Life after Dooley: Tennessee Volunteers Dynasty (NCAA 2013)

[Kcordloh]

Derek Dooley Fired: Replacement named!

The Tennessee Volunteers used to be one of the top contenders every year.
Since 2001, when they dropped the SEC Championship Game to LSU and handed over the keys to the BCS National Championship against #1 and Undefeated Miami to what ended up being a well overmatched Nebraska Cornhuskers team, the Volunteers have struggled to remain relevant.

The Volunteers have only won 10 games three times since 2001, and while that is successful to some schools, for good ol' Rocky Top that is not acceptable.
Why not? Well for one the Volunteers have a history of winning, 9th overall for most wins in college football history and 2nd in the SEC. They have been to 49 bowls, and have won six national championships. That pedigree places them amongst the elite, and alumni are tired of waiting for the glory days to return.


The Volunteers have had 3 straight losing seasons, and had losing records for four of the last five. If that isn't enough to spark change, their SEC Rivals the Alabama Crimson Tide have returned themselves to dominance, while the Volunteers are losing to the likes of Vanderbilt and Kentucky, recently have 22 and 26 game winning streaks against the basement dwellers of the SEC snapped.

The Volunteers have sought a new head coach, and have landed a fine one at that. Jerry Partridge, former head coach of the Missouri Western State University Griffons (Division II) has built a solid resume the past 16 seasons with the Griffons. He had built a once lowly walking mat program into a solid team with solid recruiting and developing players to their maximum potential. Missouri Western competes in the MIAA with Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State, which have combined to go to the Division II National Championship 6 of the last 6 years, and have won the national championship twice in the last six years. In short, the Griffons play in a conference similiar to the SEC in dominance, only it's at the Division II level. Seeing what Jerry Partridge has built from scratch, Tennessee hopes he can rebuild what used to be a prestigious program.

Partridge is familiar with Division I level football as well. Partridge served as a graduate assistant coach at both the University of Notre Dame and the University of Missouri and was a member of the Notre Dame coaching staff when the Fighting Irish won the 1988 national title by winning the Fiesta Bowl against undefeated West Virginia under Head Coach Lou Holtz. He is originally from Grandview Missouri, a short one hour drive from St Joseph, Missouri.

So why would Partridge leave all that he has built up to go to a struggling FBS program where expectations will be high?
"The challenge. Missouri Western will be just fine without me. I am not taking any of my coaches that didn't want to go, and most of the one's coming along are guy's who want to pursue their masters degrees, so they will work for the football team as graduate assistants and get a quality education. Missouri Western doesn't have master's programs like UT does, so in a way I am providing a gateway for smart football guys to get their feet wet with a team and system they know. It's not just about the money, but when they wave a big dollar contract filled with bonus's for stuff like beating arch rivals and making bowl games every year it's really hard to say no. I have lived in this great state before, and I don't mind coming back for a few years. I will end up back in Missouri, no doubt, but for now I welcome this challenge." Partridge was the defensive coordinator at Austin Peay University in Tennesse, so he does have a little history with the state.



Partridge will officially start his duties in Tennesee December 7th, 2012 or after the Griffons finish their season in the Division II Playoffs.

[Kcordloh]

Dynasty rules:

Difficulty: All-American
Sliders: my own custom set (CPU is 75+ for all offense, player is sub 40 for all offense. Close to the same for defense, but CPU int is 50, player is 20 for int).

Time: 8 minute quarters

Play-style: I'm a traditional defense first coach, but since I am emulating Partridge, I will go with his offense first approach. Which means I will target offensive recruits first, and pick up defense second.


Recruiting: All-American difficulty. I will target offense first, fill up the holes there, then go after the defense. This is hard for me because I am a defense first guy, but we will see how it goes.

Goals: In Order:
Win a bowl
Beat Florida
Beat Alabama
Win the SEC East
Make a BCS Bowl
Win the SEC
Make the BCS National Championship
Win the BCS National Championship

Roster: OS Community (updated last in mid-October)

How this dynasty will play out:

1) No internet access anymore, so all photos will be digital stills. Sorry
2) I don't sim until the game is wrapped up, aka: ahead by 14+ with less than a minute or two left.
3) All updates will be on weekends. No internet access at my house means all updates will be in bulk, on weekends. Don't worry, I keep records like a hoss.


My motivation:

I played my standard Missouri dynasty. Losing internet like I did I didn't keep it updated, but it went well. I was shocked how bad UT ended up being. They had several years they went 3-9, and sometimes even 2-10. (UT is a team I watch because a buddy of mine loves them). With Dooley getting fired, and a personal football hero (who is also a former coach) rising in prominence, it makes a great story, so here comes Partridge to save the day!

The dynasty will most likely last 4-6 years, that's the standard shelf life of all my dynastys. I have never done a pure rebuild though, most have been builds. Rice, BYU, Missouri, they've never been considered dynasties, so to do this with history, it feels a little different. Plus I always go DC, never head coach, so that's also weird..

[Kcordloh]

When you can expect updates

I am in the middle of playing out 2012, under Dooley.
I am trying to get it as exact as possible, meaning every team that finishes in the top 10 finishes that way (record wise anyway), Tennessee wins and loses all the right games.

I will take over in the off-season for Dooley.


Conference changes:
All the 2013 changes will take effect, besides the adding teams from FCS, besides moving all the WAC teams due to team limits. I will be gutting the Sun Belt to move teams to the WAC to keep C-USA about right. Sun Belt and WAC are so weak to me they don't really matter in this dynasty.

To do the playoff, in 2014 and beyond I will save the pre-season each year.
After the season is complete, #1 & #4 will play each other (using the pre-season save to change the schedule) and #2 will play #3. After that, the winners will play. That will determine the NC.

[Kcordloh]

Reserved

After this post you are welcome to start posting. I will have roster, schedule, and the first game up December 2nd.

[TexasForever]

This looks like a solid setup. I'm looking forward to reading it! One question for you, though. I've been trying to think of ways to incorporate the playoff in my dynasty. Can you explain a little more how you will do that? I'm a little confused.

[Kcordloh]

After a horrible 2012, Volunteers hope to turn the corner in 2013 and 2014.

The Tennesse Volunteers went 5-7 in 2012, winning just one game in SEC play, their lone win coming against SEC East bottom dweller Kentucky who finished with just 2 wins, one against Kent State from the MAC and the other against Samford State, an FCS opponent. Their 2012 season matched their 2011 outing, where they also went 5-7 (1-7). You have to go all the way back to 2009 to see a winning Tennessee season, and that was just a 7-6 outing. The last time the Volunteers actually had a winning SEC campaign? 2007, when they went 10-4 (6-2) and won the Outback bowl.

Tennesee's 5 wins came over opponents that combined for a total of 16 wins, 7 of them coming from the same team (NC State).

Tennessee changes schedule leading into 2013/2014 Play

Tennessee was supposed to open 2013 play with Austin Peay, but one of the deals to get Partridge to come to UT was no FCS opponents. Tennesee instead will host Nevada from the MWC.
Since South Alabama was unable to join FBS football yet due to some unforseen hiccups, Tennesee will play North Texas in 2013 instead.
The games with Oregon and Western Kentucky are still on tap, and the conference schedule is unaffected.

For 2014 Tennessee is still playing Oklahoma, and has also picked up Northern Illinois. Arkansas was supposed to play NIU, but Tennesee was asked to take the game so Arkansas could play Texas. Heaven forbid that any SEC team plays two solid out of conference opponents in the same season.

For 2015, Tennessee will host Oklahoma. They also added a series (2015 and 2018) with Michigan. And in a spot that most feel is entirely a power play to show commitment to how much they believe they will be improved by 2015, UT also added an away game at Notre Dame!

[Kcordloh]

2013 NCAA College Football Outlook

July 5th, 2013

After a crazy 2012 season where the SEC once again proved to be the most dominant conference out there, the 2013 season is creeping up on us!

ACC:

With Syracuse and Pittsburg arriving, the 14-team ACC will be slightly stronger than the 2012 version.
Clemson is definitely the front runner to win the ACC, and a pre-season national title contender.
Florida State, also in the Atlantic division, is another pre-season national title contender, albiet more of a darkhorse contender. The winner of the Clemson FSU game should once again determine the ACC Champion, as it has for the past few seasons.

Miami is the favorite in the Coastal division, but nobody from the Coastal is expected to compete with FSU or Clemson.

Big East:

The conference that nobody ever seems to want to win. Big East newcomers Boise State and San Diego State are the clear favorites, although the level of respect for SDSU is less than for BSU. Boise State should win the BCS automatic qualifying spot, although one must wonder if they will be undefeated..

Big 10:

Ohio State, after a 12-0 campaign in 2012 is clearly the team to beat, although Penn State will make it's presence known also. Michigan and Nebraska are trying to get back to their former level of excellence, but nobody looks to be on OSU's level. Expect another perfect season from the Buckeyes, although the percieved weakness of the Big 10 might keep them out of the national championship.

Big 12:

Take your pick. TCU/Oklahoma/Oklahoma State all look capable of winning the Big XII, especially with Pachall and Boykin fighting for the starting QB job at TCU. Texas is still loaded with talent, but with Mack Brown on the ropes. Texas could go 12-0 or 8-4, that's the kind of swing he is on the past few years. Although the current UT team is more talented then most teams in the nation, they are ranked #4 in the conference.

Kansas State is a bit of a wild card, but Bill Snyder has worked magic before, and one can only wonder what he will cook up next. Never count out Synder's Wildcats.

C-USA:

The early line is for Tulsa to win C-USA. They are the clear front-runners.

MAC:

Oh my. After one of the best years ever for the conference, including their first ever team into a BCS Bowl game, one must wonder how 2013 will look. Kent State and Ohio are the favorites in the East, while Toledo and Northern Illinois are the strengths of the West. NIU and Kent State look to repeat their divisions and meet again for the conference championship, and hopefully a BCS spot. One can only wonder..

MWC:

The Mountain West once featured TCU, Utah, BYU. They lost those teams, added Boise State, and now lost them and SDSU.
Utah State is a welcome addition, but Fresno State looks to be the team to win the MWC in 2013. Utah State will be a solid addition, and a possible conference title contender. Nevada's offense will be flying, but can their defense keep the pressure off the offense?
Fresno State is sure to be on the pre-season rankings.

PAC-12:

Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA, USC. Take your pick.
Oregon looks to be a pre-season top 5, and Stanford and UCLA both pre-season top 10's.
USC could be great, and so could Oregon State.

Stanford is probably the most reliable pick, if they can maintain their momentum from the 2012 season that included their 3rd straight BCS appearance, they might just be headed to the last BCS National Championship.

SEC:

Love it or hate it the SEC is the most dominant conference in college football.

Alabama, Texas A&M, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. 6-preseason national title contenders. All 6 are SEC teams, and they will finished with just 1 or 2 losses last year.

Alabama has a favorable schedule, they skip out on Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. LSU plays both Florida and Georgia, while Texas A&M also skips all the top SEC East teams. A&M and Alabama face in College Station on September 14th, and that game should tell who the top team in the SEC West is. That's the division everyone talks about, afterall since 2007 the SEC West has averaged 1 team in each BCS National Championship. That's dominance.

Texas A&M and Alabama are the favorites to win the SEC, but Georgia is a close 3rd, and you can never count out the other 3.

Sun Belt

The Arkansas State Wolves are the early favorites as the Sun Belt has lost a lot of teams and won't be much in the way of competition. Arkansas State should go 12-0 or 11-1, but even 12-0 they won't make a BCS bowl. Not with the schedule they have.

[Kcordloh]

Expectations large for Partridge

Jerry Partridge is the newest hope for Volunteer fans. But they have become jaded over the years, and after seeing bitter rivals Florida, Georgia, and Alabama become successful and leave the Volunteer's in the dust, fans have not been as eager to buy in to the latest coaching hire.

However, that doesn't mean expectations are not high. Partridge left Missouri Western, a Division II program he helped build from a doormat into a consistently top 25 program. Donors and casual fans alike are hoping he can bring that success into the SEC, where he has the facilities to recruit a much higher class of athlete then he is used to working with. The downside is he will be coaching against much "better" minds than he is used to. And the level of athlete lining up across from his players will also be much higher then he is used to.

At the end of the day a leaked memo from the athletic department suggests if Partridge can go 6-6 in 2013 and at least get 8 wins in 2014 he will have his job completely secured. Although one must think if Tennessee can at least compete with if not win some games against the 5 top 10 teams they play this season (Oregon, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama) then Partridge will be secure until 2014 when his recruiting skills can bring in the athletes that fit his scheme and and his long term actual plan should be taking place.