Video Of The Day: Chuck Smith On Why He Left Tennessee
I've been going back and forth on whether to post this because it's a bizarre combination of honorable and sad. We all respect and appreciate Chuck Smith, and a lot of what he says here is exactly what the expensive PR firms would have told him to say. But there's a whole lot of almost-contained and barely-restrained hostility here, too, and the "press conference" on the street in front of the buses is just . . . ugh. So I, apparently like Chuck himself, have mixed feelings, but folks are talking, so there's no sense in ignoring it.
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New drinking game...
Shot after every “Vol for Life”. You won’t sober up until opening day.
¡Viva La Revolución!
@ecuamerican
preparation is yo friend
Note to self, don’t ramble free form in front of cameras after a tough separation.
the point is?
He’s more VOL than humanly possible?
Reggie invented VFL?
He’s a Vol historian?
He’s too big or was it that he didn’t actually fit as a UT coach?
All kidding aside, obviously this is very painful for him. He tried and failed at something that meant a lot to him. But he’s a bit delusional.
That was a bit akward to watch....
Looks like he is obviously trying to relay information from some cue cards he has in his hand but he needed to prepare a little bit more. Probably would have been better as an officially released written statement somewhere. Some of the things he said does worry me though. Did he really have a bigger impact in recruiting than we were lead to believe. And was the D-line really that important towards the end of the year. I don’t know if all of that is true or not, but if it is it makes it tougher to see him go. Either way it’s hard to see him go. He seems to genuinely care about the success of UT which is always great to have in a coach.
by PrideofTheSouthlandFan on Mar 4, 2011 2:12 PM EST via mobile reply actions
ahhhh no
He at best had little impact on recruiting this year and nearly botched a couple
He was effectively all but relieved of his d-line coaching responsibilities by end of year when, interestingly the d-line was playing better.
Love Chuck as a former UT player, love him as a former Falcon player and was excited about his hire in spite of others more in the know questioning the move.
It didn’t work, it obviously hurt him, but it seems a good move for UT to have made the change.
I hope you are right
about those things because it would make me feel better about the move. Those were the things I had heard when he was let go and they made me feel ok with the move. I just hope you are right. Either way, I like Dooley and trust his decisions so that leads me to believe that what Chuck calls rumors aren’t entirely rumors.
by PrideofTheSouthlandFan on Mar 4, 2011 2:36 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
It might be interesting
for someone to do some of the research he is talking about and make a post to see if the D-line was such an important part of the team for the last part of the season.
by PrideofTheSouthlandFan on Mar 4, 2011 2:27 PM EST via mobile reply actions
waste of time
It ceased becoming a glaring weakness but never considered it a strength of the team.
I think people are being a little harsh on him
I love how passionate about UT he is. I appreciate his work this past year. And I’m sorry it didn’t work out.
fine line between passionate and crazy
he’s dancing all over it.
agree
But I trust Dooley’s judgment. Best of luck to Chuck Smith in whatever he does next.
by Incipient_Senescence on Mar 4, 2011 5:04 PM EST up reply actions
He was a high risk hire
I loved the move when he was hired because I loved Chuck Smith the passionate, big motor player but it was a reach hire.
Chuck had no legit coaching experience for this level, his Jets role does not count. Heck I don’t think he’s actually had a real job with bosses and expectations outside of playing football so this hire had many risks at many levels. Could have had huge upside or failure. It appears that this gamble, as most gambles, was not successful. I don’t blame CD for trying and am glad he took quick action to minimize the potential damage.
If it was a matter between Wilcox and Smith, keeping Wilcox was the right move.
Best of luck to Chuck!
My results from this past season in college football...
…are living proof that many many gambles are successful. QUITE well did the kid.
And when I say that I did quite well, what I really mean, of course, is that I would have done quite well if gambling were legal.
...just apologize for not thanking me.
What makes us great...
Can also be our undoing. This was sad to watch as a huge fan of Chuck. I can remember him my freshman year in ’89. What a beast.
"I will give my all for Tennessee, Thrashers, and Falcons Today."

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