"You never want to have to make this decision," said athletic director Dave Hart. "But it's for the best. Keeping Dooley became just too much of a hassle. We were spending a fortune on all of his bills."
Hart chafed at those who said that euthanizing a struggling football coach as though he is a dog is barbarous.
"That is a ludicrous assertion," he said. "This is Tennessee. Our mascot is a dog. A live bluetick coonhound. We gave Dooley all of the support we would give a dog. I promise you that."
With Dooley gone and buried under a rock out in the woods, Tennessee will soon begin looking for a replacement.
"Oh, yeah, we definitely want to get another one," said Hart. "Not a Dooley. We kind of found out we don't care for that breed. Maybe a Petrino? We'd have to get it fixed, of course. But I could definitely see us getting a Petrino."
