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Coach Derek Dooley knows from experience that the process of rebuilding a program requires patience during the rocky times, perhaps more patience than the Volunteers are used to needing.
Two months into Dooley's first season at Tennessee, the Vols (2-6) are dangerously close to tying or surpassing seven losses, the most any Big Orange team has ever had. Their rocky season is still salvageable with games left to play against Memphis, Mississippi, Vanderbilt and Kentucky - all teams that are struggling too.
''The challenge is having that patience and resolve to stay true to your organization and stay true to the values and not get frustrated when you're not having immediate success,'' Dooley told The Associated Press. The struggles ''are new to Tennessee. It's new to the fans. The players didn't come here thinking it would be like this.''
Tennessee has had only two losing seasons in the past two decades with a 5-6 finish in 2005 and a 5-7 record in 2008. With the firing of Phillip Fulmer after 16 seasons and Lane Kiffin's abrupt departure after one year, Tennessee was more like a program on probation than one that would compete regularly for a Southeastern Conference title.
Because of that, Dooley was tasked with changing the culture of a program with a roster thinned by attrition, low morale and players who were leery of trusting anyone back into a confident, disciplined team like the one Tennessee fans are accustomed to.
He learned a bit about the rebuilding process while watching his former boss Nick Saban do it at LSU and through his own efforts to turn around a struggling Louisiana Tech program. It worked at LSU, where the Tigers won a national championship four seasons after Saban took over, and Dooley lead Louisiana Tech to only its third bowl appearance.
''You're having to reshape the whole culture of how the players think. It's not just running some plays,'' he said. ''It's developing a team, developing a family of a lot of trust, a lot of belief in what we're doing and how it's going to help them. It's learning to manage the emotions when things don't go well and how do we deal with each other and how do we work as people together.''
To do that, Dooley has asked his team to focus on the small progress they're making from week to week rather than the final outcomes of the game.
Though there are still costly turnovers and silly substitution mistakes, the Vols have grown more competitive with almost every game they've played and were tied with No. 18 South Carolina midway through the fourth quarter on Saturday before the Gamecocks pulled away for a 38-24 win.
''They're a young team, but they're very dangerous,'' Memphis coach Larry Porter said. ''You can see them coming of age and growing.''
But like any rebuilding process, there's still setbacks both on and off the field.
After nearly upsetting LSU at Baton Rouge, Tennessee unraveled in the first half of a 41-14 loss at Georgia. And four months after three Tennessee players were arrested during a bar brawl, freshman defensive end Jacques Smith turned himself into authorities on an assault charge stemming from an argument with another student over a woman.
Dooley and his assistants are also constantly questioning themselves and making adjustments to how they're coaching. Last week they decided to move defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox from the field to the press box for games, and this week they've dubbed freshman Tyler Bray the new starting quarterback.
''Anytime you're in your first year, you're learning your personnel and building the things you do around your people,'' Dooley said. ''So we're constantly adjusting schematically on both sides of the ball to try to put our players in a better position to succeed.''
