First Practice: March26
Spring Game: April 21
Entering spring 2012, there are few hot seats in college football hotter than Derek Dooley’s at Tennessee. A once proud program has hit on hard times, winning just 11 games over the last two years, and sadly for Vols fans, things hardly improved this off-season. From player discontent, to coaching change; you name it, it’s happened the last few months at Tennessee.
But still there is hope in Knoxville, where most of one college football’s most explosive offenses is back, and healthy. The defense is young, but played better than most had expected last season.
Simply put, the talent is there for the Volunteers to compete in the SEC East. But will it develop fast enough to help Dooley save his job?
Stability Factor (1= Chaos; 5= Rock Solid): 1.0
Of every program in college football, you could argue that Tennessee is the least stable of any in the last decade, although quite a bit of it had nothing to do with Dooley. It wasn’t Dooley’s fault that Phil Fulmer left a mess for Lane Kiffin, and it certainly wasn’t Dooley’s fault that Kiffin left a bigger mess when he skipped town in January 2010, just 12 months after accepting the job.
At the same time, we can’t completely absolve Dooley here either. For a program in need of some positive PR Dooley did little to himself this spring, when he stood in the way of former wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett’s transfer out of Knoxville. There was also plenty of turnover on Dooley’s staff as well, which led to plenty of elite recruits looking elsewhere just days before Signing Day. Of the guys who have stayed, plenty (like top receiver Da’Rick Rogers) have been vocally discontent about the way the program is run.
But hey, other than all that stuff, things really aren’t that bad!
Under The Microscope: The Offensive Line
In defense of the offensive line, the only reason I selected them for the “Under The Microscope” spot was because I couldn’t choose the alternative of “Everyone.”
Regardless, of every unit on the roster, this one has the most to prove. For the last two years everyone has been made plenty of excuses for this unit underachieving, thanks in large part to their youth and inexperience. Well, with three juniors and a senior projected as starters, few groups in the SEC will have more maturity and game reps than the Tennessee Vols offensive line entering the spring, and later the fall. Guys like Ja’Wuan James have been starting since their freshman years.
And because of it, there will be no excuse is the Vols running game isn’t substantially better than it was a year ago. Tennessee finished the season averaging a meager 2.76 yards per attempt, and concluded the season ranked 116th out of 120 teams in FBS football with just 91 yards on the ground per game. Because of it, the offense often found itself behind the chains, and in tough second and third down predicaments.
Simply put, if the offensive line isn’t better than the offense won’t be better. And if the offense isn’t better, than the team won’t be better. Which could mean the end of the Derek Dooley era as we know it.
Locked And Loaded: The Passing Game
Assuming everyone stays healthy (which, given what we saw last year is no guarantee), this very well could be the most explosive passing game in the SEC. Tyler Bray has one of the biggest arms in the sport, and he’ll be flanked by the best pair of receivers in the conference, Rogers, and fellow junior Justin Hunter. Rogers led this team with over 1,000 yards receiving last year, but it is actually Hunter is far and away the most talented receiver on this roster. He had over 300 yards receiving in just two games, before getting hurt against Florida in Week 3.
If these two are healthy, there is no better of receivers in the SEC, maybe even the country.
Jockeying For Position: Defensive Line
On a team where 19 starters return, it’s hard to say that anyone is really “jockeying” for position. However the place to probably most closely keep an eye out is on the defensive line, where the Vols lost two year starter Malik Jackson at defensive end.
Juniors Marlon Walls and Maurice Couch will bookend the line.
Name To Know: Coradarrelle Patterson
Remember how we were talking about the passing game before? Well the scary thing for opposing defenses, is that it should only get better as the spring wears on.
That’s because Dooley will welcome Coradarrelle Patterson, widely regarded as the No. 1 junior college recruit in the country, to Tennessee this spring. The 6’3 Patterson will add depth to an already loaded receiving corps, and should also have an immediate connection with one Vols quarterback right away.
That’s right, Patterson was a high school teammate of Tennessee back-up Justin Worley.
Spring Will Be A Success If…
Everyone just focuses in football.
Call me crazy, but I am one of the few people left that still believes in Derek Dooley. He inherited a toxic situation in the winter of 2010, and over the past 24 months donned his HazMat suit, and cleaned things up significantly around Tennessee. The program isn’t perfect, but in far better shape than it was when he got to Knoxville.
Unfortunately nobody cares about the process, just the results. And as of right now, the positive results are few and far between. Not only is the team not winning, but with coaching turnover, recruiting turmoil and in-house bickering, it has all led Dooley to the precarious situation he’s in now. Getting to a bowl game alone might not be enough. For Dooley, eight wins might be the low-water mark.
The good news is that if Dooley can rally the troops, and just focus on football, this team will be fine. They have the talent to put up points against anyone on their schedule (well, except maybe Alabama) and defensively they’re getting better, even if depth is lacking.
In the end, this team is good enough to win, and win lots of games.
Of course if we’ve learned anything about Tennessee these last few years, it’s that nothing is as easy as it seems.
