Official National Signing Day Bunker

Sorry, man, I had no idea. Dooley should be devastated.

 

I agree with this. I really don't mind if people like parts of the class and want to focus on that, but we are still lagging behind part of the conference, and keeping up with Vandy and Mississippi St. is in no way where we should be. At least that is where I am at

 

I feel like I've stepped into The OK Corral just as someone has reached for their gun...and I don't know who is who yet.

But a couple of thoughts on your point:

1. Yes, Spurrier had unprecedented success in setting up the run with the pass. But....that seems to be the overwhelming exception and not the rule. I can't think of a single coach / team that was nearly as successful as he was, meaning, just because he could do it doesn't mean that everyone will enjoy the same results. And neither Dooley nor Chaney will ever be confused with Spurrier's offensive mind. Not to be coy, but just because Dale Sr. passed people in the grass doesn't mean that everyone can, or would do so successfully, of attempted.

2. Spurrier also had some critically important components that we (notably) lack, the most glaring examples being: a Bob Stoops defense and talent of that ilk (mistakes tend to be forgotten when you have a defense like that), a Heisman winning QB (for 3 years), elite talent at nearly (if not all) positions, several unselfish and tactically sound WR's capable of making correct reads at the line more times than not, an infinitely less difficult conference which did not include 2-3 NFL JV squads or other offensive juggernauts (that could eithe keep him from scoring, or keep pace with his offense), and perhaps most importantly - when he decided to run, it was behind a line that was capable of blowing people off the line, and an NFL-quality RB who was running behind it.

The 2012 Volunteers have none - zero, zip - of those advantages.

And not to speak for Hat (he doesn't need my help), but I think his contention is that we may be simply trying to justify how a shitty class that failed to meet 3 of our 4 biggest weaknesses is somehow going to produce extraordinary - or even mediocre - results.

In other words, we're touting the merits of this run-n-gun offense - not because it actually has a chance to be consistently successful - but because we must fabricate those reasons, instead of admitting our obvious and abstract failure to sign players that would have allowed us to do otherwise.

As the old saying goes - to someone who only owns a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Personally, my $.02 is this - we could have signed 12 5 star WR's today, but if we dont have a RB to take advantage of the lanes, or LB's to stop the run, and enough quality depth along both lines to run and/or prevent the run, then we're going to see so much more of the same next year as the previous two: we're going to get stuffed on offense, and have it rammed down our gullets on defense. Sure, we'll hit a big play here and there, but when it comes down to 3rd down and 4 or less (where games are won and lost) we're screwed - because we'll neither be able to pick up the yards for ourselves, nor prevent the other team from doing so.

And even an infinite number of DB's and WR's will be able to change either of those outcomes.

 

I'm not saying that the recruiting class was the best ever, but don't you think the best way to solve these problems would be to coach players up instead of relying on true freshmen to come in and dominate?* I don't really think this class has that much to do with the ultimate fate of our team next year. If our coaches can't coach up the sophomores and juniors we have coming back next year, it doesn't really matter how good our class was this year.

*That was somewhat rhetorical because I'm pretty sure I know your position on whether you think the coaching staff can "coach them up"

 

But Tenny, they also signed three running backs. And they signed four receivers on a team that only had four to begin with, and only two of those have any production, and one of those is coming off a major surgery, and the other has serious academic/character concerns.

I personally hate the pass happy offenses and would run it all the live long day if I had the personnel, i.e. Cobb-Webb and guys like Still, Davis, Wilkerson, etc blocking for them. But I don't see how signing four presumably good WR recruits and the people describing them as such colors one the second coming of Mike Leach?

I also think that there is some correlation between having a good running attack coupled with a vertical offense. If only we had Chuck Webb to go along with our Carl Pickens.

 

I think that notion comes from Jim Chaney having an above average rushing game 1 or 2 seasons in his entire career.

You don't need Chuck Webb to rush against MTSU and Montana.

 

And not to pile on Dooley (seriously, I'm not trying to) - but here is what infuriates me about him:

BEING A WORLD-CLASS RECRUITER IS WHAT LANDED HIM THIS GIG.

To a large extent, he can't help what he inherited, that's unarguable. He had no part in the attrition of our roster. He didn't hire either Saban or Miles or any of the other SEC coaches who beat our ass today. He doesn't have just carte blanche authority to throw every POS off the team who wouldn't buy into his way. He didn't decide our conference schedule, nor had a say in our non-conference opponents. All of that is largely, if not entirely, completely beyond his control.

BUT RECRUITING IS NOT - in fact, it lies directly within his control. It is the one area where he could have made up the largest amount of ground, and more quickly than any other means.....and by not having the added distraction of bowl preparations, he had an entire month to focus on this one thing, when everyone else was too busy getting their team ready to play in a bowl.

He has a world-class institution steeped in the richest of traditions at any level, a program that is passionately followed by millions of faithful fans that span the globe, facilities and resources that are unsurpassed by any other program (and only equalled by a few), he is in the unarguably best conference perhaps in the history of college football and at its zenith, he not only has more money than Solomon - but at a school that spends its (in fact, Tennessee spent more money in recruiting THAN ANY SCHOOL IN THE NATION THIS YEAR), and a 100k+ seat newly refurbished coliseum of glory and triumph - and which was built and by and still stands beneath the affixed gaze of the larger-than-life statue of a man who is not only arguably the greatest coach in the history of the [uck fay]ing game - but who achieved such herculean achievement amidst punctuated interruptions in which he voluntarily took leave from his beloved school in order to answer the global call to defend, win and ensure for continuance of the basic freedoms of billions of men, women and children, as endowed by their Creator, by not only winning the victory in one global war - but TWO. And this, at the same time that Bear Bryant's pedophilic ass was earning a far more shallow notoriety, first by refusing water breaks to his players on hot days in College Station, and ostensibly only sometime later, getting a state full of inbred dullards to roll off their cousins long enough to applaud his opposition to the integration of black players to his school, and who still fail to grasp the iron of immortalizing him for by celebrating his signature "houndstooth hat" - a piece of headwear that could not be more blatantly homosexual if it were made of dildoes with an anal bead strap - and while Richard Simmons was riding astride his desperately overrated shoulders.

And despite all of this, Dooley is "happy" with a 10th ranked class in our conference?!

Well I'm sure as hell not. And I don't give a damn if he wears damn orange socks next year, and smokes a corn-cobbed pipe while playing the banjo as he runs through the T.

Ordinarily, I would say that he screwed the pooch on this class, but will refrain. First, I don't want his momma to call me and complain about it, and secondly, i don't want to unnecessarily offend anyone who actually enjoys canine fornication - seeing as how my. Omments on "The Bear" have likely already upset them something terrible.

 

Perhaps my last post wandered a bit. Here's a summary:

1. While not a complete catastrophe, I am disappointed that our class wasn't stronger in several areas of what I believe to be of criticl importance.

2. I believe that Coach Dooley could have done a better job, given his many resources and reputation as an excellent recruiter, in better addressing these needs.

3. Bear Bryant is gay.

 

In the end, who [uck fay]ing even cares. Dooley has to win 9 games to stay and we all know that he might as well be tasked with getting Ron Paul to the White House.

 

Please pretty please tell me how a pass-happy offense prevents the defense from being "a friggin smashmouth defense".

Just complete nonsense. Did you not think somebody was gonna call you on this? Jesus tap-dancing christ.

 

For the people who aren't following, I'm going to translate:

1. The teams that made it to the Super Bowl aren't any good at football because they weren't the best teams during the season.
2. The teams that were the best teams during the season aren't any good at football because they didn't make it to the super bowl.
3. Thus, the four teams that KidB listed -- two of which were the best teams during the regular season, and the other two of which are playing in the Super Bowl -- are all terrible at football.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is *actually* what hat is saying.

 

this thread is tearing us apart.

 

I may print this off, frame it and have it in my office for the Alabama fans I deal with.

 

it's humorous to me that I've never seen anyone on this board or TOOS use the ESPN ratings to mean anything. Rivals and TOS have always dominated the news, info on recruits, etc. Yet suddenly since Rivals rates us as the #17 overall class, 6th best in the SEC and 2nd best in the East, we're going to start using ESPN because they make us look worse and then we can pile on Dooley some more. It's laughable that this is supposed to be the smart board and people like Hat are supposed to be the one leading us and so many think that Tennessee should be #1 in recruiting, land anyone they want just because they are Tennessee. I've never once said Dooley was the answer, yet people love to put words in my mouth to fit their pathetic and weak argument. Dooley started from basic scratch though and is rebuilding this team. Last year was plagued with injuries and there were still some seemingly inexcusable losses and efforts, bu this team has sucked for most of the last 7 years. It takes time to rebuild and to act like Tennessee did nothing to improve or, did very little is just dumb.

 

Who's using ESPN rankings for anything? I think they're all junk myself.

Tennessee improved the defensive front four and the WR spot. The defensive line looks to actually have more than 2 or 3 SEC level athletes on it now and Dooley was the first guy to do that at Tennessee in a long time. McNeil looks to be a stud safety. Bonner, if he can stay out of trouble, should be really good. Peterman looks to be good QB too.

I don't feel like Bourque or Watson is an answer to the running game woes.

King is a good athlete that should be able to transition to LB well but it would have been nice to hold on to the 2 LBs that were committed for months (I'm not necessarily faulting Dooley for it, just saying it would have been nice). The staff did screw the pooch in telling Henderson he no longer had an offer.

I think not going after any OL is a mistake myself.

It's a good class but it's not a class that really closes the gap between Tennessee and the upper echelon SEC teams imo. It's frustrating because one of the main reasons Dooley was kept here was to finish recruiting out strongly.

 

so much disagreement!

 

I think my opinion is pretty much in agreement with Hat as far as the class goes. I'm not overly excited about this class. Everyone who seems to be excited about it focuses on Patterson, Croom, etc. I'm not even ready to be sure that Patterson will pan out, and regardless, we already have two really good WRs. If Rogers and Hunter catch 80% of the passes, as they should, do we really need a bunch of other receivers? I guess it makes sense because we will need them if Hunter and Rogers head to the league after this year, but I don't understand the excitement. People claim we "have no depth" at receiver and that Croom and Bowles and Pig will all be getting a lot of playing time. I just don't see it. Also, i was very disappointed with what we brought in on defense. The DTs were okay, but we failed to bring in LBs which is what we need most. Lastly, the thing that bothers me most is the posivol's excitement about the class based on the fact that we brought in some 5* juco receiver. We finished horribly in the SEC, but they just ignore that.

 

Ah, a feisty discussion and not once did anyone call anyone else a nega-vol. Ahhhhhh..............

 

i wonder if anyone added people to their ignore lists.

 

You must have Bill on ignore.