If Dooley finishes 7-5 and only loses to top 20 teams which we were expected to lose, then he will have made substantial progress over the previous two years. "Substantial progress" is the criteria that Hart laid down for Dooley to be retained.
I would also note that both Kiffin and Fulmer (in his last year) lost games to unranked teams which we were favored to beat.
The bottom line is that Dooley took over this program on short notice right before NSD when it was an absolute train wreck that had the lowest level of talent in the modern era and was under the threat of NCAA sanctions. Dooley accepted the job as a five year rebuilding effort at a time when Tennessee was a job that nobody else was willing to take on. After only two and a half years into what everyone expected to be at least a five year project we have made huge strides in the offense,.especially in the run game and pass protection -- statistically, we are now among the most potent offenses in the nation. Overall, our special teams play is far better than before Dooley took over (especially the kickoff and punt coverage) and most importantly, in contrast to the latter Fulmer years and the year of "the Kiffin", Dooley has vastly improved the overall level of talent on our roster by targeting recruits who are not only outstanding football players, but who are young men of character as well.
The final task is to make the necessary changes on defense to bring it up to the same level as the offense, and based on what he has accomplished so far, I have every confidence Dooley will get that done, making Tennessee a contender once again. Overall, it is extremely hard for any rational person to deny that Dooley has met and even exceeded the criteria set down by Hart to retain his job.
Tennessee will reach its goal of competing for championships much faster if the fan base will just get behind our team and stop sabotaging our recruiting efforts by constantly going on public message boards to gripe and call for Dooley to be fired. Apparently they do not understand that even if their wish were to be granted, those very actions make it highly unlikely that a quality replacement for Dooley would be willing to take the job.
mlsoft
