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Sunday, January 24, 2010

A Tale of Two Coaches

The two biggest off-season coaching stories in the SEC involved two Forty-somethings whose paths will cross every September...And make no mistake, regardless of this self imposed "Break" that Urban Meyer is/has/might take, he will surely be in Knoxville to see what this Dooley kid is all about...In fairness, Derek Dooley is only a few years younger than Meyer, and has not had the early Head Coach success that Meyer had, but be sure about this; Derek Dooley has logged his share of SEC time, much more than Meyer had when he arrived 5 years ago, and you can argue the La Tech job was much tougher than the task Meyer had at Bowling Green or Utah. Time will only tell how Dooley will do, but rest assured, recruiting will not be an issue. When Nick Saban entrusts you with player procurement, as he did at LSU, you must have something on the Ball. And being a part of a National Championship staff doesn't hurt either. And then there's that whole "Dad won a National Title" thing. Dooley has brought class and a Southern football mentality to the Hill...I already like him more than Coach Lame...
As for Meyer, his abrupt retirement/leave of absence/day off can be tracked directly to the reason most of us end up leaving the profession. It hurts to lose more than it feels good to win. And Meyer has lost exactly 12 in the last 7 years, 18 in his entire 9 year career. His .812 winning percentage is tops in all of football...but that loss in Atlanta December 5th hurt...and hurt bad. More than just an undefeated season, an SEC Title and shot at the National Championship kind of hurt. The "Tebow factor" was in play here. The Coach loves the player like a son, and no one can stand to see your son like that...Is there a true medical issue? Maybe...probably something...but the bigger issue is emotional and mental. And when Urban Meyer gets control of those emotions, he can look forward to many seasons of matching wits, and not barbs, with Derek Dooley.

1 comment:

Predarat said...

Dooley seems like a breath of fresh air from Lane Kiffen. Though the ADs job is on the line. All his makes me appriciate Coach Stock alot more, though I appreciated him alot even before this season. I'm damn proud to be a Middle Tennessee Blue Raider fan for sure!