Take six minutes to listen to Tennessee Vols defensive coordinator Bob Shoop explain exactly what happened on that disastrous last play against the Florida Gators:
It’s really refreshing to hear such a thorough and nuanced explanation. He says it’s his responsibility. He says that it shouldn’t have happened. He says they did some things right and some things wrong. He feels bad, and he’s obviously learned from it. He is moving on.
It’s late Tuesday afternoon, and this is the first we’re hearing this. If you ever wonder why we at GRT are mostly silent or, if not silent, at least . . . gentle, after terrible events, this is why. (Well, that and the whole Chris Lofton thing, when everyone criticized him all season and only later realized he was undergoing chemotherapy at the time.) When you hit the publish or record button in the throes of passion, you run the very real risk of being overly emphatic while being absolutely wrong, and it’s extraordinarily difficult to admit being wrong after you’ve beaten your chest about it in front of thousands of people. Some don’t care because of the clicks it draws, but we do.
We try to speak the truth around here, but when the truth hurts, we take our time with it. And when the time comes, we try to speak hard truth with grace, empathy, and humility. We try to listen the same way. This sounds to me like an honest and reasonable explanation of a terrible thing that happened. I’m glad he took the extra time to address it, and now I’m moving on as well.