Overlooked, at least slightly, with all the distractions of whether Derek Dooley will keep his job is the fact that Tennessee’s also had really cruddy luck on the injury front. The latest example is linebacker Curt Maggitt, who suffered an awful-looking knee injury during Saturday’s loss to Missouri.
Unfortunately, Dooley confirmed the worst fears on Monday. Maggitt is out for the year with a torn ACL.
Maggitt (pictured left) ranked 10th on the team in total tackles with 30 tackles. He also had a pair of sacks and forced fumbles. Just terrible luck.
As for Dooley’s daily job status update? The coach said that athletic director Dave Hart “had not made a decision. Either the sources were wrong or Dave wasn’t being forthright.” Dooley added he didn’t believe Hart was lying to him. Multiple Tennessee beat outlets reported over the weekend that Dooley’s fate was essentially sealed, and that is was only a matter of when the announcement of his termination was made.
Dooley’s comments can’t come as a surprise and one would imagine that’s going to be the tone until the proverbial trigger is pulled. If it’s pulled.