It's hard to let go of the past. And it must be especially hard for the SEC to let go of the memorable Derek Dooley era at Tennessee.
So hard that the operator on the weekly teleconference asked if there were questions "for Coach Dooley" Wednesday, three days after Dooley was fired, according to @CBSSportsSEC:
Well then. Interim coach Jim Chaney, who did answer those Tennessee football questions, said, "There's nothing normal about the week," and that certainly isn't surprising.
Things haven't been normal at Kentucky lately either, since Joker Phillips was relieved of his duties but kept around for the remainder of the season.
Phillips and the players have made it a pretty positive ending. After a 34-3 win against Samford last week some seniors carried Phillips off the field.
"We were going to force him to get up on our shoulders," senior offensive lineman Warford said, according to CatsIllustrated.com. "That's what he means to us. He's so important in our hearts. He loves this program so much. He breathes this. He bleeds it. He's a champion."
Phillips has tried to keep things pretty normal this week. According to Kyle Tucker of the Courier-Journal, Phillips will have Thanksgiving dinner with his team Wednesday night, and after practice on Thursday he'll let the local kids loose and have some other players over to his house. Then he's going to serve food to the needy after lunch.
Those are pretty classy gestures for a coach that has been fired. It says a lot about Phillips that he continues to represent the school and himself well despite knowing he won't be back (he does know that, right?).
- - -
Got a tip for Dr. Saturday? Email us at dr.saturday@ymail.com . You can also connect with us via Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.