Locker Room Post Vandy Win...

Originally Posted by volfanbill
I sure wish Duke would've fired their men's basketball coach after those first two or three seasons. I mean it was obvious he wasn't ready to coach. Now look at the mess they're in 20 years later since they wouldn't let him go.

I'm sure there's plenty of examples we could dig up where "giving them time" went both ways. Either people get it done or they don't.

 

First, he doesn't hammer players publicly. He simply tells the truth; whether he fails or succeeds, that's a good quality not a bad one. As to the offensive line, there is no excuse for their play this year. Hiestand's head needs to be on the chopping block. As for the secondary, I'm not sure how one could have expected them to be better after Jackson's dismissal. Now, they've lost Randolph and Brewer. I don't know if Terry Joseph is a great or even good secondary coach, but I do know that very, very few people would be fielding some sort of dominant secondary with what we currently have back there.

 

You want to bet where the overwhelming numbers fall in bigtime football and basketball regarding what "patience" gets you?

 

I'll believe the incompetent fool "tells the truth" when I hear him say "I'm a guy who couldn't succeed in the WAC, only has this job because of my last name, and has such little fortitude I won't tell my embarrassment of a mother to shut the hell up." Until then, he's just a coward deflecting blame.

 

Who said the secondary should be dominant? I'd take merely bad right now.

 

Then we'll just agree to disagree. I think it would be insane to can Dooley this year. What coach in the country could have taken Worley/Simms through the meat of the schedule and beaten LSU, Arky, or Bama? I don't believe anyone beats USCjr with that quarterback duo either. The only criticism I have is the offensive line has grossly underperformed, and we laid down and died against Arky. Other than that, the criticisms are made by people either with unrealistic expectations of what this team can/should have done or people that hated Dooley's hire from the get-go and are looking for any excuse to claim that it's impossible that he'll ever succeed.

 

I would say that they are merely bad right now. Arky torched us, but they've torched a lot of teams through the air. Other than that, we usually have one apocalyptic bust in coverage per game. I think most of that can be chalked up to inexperience and guys playing out of their natural position.

 

Yeah, evidence he's a loser is so hard to find. The fact you have to try and make South Carolina out to be something special in an attempt to prop him up says something. You're right. Expecting to be able to execute a draw play and a punt on 3rd and 323 without burning a timeout and getting an illegal formation penalty in a tie game is holding Dooley to standards obviously higher than he can reach. He's Terry Bowden in orange pants. He just didn't get lucky enough to inherit a loaded roster from Pat Dye.

 

I see. Only those who believe, in the absence of any supporting evidence from either of his head coaching stops, Dooley is going to succeed here are dealing in reality. The rest of us are just crazy and agenda driven. I could have sworn I left Volnation. Apparently not.

 

I didn't prop up South Carolina at all. You're simply making that up to make a false argument. I think South Carolina is a fair football team. Nothing more. However, we're at best a bad football team without Bray, Hunter, Janzen Jackson, and Herman Lathers. I saw you building up Charlie Weis earlier this year; I assume you're also saying that he's a pathetic offensive coordinator because Florida literally has no offense if either Brantley, Demps, or Rainey isn't in the game. Of course you're not saying that because Weis is excellent. You're only saying this about Dooley because you hated the hire. I know it; you know it; and everyone that reads you knows it. Why not just come out and acknowledge it rather than trying to claim that you can objectively show that he sucks because without his top 3 or 4 best players, he got hammered by teams that have hammered everyone in the League. I think you're better than that.

 

Wrong. I have no idea if Dooley will succeed or fail; you're the only one pretending to have that knowledge. I think before giving him the axe, we should see what he can do with his best players on the field. If we suck again next year, we can begin the discussion.

 

What was his excuse at Louisiana Tech? What's his excuse for needing divine intervention to beat the UABs and Vanderbilts of the world? Charlie Weis has been the offensive coordinator of three Super Bowl champions. Dooley's claim to fame is getting Nick Saban his coffee. A little bit of difference there. I'm actually going to enjoy laughing at Dooley's marks when he inevitably fails more than I did Pearl's shills. At least the people fluffing Pearl had on court evidence to support their position. Dooley's crowd has nothing but blind faith and hope.

 

Unfortunately, you've now grouped me in to the pro-Dooley crowd. If saying he should be given a chance to succeed with his players is being unrealistic or a Doolaid drinker, I guess you can. But, in the end, it just appears that you illogically group me into some sort of polarized group to avoid having to discuss that you're doing the exact same thing as the Doolaid drinkers.

 

So, the guy has been a head coach for five years and you find it unable to make a reasonable forecast on his ultimate success at UT? Alright.

 

The quarterback everyone is pinning their hopes for Dooley on isn't even one of Dooley's guys. Left to his own talents, Dooley would have been playing Justin Worley or Nash Nance at quarterback this season.

 

I'm holding off on the absolute predictions of success or failure primarily because he hasn't had his best players this year to see real progress, and second, because I think he's doing an excellent job in recruiting. That gives me at least some level of confidence that he could potentially have success. That was something that I didn't know if he could do or not coming out of Tech. He's been good in that area.

 

I don't disagree with that. But, AJ Johnson, Curt Maggit, Malik Jackson, Mo Couch, are just a few example of Dooley guys that have turned out to be excellent players. Again, I'm not claiming Dooley's the savior, but I am claiming that he's getting good talent here. He deserves three years to reload the roster. If he can't get it done next year, let's go in a different direction. But, even at that, Dooley will have left the program in vastly better shape than he found it, and for that, he deserves credit.

 

"Good talent" gets you squat in the SEC. Also, outside of Bill Battle's last two seasons, what Tennessee coach has ever had any significant problems recruiting? It's not like Dooley is getting players to come to Starkville.

 

I think the guys I just named are legitimate SEC players just like Bray, Hunter, Rogers, and Rivera are. Fulmer I believe landed a 35th ranked final class, so that wasn't too great. Also, virtually every good player Kiffin landed is no longer on the team. So, that's definitely another failed class. Dooley will have landed back to back excellent recruiting classes. I find that a reason for optimism; if you don't, that's fine. We'll just agree to disagree.

 

You're missing the point. If not for Tyler Bray, Dooley would be getting the Turner Gill treatment right now. Last season would have finished 5-7 and this year would be even worse than that and folks would be ready to pull the trigger. Watch Tyler Bray throw the football, then watch Justin Worley do the same. That'll be the best evidence in the difference in the caliber of player the previous staff was able to recruit compared to the current regime. It takes elite players to even compete with Alabama, LSU, et al. Dooley's getting guys you go 8-4 with when they are experienced. That's simply not good enough.