Is this another YEAR ZERO?

#201
#201
MrVol said:
When Dooley took over it was a mess. The program was in shambles.

When Jones took over UT football was a mess.

Maybe we should consider this Year Zero?
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The program wasn't a "mess" when Jones took over. He was hired with about as much time as you can expect to finish a recruiting class. While unpleasant, the departure of the last coach was pretty timely and smoothly conducted. There were virtually NO off the field discipline problems- at a minimum far less than normal.

Dooley did leave him in a bad way recruiting. IMO, Dooley quit really trying to recruit long before it was official that he was gone. I also think there is a pretty good chance that he would have quit if they had not fired him.

The roster has strengths and some talent. It is much better than it was 3 years ago in both respects. ANY time you take over a program after a coach was fired for losing... you are going to have some thin spots and talent issues in the roster. There is been relatively little attrition since Jones arrived too.

Now is next year a "year 1 part 2"? Could be. The class Kiffin handed off to Dooley has produced some contributors. Dooley's next two classes do not appear to be doing that. So in '14 Jones is working with a freshman class that's looking pretty good as a signing class right now, his first class which left much to be desired both from a quality standpoint and needs meeting standpoint, then the scraps from Dooley's last two classes. It could be a pretty rough year.
 
#204
#204
On the front end.

1a. Kiffin
1b. Jones
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somewhere down here is Dooley
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nevermind, page aint long enough
 
#209
#209
IMO, Jones, and its not even close. Kiffin didn't come across as enthusiastic, just a smart a$$, and Dooley was just a dumb a$$. The only other coach with as much enthusiasm as Jones was Pearl.
 
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#210
#210
hep said:
Glad to see all our Gator friends back in every thread.
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99gator tries to take every availabe opportunity to condescend to Vol fans. It is his schtick... act "reasonable" while showing Vol fans the back of his hand.
 
#211
#211
Kiffin had a much bigger mouth and talked a big game. He is a B.S professional, hence how he has maintained jobs despite him failing everywhere as a head coach. Jones is excited, and is honored to be apart of tennessee tradition. Jones embraces tennessee and takes care of every aspect of the program. Kiffin wanted USC tradition at UT. Dooley??? He doesn't need to be in this Convo. So answer is butch. Big mouths get no where. Look at the Trojans.
 
#212
#212
Volinmem said:
IMO, Jones, and its not even close. Kiffin didn't come across as enthusiastic, just a smart a$$, and Dooley was just a dumb a$$. The only other coach with as much enthusiasm as Jones was Pearl.
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I think the OP was asking which coach had the fanbase most pumped up going into the season. The answer to that is Kiffin and it's by a pretty wide margin. Part of that had to do with the fact that at the time the general consensus was that it would take a year or two at the most of his recruiting before we were right back in the hunt in the SEC. People are excited about Jones, but I think most realistic people knew it was going to take a while. Any remaining people who thought it might be a quick fix were promptly knocked by down to earth last week when it became painfully clear that UT is still years away from being consistently competitive with the teams that matter.
 
#213
#213
Does the OP mean the fan excitement or their personal excitement?

Fans were more excited when Kiffin arrived. He threw together a supposed "dream team" staff including his HOF father as DC. He poked everyone who had been plaguing UT for years in the eye as quickly as he could and made promises about championships... soon.

Since then... we've been through a lot.

Jones is way out front from a personal perspective. He's far more intense than either of the other two.

Dooley did not excite the fanbase. He wasn't very excited or positively intense either. He wanted to be the cerebral "chairman of the board" type of HC. I don't know if that ever could have worked but it definitely could not work with the team he took over. The Vols needed and need a nuts and bolts guy as well as a good commander.
 
#215
#215
bleedorange0037 said:
I think the OP was asking which coach had the fanbase most pumped up going into the season. The answer to that is Kiffin and it's by a pretty wide margin. Part of that had to do with the fact that at the time the general consensus was that it would take a year or two at the most of his recruiting before we were right back in the hunt in the SEC. People are excited about Jones, but I think most realistic people knew it was going to take a while. Any remaining people who thought it might be a quick fix were promptly knocked by down to earth last week when it became painfully clear that UT is still years away from being consistently competitive with the teams that matter.
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Agreed so long as you don't think getting 7 wins this year amounts to a "quick fix". Otherwise, very solid post.
 
#216
#216
They all tried in their own ways. I remember thinking the Kiffin statement about singing Rocky Top all night long sounded very contrived and insincere but some of y all nearly blew a load over it. Dooley sounded smart and sincere but wasn't overly inspiring. Jones articulated a vision without resorting to the snakeoil salesmanship of Kiffin or risking talking over people who not have related to Dooley.
 
#217
#217
My bad, I thought he was asking about the coach's enthusiasm. As you said, from the fans perspective, Kiffin had the most.
 
#220
#220
Volinmem said:
IMO, Jones, and its not even close. Kiffin didn't come across as enthusiastic, just a smart a$$, and Dooley was just a dumb a$$. The only other coach with as much enthusiasm as Jones was Pearl.
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Let's hope Jones isn't planning any barbecues any time soon.
 
#221
#221
VolunteerHillbilly said:
They all tried in their own ways. I remember thinking the Kiffin statement about singing Rocky Top all night long sounded very contrived and insincere but some of y all nearly blew a load over it. Dooley sounded smart and sincere but wasn't overly inspiring. Jones articulated a vision without resorting to the snakeoil salesmanship of Kiffin or risking talking over people who not have related to Dooley.
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Disagree with the Dooley statement.
I thought he was a bigger snakeoil salesman than Kiffin from the start.
 
#222
#222
bleedorange0037 said:
I think the OP was asking which coach had the fanbase most pumped up going into the season. The answer to that is Kiffin and it's by a pretty wide margin. Part of that had to do with the fact that at the time the general consensus was that it would take a year or two at the most of his recruiting before we were right back in the hunt in the SEC. People are excited about Jones, but I think most realistic people knew it was going to take a while. Any remaining people who thought it might be a quick fix were promptly knocked by down to earth last week when it became painfully clear that UT is still years away from being consistently competitive with the teams that matter.
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Another reason to add to this post would be the fact we were heading into our downhill slide. Fact was though we just didn't know it. But we were eager over a new coach, one with NFL time and young blood to bring our program back into shape.

Whoops.

Then Dooley came along and after Goggling his name and trying to figure out who he was we were cautious. He managed to pull off a good recruiting class even though the time was against him and we were hopeful.

Uh oh.

Now Jones comes along. We are overly cautious. Says the things that need to be said, but overall, the fans are still looking at him like he's a alien artifact we are trying to figure out.

But in the end, I'm still optimistic and still hope for great things out of this coach. He's the first one to openly admit our football program is broken and is in dire need of repair so his frankness is tops in my book.
 
#223
#223
Grand Vol said:
Another reason to add to this post would be the fact we were heading into our downhill slide. Fact was though we just didn't know it. But we were eager over a new coach, one with NFL time and young blood to bring our program back into shape.

Whoops.

Then Dooley came along and after Goggling his name and trying to figure out who he was we were cautious. He managed to pull off a good recruiting class even though the time was against him and we were hopeful.

Uh oh.

Now Jones comes along. We are overly cautious. Says the things that need to be said, but overall, the fans are still looking at him like he's a alien artifact we are trying to figure out.

But in the end, I'm still optimistic and still hope for great things out of this coach. He's the first one to openly admit our football program is broken and is in dire need of repair so his frankness is tops in my book.
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I remember Googling Dooley's name the day he was hired and literally going WTF?
 
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#224
#224
Doyle Hargraves said:
I remember Googling Dooley's name the day he was hired and literally going WTF?
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The only reason I knew how to spell it right was because I had a troop that was a LA Tech fan.

And he didn't seem upset that we "stole" their coach. Shoulda had warning bells going off in my head right then.
 
#225
#225
Kiffin was a statue on the sidelines. His head buried in the laminated play sheet. No emotion. Dooley showed some fire. Jones wins this hands down.
 
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