The CheckerBoard

Good point. I think that is clearly a factor to be considered, and may be a reason Dooley has backed off.

I think he did it because it's what Nick Saban did, and that's CDD's mentor. I think he hurt some guys' fragile psyche last year, though, and Doug Mathews pointed out on his Sun. morning radio show a couple weeks ago when discussing the same thing that we (and perhaps Dooley in the past) sometimes forget that these guys may be huge, strong, fast, PHYSICAL bada$$es, but they're just 17-22 years old.

He pointed out that many of them grew up without sufficient male role models, in bad parts of a city or town, and were just not very mature or very strong mentally. As he put it, "you tell one of these guys he's no good enough times, and eventually he's gonna believe you."

I do think Dools has changed the tone w/intent and purpose. Hopefully, though, he's still vigorously chewing butt behind closed doors, though. Maybe he's learned some of this from Cuonzo, too--you know, the "coach has our back, but he's tough on us" thing.

great points and i have to agree with you - def noticed a change in his attitude and i for one love it ; didnt like his criticism of the individual players last year

Maybe it's just that Dooley is maturing as a head coach just as the team is maturing as players. I think he came here as a very capable coach and probably did and still does pattern himself after Saban. But after a couple of years under his belt, he starts tweaking his persona to be Coach Dooley and not a just a Saban clone. Good things lie ahead. This year. GO VOLS!

I think you & DoberVol have some good points. Dooley seems like a pretty bright guy, and it's impressive he can make a significant persona change in 3-5 months, toning down his public criticism of players. Did the KY loss have that big an effect? Or the huge coaching turnover? ?

I have two theories regarding this subject (which other people have also said, of course):

1) Derek Dooley was not a very good coach. He criticized his players publicly, and this led to low morale on the team, hence the losing records.

2) Derek Dooley is a straight-shooter, tells it like it is, and up until now, we've been terrible. Now he has far less to criticize.

Either of those answers is fine with me. A third would be tragic (and is a dark combination of the other two):

3) Derek Dooley sees the writing on the wall, sees that this team will do no better than 6-6, but is pumping them up anyway, hoping to eek out 7 or 8 wins.

I'm going with #1. He's growing as a coach, just like these players are growing. This is his first major job after all. How many of us were great at their jobs from Day 1? I'll admit I was not nearly as proficient at my job six years ago (when I started it) as I am now.

It's obvious he has a team that he can win with. Maybe the criticisms have worked and caused everyone to pay more attention and improve in all areas.

With any inexperienced leader, whether that be a coach for a football team or a manager of a business I think they have to change their approach if things did not go the way they expected. So Obviously Dooley’s 2nd year did not go the way that he expected and he has made a change in the way that he handles the team.
Personally I didn’t mind the way he handle the team or the coaches last year, but apparently they didn’t respond the way that they needed too so I think he had to make a change based on the entire team. It may not be the way Dooley likes to do it but he is a smart guy and knows he can’t continue to do things the same way and not be successful.