Far be it from me to tell SEC fans to be reasonable. We’re a zealous bunch when it comes to football, and having a losing team is damn near the equivalent to wearing the “cone of shame.” This unrelenting passion is what pays Nick Saban $5 million per, has Gene Chizik on the hot seat less than two years removed from a national title, and it’s what motivates this guy. And this guy.
But this passion also breeds a culture where adaptation is seen as weakness and tradition is carried like a flag into battle. Even if that tradition is fading.
Such is the case of Derek Dooley at Tennessee.
After being about the eighth offer to replace one-and-done Lane Kiffin, Dooley’s two-plus years in Knoxville have been disastrous by Tennessee standards. He’s 0-12 against ranked teams and winless against conference rivals Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. He’s yet to earn a conference win on the road, and the 26 game win streak over Kentucky ended last season.
Ugh.
But for those clamoring for Dooley’s head, it’s time to wake up and face reality. The school and fan base need to redefine what it means to be a national power in modern college football.
It was easy to get spoiled after decades of winning the old way, when the Tennessee brand carried it’s own weight. But that world has gone the way of cable tv and paper back books. Now, college football is being shaped more by flashy uniforms and YouTube videos than anything you might consider traditional. Play in front of 102,000 in Neyland Stadium? Please... Try playing USC while wearing state of the art apparel fresh off the design floor at Nike in front of a TV/online audience of millions with LeBron and D Wade on the sidelines at Autzen Stadium while trending on Twitter.
This is the new college football; an NFL D-League where recruits are lured by amenities and “cool”-factor. Sell a high schooler on tradition? You might as well give them a Mel Torme album for its cultural significance.
Comparatively, Tennessee purists seem more like bitter old men stashing money in their mattress than forward thinking investors. Alternate uniforms? It’s happened only once and radio stations and message boards lit up with fans appalled by the change. (It was ironically the last time the team beat a ranked opponent.) Modern facilities? UT’s brand new, $45 million updates pale in comparison to Southern Cal’s $70 million John McKay Center. Recruiting without these advantages? Dooley has been left to rely on his charisma and personality... and we all know what that’s like...
Therefore, the university must decide what it wants to be. To maintain the present course is to accept a future somewhere in the median. But if years of invites to the Music City Bowl are ahead, then blaming Dooley for losing to programs who’ve made far greater investments into winning is asinine. No individual coach is powerful enough to overcome odds like these. Even those with household names like Saban and Spurrier need major commitments from their respective universities to succeed. Without this, they might as well be coaching a high school team to state titles.
I don’t believe Dooley will ever be looked upon as a football genius or as a legend like his father, but neither will 99 percent of all coaches. If he’s fired this season, I’ll feel terribly for him because doesn’t deserve it. If the university wants to win now, then good luck making another Kiffin-esque hire. Desperation can lead to some very poor decisions. Just ask Arkansas.
Showing posts with label Derek Dooley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Derek Dooley. Show all posts
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Friday, November 18, 2011
Tennessee Football in Steady Decline
On August 24, Tennessee alum Gene Wojohowski wrote a column for ESPN.com, Trying Times for Tennessee Volunteers, contrasting Pat Summit’s announcement of her early onset dementia diagnosis with the Kiffin/Pearl debacles and the overall unrest within the athletic department.
That was before the hope surrounding Tennessee football began to fade.
That was before the lose to now underwhelming Florida, four straight conference loses, and a 42 point embarrassment at Arkansas. That was before perennial conference doormat Vanderbilt was declared a one point favorite against the Vols.
Obviously, Wojohowski’s “trying times” reference was meant primarily for Summit’s battle with dementia (as well it should), but the outlook for the Vols has never looked bleaker. From 1919 until 2004, Tennessee had nine losing seasons. Nine. Included in those years are two national titles and 16 conference championships. Unless the Vols can pull out wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky, 2011 will be the team’s fourth losing season in last seven years. Out of 346 loses in the program’s history, 41 have come since 2005. And one of those was to Wyoming.
The most significant sea change, however, has been among the Tennessee fan base. Where UT was once among college football’s elite, media coverage now features reassurances our newly hired coach (who was hired after multiple candidates reportedly turned down the position) is committed to the university.
“How can you ask for anything more than the University of Tennessee,” Derek Dooley said upon being introduced as football coach. “The times of worrying about what happened are over.”
*Dooley is now 10-13 at Tennessee.*
The language was clear. The university that produced Peyton Manning and Reggie White is now the girl with a good personality. And high school recruits want prom queens.
Contrasting Tennessee’s decline is Vanderbilt, who have lost 27 of their last 28 meetings with the Vols. These, however, are not the same Commodores. Aside from being favored at Neyland Stadium, Vanderbilt lost to Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas this season by a combined 13 points. By comparison, the Vols lost to those same teams by 60. With bowl hopes for both teams on the line, John Adams Knoxville News Sentinel headline summed up the differing paths the two universities find themselves on:
“Vandy, Vols aren’t what they used to be.”
I was sitting in the student section in 2005 when the ‘Dores last beat Tennessee, the first in my lifetime. Late in the game, a student sitting behind me said, “Okay, I’ll take next semester off and graduate next fall so this won’t be my last football game.”
Even with that ridiculous statement, it came with an assumption next year won’t be so bad. Today, that belief is fading quickly.
That was before the hope surrounding Tennessee football began to fade.
That was before the lose to now underwhelming Florida, four straight conference loses, and a 42 point embarrassment at Arkansas. That was before perennial conference doormat Vanderbilt was declared a one point favorite against the Vols.
Obviously, Wojohowski’s “trying times” reference was meant primarily for Summit’s battle with dementia (as well it should), but the outlook for the Vols has never looked bleaker. From 1919 until 2004, Tennessee had nine losing seasons. Nine. Included in those years are two national titles and 16 conference championships. Unless the Vols can pull out wins over Vanderbilt and Kentucky, 2011 will be the team’s fourth losing season in last seven years. Out of 346 loses in the program’s history, 41 have come since 2005. And one of those was to Wyoming.
The most significant sea change, however, has been among the Tennessee fan base. Where UT was once among college football’s elite, media coverage now features reassurances our newly hired coach (who was hired after multiple candidates reportedly turned down the position) is committed to the university.
“How can you ask for anything more than the University of Tennessee,” Derek Dooley said upon being introduced as football coach. “The times of worrying about what happened are over.”
*Dooley is now 10-13 at Tennessee.*
The language was clear. The university that produced Peyton Manning and Reggie White is now the girl with a good personality. And high school recruits want prom queens.
Contrasting Tennessee’s decline is Vanderbilt, who have lost 27 of their last 28 meetings with the Vols. These, however, are not the same Commodores. Aside from being favored at Neyland Stadium, Vanderbilt lost to Georgia, Florida, and Arkansas this season by a combined 13 points. By comparison, the Vols lost to those same teams by 60. With bowl hopes for both teams on the line, John Adams Knoxville News Sentinel headline summed up the differing paths the two universities find themselves on:
“Vandy, Vols aren’t what they used to be.”
I was sitting in the student section in 2005 when the ‘Dores last beat Tennessee, the first in my lifetime. Late in the game, a student sitting behind me said, “Okay, I’ll take next semester off and graduate next fall so this won’t be my last football game.”
Even with that ridiculous statement, it came with an assumption next year won’t be so bad. Today, that belief is fading quickly.
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