This week’s Kentucky-Tennessee game promises to be a doozy.
It’s just a shame they can’t figure out a way to let Auburn play the winner. Or maybe the loser.
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UPDATE: SOD gets the axe.
“We very much appreciate the effort and energy that Derek Dooley and his staff have poured into our football program at the University of Tennessee,” said Hart. “Derek and I met early this morning, and I informed him that I believed a change in leadership, despite the positive contributions he has made to the overall health of the program, was in the best long-term interests of Tennessee football. We will immediately begin the search for the best possible candidate to assume this leadership role.”
Dooley will not coach the Vols in the season finale against Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 12:21 p.m. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will serve as interim head coach for Saturday’s game.
“I am sorry we could not generate enough wins to create hope for a brighter future,” said Dooley. “Although progress was not reflected in our record, I am proud of the strides we made to strengthen the foundation for future success in all areas of the program.
“During the last 34 months, I’ve given my all for Tennessee, and our family appreciates all this University and the Knoxville community has given us.”
He certainly leaves the program with a firmer foundation when it comes to personal hygene.
Get The Picture 
Last night’s capitulation by the Vols was epic. Vanderbilt has not owned UT like that in most of our lifetimes.
The funny thing is that the UT-UK game really will be like a bowl game of sorts. Can SOD get his team to buy in long enough to show up? Will UK rally around Joker in a last ditch effort to save a little face as he rides out? Surprising amount of intrigue for a game like this.
Vandy is going to be a pesky bitch as long as Franklin’s around, BTW.
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Yeah. What’s lost in all this is that by beating Wake Forest next week Vandy can get to 8-4 and if the Ackbars can win their bowl game they can have a 9 win season.
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Vandy=Ackbars?
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A 9-win season would be the most Wins by a VU team evah! They were 9-0 in 1904 and 9-1 in 1915. The Lil Franklins are backing the Anchor up to quite a bit of history.
But they are still only the 7th best squad in the SEC. Weird how that works. Not!
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And they don’t even get the first draft pick out of it.
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The “Least in the East” Bowl is next Saturday. Oh how far the mighty have fallen. The Beast of the East has already been decided. Ain’t life grand?
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I think the “Exit Bowl” is a nice working title.
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+1 for hating damn UT more than any other orange teams and the panic quote.
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Over/under on attendance for this game? TN fans are beyond disgusted and have quit their support for anything but a change. Players have quit SOD, and now his QB will probably roll over like he did last year in Lexington. Vandy just kicked them in the nuts last night. Wish they had a better recruiting class coming in because some of those guys could be turned. What a mess, one I am enjoying a lot given the past arrogance of their fans, and Barbs’ antics.
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And those buffoons broadcasting the game (allright single buffoon, Jones) kept on about Vandy’s Top 15 recruiting class. It is a minor miracle how that pissy coach out there has swung all of these High School boys to meander into Music City. Can he possibly keep this up?
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Emerson tweets that SOD is out. Wowzers..even before the Joker.
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I just saw a report that it has been announced that this is Dooley’s last season.
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Yep, SOD is packing up his orange pants as we speak. Barbara is also on her way to drop off her orange outfits at Goodwill.
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As they say: You dress for the job you want, and not for the job you’ve got. Dooley’s been wantin’ to manage a Hooters restaurant for a while now.
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ZING —->
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This just in: Tennessee just announced that SOD is done after this season. This truly is the Exit Bowl.
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Dooley has my sympathies. I’m not Barbara, but he really did walk into an impossible situation in Knoxville. I don’t know if any coach could have been successful after Kiffin cratered the program. However, he didn’t do much to show that he could eventually succeed.
I think it’s the epitome of small-mindedness to judge a coach only by his record, or even worse in the case of UGA fans, by championships. However, effort and fundamentals are absolutely fair indicators of a coach. And UT hasn’t had either of those for a while, going back to Kiffin’s tenure.
If Dooley had been able to show some progress in coaching kids up, he would probably have another year or two to play with Knoxville. Oh well. Best of luck in the future, SOD.
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It has been my premise all along that Dooley was hired to be fired, i.e. that whoever took the job post-Kiffikins was bound to fail. That’s why no good coach would take it when the Lamer left. The UT AD hired SOD to be the fall guy so that after SOD’s departure a big name coach that would be viewed as a “hero” could be hired to “save the program.” My money’s on Petrino.
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You’re in the right ballpark re: Petrino. Let the shameless bidding war begin The Barn and The Orange.
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And Kentucky, probably.
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Agree that SOD inherited a troubled program after Foolmer and Junior. The years of dirt and lack of discipline took the Vols down, years ago. Dooley losing his coaching staff last year and having to start over, plus having a head case (literally) for a QB stacked the deck against him. Even a good hire will need time to rebuild the program that has slipped a long way in the past decade+. I don’t wish them well, there are enough good teams in the SEC without adding one.,
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It was obvious last night that the oranges were rotten and the qb was a banana. What an attitude for a kid to have.
“Should Haves” by Dooley…
Should have thrown at least a few problems off the team very early..
(See…”CMR…basic disciplne and standards, scruples)
Should have played under classmen when seniors didn’t perform.
Should have looked at the program he was accepting and the mess it was in. He got in too big of a hurry to grab a big time team. On the otherhand, now he’s rich, and I would have done the same thing.
Should have worn basic, tan khacki’s…like a true son of the South.
Should have asked his mom to back off…
SOD seems like a decent enough guy. He just got a runaway train and couldn’t slow it down. I wish him luck.
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SOD’s contract says he has to use best efforts to find another job, presumably in football, to collect his severance as whatever salary he earns is deducted from the amount UT has to pay. Does this mean that he has to become an assistant at another program? There will be new staffs formed at Auburn, Kentucky and Arkansas. Just a thought. P.S. I’ll bet Sunseri wishes he hadn’t left Bama now.
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Buy-outs, plus Holgorsen, plus a competent DC – is Tennessee looking at $12 million in coaching compensation next year?
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What would be the fascination with Holgo after the true Burning Couch that has been made of WVU’s season? They may need to beat Kansas! simply to attain bowl status.
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I think “conventional wisdom” on Holgorsen is that he’s one of the 3 best offensive coaches in college right now. Not my opinion, but you see that sentiment a lot. Someone’s going to think, “Hmmm, give him SEC athletes and a competent defense, and let’s see what happens.”
4 SEC openings in one off-season, 3 at competitive programs. Going to be a fascinating bidding war to watch.
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Hasn’t WVU lost 5 games in a row this season? How is Holgerson an attractive candidate? He’ll be lucky if the Mountaineers don’t run him off.
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I looked it up. WVU is 5-5 and has to play a 6-5 Iowa State in Ames this weekend. I’m picking the Cyclones. The next game for WVU is Kansas. If the Mountaineers lose to ISU Holgerson will be playing the Jayhawks for his job.
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Although most Vols don’t get it, the failure of SOD is an indication of the deep ka ka pool that has become Tennessee football. Even a great coach won’t have an easy job. The truth is, Tennessee has no institutional experience that prepares them for the next hire. The last successful coach at UT came to his job under still unclear circumstances. The hiring of the next coach probably should not be an experiment. Hell, it appears even po Ole Miss is better at this than UT.
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Hat check, SJ3! Where you at?
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Hartford, freaking Connecticut….all hats present and accounted for I now appreciate the reach of the WWL…scumbuckets all, (cept for Samantha Steele) but they bring me Dawgs.
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I understand it matters not in the Grand Scheme, but how does Alabama jump over UGa in the coaches’ poll this week? Does this not stink to anyone else?
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I think it’s called “not having a 35-7 loss” and “being defending national champion.” Seriously…we’re a bit fortunate to be in the place we are given the favorable schedule and recent failures on the big stage.
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lol…well said. Painful, but soooooo true.
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… and by stink, I mean as in reeking of insider politics and coaching dishonesty.
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It’s irrelevant. We get to settle that anomaly on the field.
And poor SOD. He doesn’t even get his own blog post. He just gets tacked onto the post about the Sadface Bowl.
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Yeah, I get it, but I don’t have to like it.
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Alabama has a tougher schedule (30 v. 46 re Sagarin). They were first-and-goal to win late in their lone loss. Georgia was demolished by South Carolina. At this point, Alabama deserves a higher ranking than Georgia based on total body of work. And Bama won’t deserve a higher ranking after the SEC-CG. But I don’t see what “insider dishonesty” has to do with it.
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This is true.
And the Dawgs control their own destiny. Win three in a row and you’re National Champs!
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I just hope that if we win the next 2 ESPN and others in the media can’t find a way to f#ck us out of playing in the BCSNCG, particularly if ND loses and there are umpteen 1 loss teams.
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He gone…
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With the additional probation penalties tacked on by the NCAA this week, they are even more unappealling to a “good coach” or up and coming assistant. UT is going to have to come up with serious guaranteed money to get someone. This may be the most interesting of the pending coaching searches.
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Please tell me that Petrino is gone from the SEC and hopefully, from college coaching forever. Please. I don’t think Tennessee or even Auburn would stoop this low (in the light of day, anyway). I know that, AU esp, has done some pretty sleazy things, bit this MUST BE a bridge too far.
Some thoughts….Tubberville back in the SEC..maybe TN.
The coach from ULMONROE…ready for the big time. (No I don’t recall his name and as usual, I’m too lazy and rude to look it up)
Would Franklin jump ship to another SEC school? I don’t think so, because he’s not finished showing the world that he is to Vanderbilt and the SEC what Steve Spurrier was to Duke and the ACC..good luck with that.
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wishful thinking my friend – Petrino wins games…period. With this much money at stake……don’t be naive.
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Yes, this is a sad day. I was really hoping he was going to eek out another couple of wins, loose a bowl game, rinse, wash repeat for a couple more seasons. Tennessee suck is something I just can’t get enough of.
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Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, nor soon enough.
Signing guys who stole on their recruiting trips? Doing nothing when players try to kill a couple guys in a bar, including a cop? Giving chance after chance to characters like Duh Rick?
It’s mind-boggling that any institute of “higher learning” would put up with such bull shit, and finally, only let him go based on game performance.
I love some Vince, but SOD is just another goddamned lawyer.
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No offense intended, Bluto.
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