Tennessee coach Derek Dooley talks with reporters during Southeastern Conference Football Media Days, Thursday, July 21, 2011, in Hoover, Ala. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)HOOVER, Ala. — One recent offseason workout had Derek Dooley miffed.
The University of Tennessee’s second-year football coach had spoken publicly before about wanting to add banners to the Volunteers’ plush indoor practice facility, and his players’ workout lacked the sufficiency to move in that direction.
“I explained to them what the expectation is at Tennessee,” Dooley said Thursday morning before making the rounds at Southeastern Conference media days, “and the fans expect us to go out there and compete for a championship and get one of those banners. We need to work like that.”
Tailback Tauren Poole quickly recalled the day of Dooley’s challenge.
“It was like, ‘What have you proved? What have you done? Do you see those banners? How do you think they worked and what do you think their work ethic was?'” Poole said. “He said, ‘This ain’t it.’ It humbled us. It showed us that only hard work will get us to the top and we have to work hard because this is a hard league. We really needed to hear it because it brought leaders up and guys spoke up. It changed the way people started to work.”