Each week during the football season, former Tennessee assistant coach Doug Mathews joins us to share his thoughts on the Vols. Join The Coach each Saturday morning at 9 a.m. EST for a Big Orange-slanted look at the day's action on Forklift Systems Football Saturday, and again each Sunday morning at 9 a.m. E.S.T. for Big Orange Sunday, presented by Superior Seed & Supply on WGFX FM, 104.5 in Nashville, for a look each week at the state of Tennessee football, what just happened, and what lies ahead.

The obvious topic of conversation this week is that Da'Rick Rogers is no longer part of the Vols' program. How big of a blow is that from a pure talent standpoint and do you think it limits the offense schematically coming so close to the opener?

You just don't know how big of a blow it's going to be. As a coach, you just have to move on, and I imagine Tennessee's coaches have done that. You have to look at in the best possible light, and probably the only thing you can say there is that it will help you from a team chemistry standpoint. That's the only way I think you can draw anything positive from this. There's no doubt we're losing an outstanding football player, a guy who can make plays and has proven he can make plays as a No. 1 receiver in this conference. There's really no way to downplay his loss as far as on the field. I do think it probably helps us in the locker room though and that's how you approach it with your team.


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