The Importance Of The Offseason

Two Years, and  records of 6-7 and 5-7 have brought Derek Dooley to where he is now. When they have won, it’s been unimpressive. Dooley’s only SEC wins in two years are Ole Miss, Vanderbilt twice, and Kentucky. Factor in that Tennessee has been blown out 6 times in those two seasons and the 2011 campaign culminated in a loss to a 4-7 Kentucky team without a quarterback. Derek Dooley wasn’t on the hot seat before that Kentucky game. He is now. “That particular performance on that particular day was unacceptable. I’m not going to sugarcoat that. Unacceptable. I’m sure Derek feels the same way, the players feel the same. Unacceptable, ” said AD Dave Hart.

Where does Tennessee go now? The only way it can, foreword, and that starts in the offseason. For Derek Dooley, this will come to define his tenure at Tennessee. Games are won and lost in the offseason. He’s already made staff changes, letting Wide Receivers coach Charlie Baggett go and adding former Vol Jay Graham as running backs coach. He also faces the task of getting control of a locker room that he apparently lost control of late in the season. After the Kentucky loss, many thought that this season was an indicator that Dooley was in over his head, and wasn’t the man for the job. Personally, I think he was just snake bit, losing players to injuries and being forced to put youth onto the field without experience or depth.

“Obviously when you have a season that results in more losses than wins, than no, that’s not acceptable to anybody. It’s not acceptable to Derek, it’s not acceptable to anybody who touches the program: players, coaches, support staff. That’s very obvious,” said Hart.

In 2012, there won’t be any excuses. It’s crunch time for Dooley. The “youth” will all have at least one or two years under their belts. Injured players, such as Hunter and Bray, will be back on the field, and even if there are injuries, there should be depth as well. I’ve said it all along, we can’t judge Derek Dooley’s performance base off of two years, especially with the situation they were in. But we can after three, if October comes and Tennessee still isn’t winning, Dooley will be gone. Are there indicators he has what it takes? There are some, I think most of them are beneath the surface at this point. Are there indicators he doesn’t have what it takes? His teams lacked the drive to compete, and when adversity hit them in a game, they folded. It could go both ways, but for now, Dooley’s the coach.

The offseason also is the time for players to build strength. Strength coach Ron McKeefery’s biggest priority will be strengthening the offensive line. Last season, the Vols did a solid job of protecting the quarterback on passing plays, but couldn’t get a push up front and the running game suffered, dramatically. The Vols were 116th in the FBS in rushing yards per game last season, averaging 90 per game. In a pro style offense, the inability to run the ball is back breaking.

The Vols have players that simply need to grow up this offseason. Early in December, it was reported that Rogers’ future with the Vols wasn’t certain, though the rumors turned out to be false, the fact that they were spread, and believable revealed a certain aura around the receiver that wasn’t pleasant. The All-SEC wide receiver struggled at points this season, when his counterpart Justin Hunter went down with an ACL injury in week 3, defenses zeroed in on Rogers. There were reports that Rogers should a lack of drive once the season started to go downhill and actually “mouthed off” to anyone and everyone. While these may or may not be true, Rogers needs to grow up. Plain and simple, put on your big boy pants and go to work. This isn’t high school anymore where you can get by on sheer talent. Sure, you might have one lucky play in 10, but to perform on a consistent basis and be a productive member of the team takes preparation and hard work.

Tyler Bray is not Peyton Manning. Making those comparisons will only place unnecessary hype and pressure on the QB. But at the same time, Bray needs to learn that he can’t get by solely on his ability to throw the ball, you cannot beat SEC defenses like Alabama, LSU, or even South Carolina like that. Being a quarterback at this level takes many things, among them is offensive chemistry, which is built through working in the offseason, running routes, running plays etc. Whether he likes it or not, he is the on-field leader of that offense, and that’s a mantle every quarterback has to accept. No one expects them to be like Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck out there but at the same time, he can’t be detached, doing his own thing, just trying to boost his stats and make himself look good. Being a quarterback at this level also requires being able to change the play at the line based on what the defense is giving you, that’s something a coach or offensive coordinator can’t do in the moment, it relies on the quarterbacks ability to look around and asess which play would work best. Matt Sims was actually pretty good at this, and while Simms was in the game, Tennessee’s running game benefitted. With Bray at the helm against Florida and Georgia, Tennessee rushed for -9 and – 21 yards respectively. And against LSU Tennessee rushed for 111 yards, against Alabama, 92. Granted these numbers are nowhere near proficient, but they also aren’t in the negative. The ability to change plays at the line comes from spending time in the film room. To put it plain and simple, for Bray to develop into anything more than the talent that he is, he will have to be willing to put in the effort off the field and in the offseason, otherwise, he will never become the player that he needs to be, or has the potential to be.

It will be interesting to see the results of Tennessee’s preparation on the field next season because, as a fan, its hard to follow offseason progress. So Tennessee fans won’t really know what to expect come September. The Vols have the potential to win 9 games and the SEC East, but they could also flop to a 6-6, 7-5 year. I prefer the former.