In Vol Nation, as the football team goes, so does the mood of the community.
Over the past few weeks, the mood of Vol Nation has become increasingly anxiety-filled with loss after gut-wrenching loss. If the Mizzou meltdown (losing in 4 OT last week) wasn’t enough, an unmitigated embarrassment on national television last night in the form of a 41-18 loss to perennial in-state little brother, Vanderbilt, did the trick.
The fact that there was an earthquake in East Tennessee just before the kickoff of the Mizzou game seemed to be metaphorical. There were no such rumblings last night…unless you count the collective stomach churning of Big Orange fans.
After three disappointing seasons, it became clear that the University of Tennessee had to make a move with its football coaching situation. So, it was no surprise that we all awoke to the news this morning that Vols Athletic Director Dave Hart had made the decision to fire Head Coach Derek Dooley.
The firing won’t come cheap. The Vols are on the hook to pay Dooley $5 over the course of the next four years. That comes out to a bit more than $100K per month.
The Vols are no strangers to making extended payouts to former head coaches. At one point in recent basketball history, they were paying two former head coaches and the current coach all at the same time.
And it was under the previous Athletic Director’s regime that the Vols seemed to struggle when it came to selecting the right leaders for its various sports programs.
Alumni and supporters alike are hoping the current AD takes his time and gets it right. Goodness knows there has been enough upheaval in the football program these last five years.
Really, one earthquake is enough.
JG
(Source: knoxnews.com)
Originally posted 11/18/2012
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