Unrest on Rocky Top

If it's football season, Vol Nation is probably frustrated. Yes, the Vols are 3-1 and many fans would have been OK with that stat before the season started. At this point, I'm thankful the Vols have 3 wins. Did they lay down against Florida, in the second half? In my opinion, yes. Did they almost blow it against Akron? Yes. Is this Tennessee football? Yes and no.

As an alum and fan, the current suckiness of the Tennessee football program has me very upset. When I was in school, the Vols were winning championships and played their hearts out for 60 minutes. I haven't seen the Vols play as a "team" and for the T on their helmet in ages.

Do I blame Coach Dooley? Not 100%. The program was headed down a black hole long before he showed up. 3 coaches in 3 years from 2008-2010 didn't help, but something has to give. I like Coach Dooley. He seems like a nice guy and I dig his respect for the program. But, let's face it, nice guys don't win games and the guy hasn't proven he can handle the pressure and the spotlight in the SEC.

Tennessee should be a top tier program. We should have coaches beating down our door. What's happened? What's changed? I'm sick of losing and seeing a bunch of miva's (male divas) just "go through the motions" on the field. I get it, the athletes are part of the problem. We're not recruiting the same kind of kids we were back in the day. Those guys are going to Alabama, LSU and even gasp, South Carolina.

We lost to Kentucky last year. KENTUCKY, for crying out loud. They had a WR playing QB, who had only practiced under center for a like a week. That is not acceptable!!

I love this town, but I really love this town during football season when the Vols are playing well. You can just feel the excitement in the air. Orange as far as the eye can see. It was a rare sight to see Neyland Stadium not filled to the brim. I remember we had 107K for the 1998 Florida game. Granted, with the renovations, we aren't close to 100K, but I don't think they even announced last night's crowd against Akron. My guess was somewhere around 50K. Actual butt's in seats, not tickets sold.

I'll finish with this...I'm not saying the Vols need a new head coach right now. A coaching change would put the program back another 3-5 years. I need the coach to change. What I mean is, manage those emotions on the sidelines, motivate the players, get them on the same page, TEACH.

But, this is a 2 way street. The players have to listen and want to improve. So guess what boys, time to put your big boy pants on and play like a man. You chose to wear the orange and white, so wear it with pride. Some of you will be lucky enough to play in the NFL. Look at all of the former Vols still in the NFL. How did they get there? They worked their asses off.

Go Vols, beat Georgia!