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Ranking Tennessee football’s 10 years after coach’s first bowl game

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: General view of a Tennessee Volunteers flag during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: General view of a Tennessee Volunteers flag during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images /

9. 2011: 5-7 (1-7)

*No postseason

Coming off Derek Dooley’s first bowl game

Heading into this year, Derek Dooley was still dealing with the attrition of Phillip Fulmer to Lane Kiffin. Amidst all that, he did an amazing job just getting  Tennessee football to a bowl game his first year. However, he still had a depleted roster going into 2011, and one that was extremely young at the same time with guys like Tyler Bray, Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers.

To make matters worse, SEC would be the toughest it’s ever been this year. The Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers would play each other for the national title, and the Arkansas Razorbacks would finish No. 3 at 11-2, only losing to those schools. UT was slated to play all three schools, including Alabama and Arkansas on the road.

In addition to the toughest schedule in history, Dooley lost Hunter to a season-ending injury in his SEC opener at the Florida Gators, and then he lost Bray for half the season in a loss to the Georgia Bulldogs. This all resulted in a disastrous fall to 5-6, the only SEC win being an overtime victory over Vandy.

Coming off that, though, the Vols were so mentally drained that they let one slip in a horrific upset loss at the Kentucky Wildcats, one that ended a 27-year winning streak. That cost them a bowl game, and it created horrible offseason in which half the staff bolted. That loss laid the foundation for the disastrous 2012 campaign that got Dooley fired.

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