The 2010 Tennessee Vols Football Season Could Be Very Tough

I predict a very bad 2010 season for the Tennessee Vols football team. The new head coach Derek Dooley has his hands full that's for sure. But enough of the small talk lets get into the reasons why I say that this program is in store for some tough times next season and maybe even another year or two down the road as well.

In college football it's all about depth and recruiting because these guys are leaving every 4 years and some of them earlier at times. Well here in recent years recruiting hasn't really been up to par down in Knoxville. It's gonna show this season as the 2010 Tennessee Vols football team is gonna struggle to replace a ton of leadership on both sides of the ball.

If you watched last season the team got better down the stretch especially on offense with Jonathan Crompton turning from the worst college quarterback to a pretty decent one. Montario Hardesty was a workhorse carrying the load and having some good games. Then on the defensive side of the ball guys like Dan Williams, Rico McCoy and Eric Berry really helped put on some outstanding defensive performances against teams like Florida and Alabama. Well all those players mentioned above are gone.

The 2010 Tennessee Vols football team goes into the season with question marks at quarterback, wide receiver and offensive line on offense. They return Bryce Brown who shown good promise and looks to be a solid back for a couple years. However most teams will likely be able to stack the line and lead to some poor offensive performances unless this new coaching staff can get some major improvement across the board.

The really bad news is that the 2010 Tennessee Vols football team won't be able to rely on defense when the offense gets bottled up. Rico McCoy, Dan Williams and Eric Berry are huge losses both from a talent and leadership point of view. If the defense can't replace these guys on both fronts then it's gonna be a very tough first year for Derek Dooley.

It's always tough for a team to overcome those kind of losses. It's even tougher when it has to be done with a new coaching staff learning new schemes and systems. I would expect the 2010 Tennessee Vols to run a very basic offense and with the lack of talent that could be a disaster against some of the tougher SEC defenses. I had heard from sources that Derek Dooley is a very conservative coach so we will see how well that works.

I have one final thing to discuss in terms of the 2010 Tennessee Vols football season and that is the schedule. They have games against Oregon, Florida and Alabama at home then on the road against LSU and Georgia that they have little if any chance of winning. That leaves them with having to beat teams like South Carolina and Kentucky to get into a bowl game and with the talent on the roster that may not be a guarantee.