give derek dooley big credit for one thing: He molds his approach to his personnel, rather than forcing a system onto unprepared players (see: Rich rodriguez). That means he hasn't fully figured out what kind of offense he will run or what kind of defensive scheme he will use, because he is still familiarizing himself with his roster and getting a handle on his recruiting class. But dooley has shown an ability to adapt.
"he did what worked," current louisiana tech and former tennessee wr ahmad paige told austin ward of the knoxville news-sentinel. "it seemed like from week to week he constantly changed because we did things that worked."
dooley acknowledges that he will lean on the run, but insists that he will use multiple sets to keep defenses on their toes. Paige said that the bulldogs didn't throw much last season, but that was because "we didn't necessarily have the quarterback with the arm to do it. It wasn't that he didn't want to do it, we just didn't have the personnel to do it."
defensively, dooley is expected to switch tennessee from a 4-3 defense to the 3-4 scheme favored by his mentor, nick saban, and used by lb coach lance thompson, who came to knoxville from tuscaloosa. "the important thing is the players believe in the system we're in," dooley said, "and that we're complex enough to be able to adjust to anything that's hurting us."
