Dooley's recruiting wasn't as bad as you think.

[Volunteer_Kirby]

Plus all those great offensive linemen he signed in 2012.

 

[TGVol]

The number of "Dooley players" on NFL rosters actually worsens his image to me. Talent and ability were present at numerous positions, but nothing ever materialized here.

You could not be more wrong at least when it comes to offense. Offensive players were certainly developed and "materialized" at UT under Dooley. That's why we had one of the best offenses in the country and school history during his final year. And must of those guys started contributing in NFL immediately which means they did not need to be developed there first. Bray is an exception but o-line and wr's were certainly developed here.
As far as defense - that is a completely different story and Dooley and staff deserve all the criticism they got for that disaster.

 

[DaddyChad]

You could not be more wrong at least when it comes to offense. Offensive players were certainly developed and "materialized" at UT under Dooley. That's why we had one of the best offenses in the country and school history during his final year. And must of those guys started contributing in NFL immediately which means they did not need to be developed there first. Bray is an exception but o-line and wr's were certainly developed here.
As far as defense - that is a completely different story and Dooley and staff deserve all the criticism they got for that disaster.

I'm sorry but that maybe one of the most assine statements ever put down on this board. That prolific offense generated 18 points versus Vanderbilt. If school history equalled the amount of time that some of our posters have been wiping their own behinds then maybe.

 

[Doyle Hargraves]

I will say it again, as I have said before.
I hate Dooley the way most of you hate Kiffin.
Maybe more.

 

[TGVol]

I'm sorry but that maybe one of the most assine statements ever put down on this board. That prolific offense generated 18 points versus Vanderbilt. If school history equalled the amount of time that some of our posters have been wiping their own behinds then maybe.

So in desperately trying to prove your point (which is completely invalid as proven by link below) you selectively pick one game during that year when Dooley was for all practical purposes already out? :crazy:
How about instead you look at the whole year - only in Bama and Vandy games we scored under 20 points. As a matter of fact other than those 2 games and UF when we scored 20 we scored above 30 in every other game during Dooley's last year. Comparing that to Butch's first two years makes Dooley look like Bill Walsh.

2012 Tennessee Volunteers football team - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[KKruzVFL]

The reason why Dooley got fired is because he switched to a 3-4 in the year that he needed to show improvement. Tennessee isn t a 3-4 school. The players were recruited for a 4-3.This crap about how he couldnt develop talent on defense doesnt make any since.Its almost like the people that bring up these points never watched the games.The offense was very good and scored alot of points.I wish we had that offense now with the players that we have.

 

[JCP201]

5 Reasons Vol Fans Should Be Thankful | Rocky Top Insider

 

[VOLINVONORE]

You could not be more wrong at least when it comes to offense. Offensive players were certainly developed and "materialized" at UT under Dooley. That's why we had one of the best offenses in the country and school history during his final year. And must of those guys started contributing in NFL immediately which means they did not need to be developed there first. Bray is an exception but o-line and wr's were certainly developed here.
As far as defense - that is a completely different story and Dooley and staff deserve all the criticism they got for that disaster.

By the time he was fired, he had lost almost all connections with high school coaches, especially those in Tennessee. Andy was cleaning up on Tennessee hs talent Any coach who does not sign an O lineman in a class should be fired and regulated to practicing law.

 

[DaddyChad]

So in desperately trying to prove your point (which is completely invalid as proven by link below) you selectively pick one game during that year when Dooley was for all practical purposes already out? :crazy:
How about instead you look at the whole year - only in Bama and Vandy games we scored under 20 points. As a matter of fact other than those 2 games and UF when we scored 20 we scored above 30 in every other game during Dooley's last year. Comparing that to Butch's first two years makes Dooley look like Bill Walsh.

2012 Tennessee Volunteers football team - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's not worth arguing something like this. I'll just say that if you tell almost anyone that the 2012 Vols offense was the most prolific in history they are going to laugh hard in your face.

And I'll acknowledge that offense put up a lot of yards, I believe the second most in school history. But if you look at college offensive production increasing as a whole and comparision versus other collegiant programs during the same time it isn't nearly as impressive, not to mention some of those yards were stat padding versus bad opponents. The 97 Vol offense blows that one out of the water IMHO and it's not close. They generated more yards than 2012 and it was in a time where the rules were not so slighted to the offensive side of the ball.

And now I've completely contradicted myself I said I wouldn't argue it and then laid out this crap above. In any case, Happy Thanksgiving and Go Vols.

 

[Shakinthefat]

Who is derek Dooley?

 

[TGVol]

By the time he was fired, he had lost almost all connections with high school coaches, especially those in Tennessee. Andy was cleaning up on Tennessee hs talent Any coach who does not sign an O lineman in a class should be fired and regulated to practicing law.

I'm not arguing any of these points. During 2012 Dooley was only focused on trying to win as many games as possible hoping to save his job - and if he went 8-4 or 9-3 which easily could have happened with a little bit better defense he would probably have regained momentum and certainly signed few olinemen even if late in cycle - he had no trouble recruiting early on after he was hired when he had momentum. His recruiting really went down the hill during 2012 after Wilcox left and the perception was he was going to be out very soon. The only thing I ever argue in support of Dooley is that he was a good offensive recruiter and offensive coach and the offense he built in 3 years supports that argument (yards and points offense put up at UT, and also success of his players in NFL proves that).

 

[Falcons02]

OP you do realize that he recruited ZERO OL in 2012 right? Dooley wrecked us.

This could be repeated on every page of every thread (regardless of subject matter) from now until the end of days and it would not come close to getting the point across to some.

This extraordinary sample of ineptitude set the program back a minimum of 2 years in and of itself. Butch is workin like heck to fix the mess but it won't happen overnight.

**** Dooley.

 

[roddo518]

This could be repeated on every page of every thread (regardless of subject matter) from now until the end of days and it would not come close to getting the point across to some.

This extraordinary sample of ineptitude set the program back a minimum of 2 years in and of itself. Butch is workin like heck to fix the mess but it won't happen overnight.

**** Dooley.

If I could give you more likes I would. This answers every post, but then the posters that know nothing about football will just rephrase the threads another way. SOS just worded a different way.

 

[Carl Pickens]

Who is derek Dooley?

A bung hole AKA "Precious"

 

[Volunteer_Kirby]

this belongs in here:

 

[FLSTF-VOL]

If I could give you more likes I would. This answers every post, but then the posters that know nothing about football will just rephrase the threads another way. SOS just worded a different way.

Not taking any oline in 2012 has nothing to do with our oline play and depth right now.

If you know anything at all about football on the collegiate level and understand the dynamics of filling a class I won't have to explain it in too much detail about what it means. You should be able to understand it when you see it. An "ahhaw moment".

The very first class that Kiffin signed in 09 had only two Oline recruits in it. Jerquari Schofield a 3* and Kevin Revis a 3*. Kevin Revis redshirted, never played a down and left after the 2010 season. Schofield Redshirted and eventually left because of academics. I only mention this because he could have had none and had the same result.

After Kiffin got the AX, Dooley saved what he could of the 2010 class by signing 6. Jawwan James 5*, James Stone 4*, Marques Pair 3*, Zach Fulton 3*, Darin Gooch 3* and had one preferred walk-on being Jacob Gilliam. Pair and Gilliam redshirted. There were 16 Olinmen on the roster. 11 listed freshman, 3 Sop. 1 Jr. and 1 Sr.

James, Stone and Fulton would all play and eventually start. Pair, Gooch and Gilliam all redshirted.

Here is the 2010 roster: (notice 1 Sr and 1 Jr)

Jarrod Shaw Sr
Cody Pope Jr
Carson Anderson RS SOP
Dallas Thomas Sop
Darin Gooch Sop Juco xfer from Butte JC
Kevin Revis Rs Fr
James Stone Fr
Marques Pair Fr
Caleb Leonard Fr walk on
Jacob Gilliam Fr walk on
Ja'wuan James Fr
Zach Fulton Fr
JerQuari Schofield Rs Fr
Daniel Hood Fr
Chase Phillips Fr walk on
Travis James Fr xfer from North Central College

Daniel Hood Moved to DL. Leonard and Phillips did not return. Cody Pope also left.

2011 Dooley signed 5. Antonio Richardson 4*, Marcus Jackson 4*, Kyler Kerbyson 3*, Alan Posey 3*, Mack Crowder 3*. They had 19 o-linemen on the roster. 10 freshman, 6 sop, 3 Jr and Zero Seniors. Rarely do you have a roster with no Seniors on it.

2011 Roster:

Carson Anderson RS Jr
Dallas Thomas RS Jr
Darin Gooch Jr
Isaac Mobley Soph (converted DL)
James Stone Soph
Ja'Wuan James Soph
Jerquari Schofield RS Soph
Alex Bullard Sop (transfer from Notre Dame)
Zach Fulton Soph
Mark Crowder Fr
Andrew Fritts Fr (walk on)
Evan Volner Fr (walk on)
Jacob Gillam RS Fr
Marques Pair RS FR
Alan Possey Fr
Marcus Jackson Fr
Antino Richardson Fr
Kyler Kerbyson Fr
Brock Collier RS Fr (converted TE)

2012 is where it gets interesting. You will notice that we had zero Seniors graduating and only three Juniors from last years Roster of 17 and is probably the biggest reason Dooley felt comfortable not taking any in this class. Roster includes 4 redshirt freshman, 6 soph, 4 Jrs. and 3 Srs. Evan Volner did not return. Brock Collier went back to TE. Bullard moved to TE for 10 games.

2012 Roster:

Carson Anderson RS Sr Played in 8 games 1 start
Dallas thomas Rs Sr Started all 12 games
Darin Gooch Rs Sr DNP
James Stone Jr Started all 12 games
JaWuan James Jr Started all 12 games
Zach Fulton Jr Started 11 games
Alex Bullard Jr Played in all 12, 10 at TE
Jacob Gilliam Rs sop played in 1 game
Brock Collier Rs sop (converted back to TE) DNP
Marques Pair RS Sop DNP
Marcus Jackson Sop Played in all 12 games
Antonio Richardson Sop Started in all 12 games
Isaac Mobley Rs Fr DNP
Mack Crowder RS Fr Played in 8 games with 1 start
Adam Eichelberger RS Fr (walk on) DNP
Alan Possey Rs Fr Played in 1 game
Kyler Kerbyson Rs Fr Played in 7 games

Isaac Mobley, Alan Possey and Adam Eichelberger left the team after Dooley was let go.

2013 CBJ took over and signed 3. Austin Sanders 3*, Dylan Wiesman 3*, Brett Kendrick 3*. Roster had 16 o-linemen, 6 Fr, 2 Sop, 4 jr, and 4 Sr.

2013 Roster:

James Stone Sr played in and started in all 12
Ja'Wuan James SR played in and started in all 12
Zach Fulton Sr started and played in all 12
Alex Bullard Sr played in all 12 and started in 11
Antinio Richardson Jr played in and started all 12
Marcus Jackson Jr DNP
Jacob Gilliam RS Jr played in 2
Marques Pair RS Jr played in 5
Mack Crowder RS Sop played in 8 and started 1
Kyler Kerbyson Rs Sop played in all 12
Austin Sanders Rs Fr DNP
Brett Kendrick RS Fr DNP
Jay Heins Rs Fr walk on DNP
Dylan Weisman Fr played in 10
Thomas Edwards Rs Fr DNP
John Simcox Rs Fr walk on DNP

Antinio Richardson went pro early. Heins and Simcox did not return.

Stone, James, Fulton, Bullard and Richardson would have played regardless. They only rotated in 5 players and only Weisman and Kerbyson got any real experience. This more than anything is the real reason we lack depth. The theory that the reason our oline is so bad because of the 12 class just does not hold any weight. Losing Richardson to the draft early and Mobley and Possey leaving, probably hurt us more than anything. WE would still only have 6 starts between our oline regardless of if we took none or ten. It could be argued that if CBJ thought it was going to be an issue in 14 he would have at the very least rotated in more guys. Dooley felt that the oline was a developmental position and CBJ has made that statement several times. At no time has this roster had fewer than 14.

2014 CBJ took 4 in the class. Dontavius Blair 4* (juco), Jashon Robertson 3*, Ray Raulerson 3*, Colman Thomas 3*. Roster has 14 o-linmen 7 Fr, 1 Sop, 4 Jr and only 2 Sr.

Jacob Gilliam Rs Sr
Marques Pair Rs Sr
Mack Crowder RS Jr
Marcus Jackson Rs Jr
Dontavious Blair Rs Jr (juco)
Kyler Kerbyson RS Jr
Dylan Weisman Sop
Austin Sanders Rs Fr
Brett Kendrick Rs Fr
Colman Thomas Fr
Ray Raulerson Fr
Benson Napier Fr walk on
Jashon Robertson Fr
Thomas Edwards Rs Fr walk on

Draw your on conclusions. If that 12 class was going to hurt us it would be next year or the next.