will be improvement!

I think what you are saying we have elite talent but it is in only a few positions and even those do not have talented dept. We definitely do not have an elite talented team but more so on offense. The defense, i agree is the worst I have ever seen and i havee been following the VOLS since the 1951 NC team. I think we have two SEC wins if Da'rick had kept his head right. We lost Bray confidence and the best talent the VOLs had but he lost a great deal more than the team did