The Overwhelming Negativity...

There are a few with hope here, I'm not one of them.

 

Some of our fans act like Dooley is a volunteer at his local middle school, doing the community a favor by coaching this team. This guy is getting big league money to coach big league football, sorry if i don't feel bad for him and the situation he inherited. You can talk about that all you want but it doesn't explain how the team got worse in year two from his first season. The guy was a loser (in terms of wins and loses before I get attacked for calling him a loser) at the WAC level, how is he supposed to suddenly become a winner in the best league in college football? Square pegs don't fit in round holes. His only chance for success, imo, was the CEO route of just being the face while letting his assistants run the show. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the assistants that can run the show and he can't stay out of the way.

 

615 nailed it. The fact Dooley realized the only way his incompetent ass would ever get a job like Tennessee was to grab it while the program was in disarray is no reason for the fanbase to act as if he's on some charity mission.

 

I believe he's on staff there now

 

Pretty sure he is. Loved that 2000 OU team.

 

He's the co-offensive coordinator.

 

I personally value independent thought above most other ideals. I used to call out cronyism -- a sheep mentality -- left and right on TOOS, and I'll do it again here if and when it happens. Actually, I have done it here with respect to Bruce Pearl, who I don't think is treated fairly on this board. And the uniformity of enmnity towards the man can't possibly be from people arriving at their own conclusions independently of one another.

But I do think that the negative view of [ddiapos] is as a result of people arriving at their own conclusions independently of one another. This is how it happened for me. After the Kentucky game I had what alcoholics like to refer to as a moment of clarity with the respect to the topic of Dooley and our program. I am of the opinion that being okay with any less than freaking awesomeness is a cop out for losers who banged the fat band girls in high school and should be rooting for Clemson. And I look at the totality of evidence, and the weight of that evidence points to the conclusion that Dooley is mediocre, and not being ridiculously hard on the man is the equivalent of me being okay with getting LJBF'd by the prom queen instead of putting it balls deep in her. Or being okay with a 3 loss season. Funk dat.

I think our fanbase -- crazy as this sounds -- needs to be a bit more like Bama's. We need to be more arrogant. More elitist. Think we belong. And then continue to think that we belong even when we continue to suck.

What gives you reason to be optimistic? And what are you optimistic for? A team that sucks a bit less than last year? I'm optimistic by nature, but I think UT is presently at a critical juncture. Less than mediocrity has become status quo. People forget that we used to kick ass and takes names. Inertia is a powerful mother****ing force. I'm fighting it. Actively. Who's coming with me?

So, basically, when you call for optimism and hope, I get a mental picture of you with a slice of bread in your hand walking around campus trying to round up three or four other guys to join you in a spirited game of ookie cookie. So have fun with that.

 

People here will listen to arguments about Dooley being able to succeed. We just haven't seen any good ones.

 

It's amazing how everyone who wins quickly just stepped into a great situation.

Nick Saban won the SEC in his second year at LSU, and that's before he could recruit #1 classes off of name recognition. I guess Gerry DiNardo is just a great program builder.

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread, this far.

Thanks to the OP, and those who have responded.

 

Perfectly stated. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"Champions are afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning."
- Billy Jean King

 

Well said.

I initially supported Dooley more than most initially because I was told his plan was to be the CEO of the show, bring in top assistants, and would let them run the show. I liked that plan and could go with it. Even think there was a post as some point on TOOS (long since deleted as I have been erased from memory there) where I said that this style won't work in the WAC but would at least deserved a shot at a school with resources that could make it work. Well...........

His assistants didn't turn out well, nearly all left, and he can't help but be too much of a micro-manager. Now, I suppose this staff could gel, be awesome, Dooley becomes a big picture guy and lets everyone else do their job without interfering, and we relive 89-2001 all over again, but I'm not counting on it. He doesn't appear to be an exception. He has a career losing record, and there is a reason for that. He's just not a good coach.

 

yep to all that .. it's such a loser mentality to call 2010 a dumpster fire and to say that we should give Dooley 4-5 years to turn things around .. just look at what Kiffin did immediately in '09 with 2 walk-ons on the OL and the Waynesville Wormburner at QB ..

we are in jeopardy of becoming a perennial doormat, our multi-million $$$ stadium/practice facilities notwithstanding ...

 

The obvious problem that the blind Dooley followers have is explaining how he's suddenly going to surpass guys who are objectively much better coaches that are also consistently outrecruiting him. How does that give anyone confidence of longterm success?

 

Let's say he was recruiting balls out .. then I could see some justification for giving him an extra year .. hoping that the talent would overcome coaching inadequacies or at least stock up the cupboard for the next coach .... but that's just not happening ....

 

This is exactly it. That's why decent to good coaches like Fulmer and Richt can win. They dominate in recruiting. Dooley can't out recruit the SEC or out coach the majority of the SEC (or maybe any of the SEC).

 

My one and a half cents on all this: I think that Dooley hasn't had much of a chance for success to this point. I can't really say I've expected much more to this point (excepting the UK loss). I think it's unfair to disregard where things were when Dooley got started. This year IMO was always going to be the year to make a fair assessment.

That being said, don't mistake this for optimism. After the UK game and the stories of the goings-on behind the scenes, I doubt as well. I also share in the thoughts a few have had that they could win quite a few games this year and then bottom out again next.

But I'm not going to hope for losses to get the coach fired. That's just not how I want to go about being a fan.

 

I do want to see what Dooley can do this year. But, like you said, I'm not all that optimistic. Don't confuse that with not looking forward to the season. I think we've got a pretty good team and I look forward to seeing what they can do - I am just going to be pretty miffed if it looks like coaching holds them back.

 

Your rant is wrong. This board was created by people who did not feel the freedom to express their views elsewhere. Some were booted from VN for expressing those views anyway. Others left voluntarily because they wanted an internet forum about UT that amounted to more than a cheering squad. But the premise of this place has always been to welcome opinions of all colors and allow debate as to their merits.

You are free to like Dooley. You are free to defend and even praise his resume, or his record, or any other attribute you feel is underappreciated. You should also expect those of differing opinion to debate you on the merits of those opinions, but if your position is well-considered, you should have no problem defending it. The problem is that you don't do any of those things here. You simply whine that everybody is too negative and hope you get the chance to blow a raspberry because others were wrong once the dust settles.

For the record, I think what you deem negativity seems to be more of the prevailing sentiment outside of the orange sewing circle (see, for example, the media's prediction of Tennessee's expected finish in the eastern division.) I think you are misguided in thinking that doubt in our current coaches abilities is the same as wishing he fails. I think you are brainwashed into thinking that anybody who does not believe we are on a championship path would accept UT football success as a shitburger. Blaming the critic is convenient, but it isn't particulary productive in understanding, or solving, problems.

 

I've never really gotten a good answer to that question, either.