Derek Dooley Tennessee: Five Reasons Why He's An Awful Coaching Hire
by Jon Star
The announcement that Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley is now the top choice to replace Lane Kiffin as Tennessee head coach no doubt comes as a surprise and disappointment to many in Knoxville.
Following Kiffin's sprint to USC, Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton burned up the phone lines trying to land a "name" head coach, or at least someone who will dull the voluminous roars screaming from the peaks of Rocky Top. Hamilton will do neither of those things if the rumor that Dooley will be the new head man in orange comes to fruition.
Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and even the supposed lock in former Vols offensive coordinator and current Duke head coach David Cutcliffe all told Hamilton thanks, but no thanks. That is one major kick in the ego for the University of Tennessee that appears destined to settle for its fifth or sixth choice to take over the program.
Tennessee badly wants to live up to its own belief that its football program and the head coaching job are a top 15 gig in all the land. Having to settle for an enormous question mark like Dooley certainly does not back that up and there exist five big reasons why the Louisiana Tech head coach is just flat out wrong for the job.
1. He was 16-20 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech
That kind of resume certainly cannot instill any confidence in the Tennessee program, its boosters and the 100,000-plus that pack Neyland Stadium every weekend. His best year on the job was an 8-5 effort in which he finished 5-3 in the WAC and won one of the uglier bowl games of the season- a 17-10 victory over Northern Illinois in the Independence Bowl.
Prior to La. Tech, Dooley served in multiple offensive assistant roles for Nick Saban at LSU and with the Miami Dolphins. He started his career in 1996 as a graduate assistant at Georgia before he spent three years serving as wide receivers coach from 1997-99 at Southern Methodist which was very much still rebuilding from the NCAA "Death Penalty".
There is not much on the resume to like and Vols fans can only hope even a shred of Nick Saban wore off the 42-year-old coach.
2. Can he coach like his father?
Dooley is the son of legendary Georgia head coach and long time athletic director Vince Dooley. But that does not mean Derek is a chip off the old block. When dad was Derek's age, he had already won two SEC titles and made six bowl appearances. Tennessee and Georgia are storied rivals, but Rocky Top should not expect a recreation of the Bulldogs success under the younger Dooley.
3. He worked as a lawyer before putting on a whistle.
Tennessee needed a few good lawyers on retainer while Lane Kiffin marched the sidelines, so perhaps Tennessee's thinking is that Dooley knows how to play by the rules. Nevertheless, he worked in an Atlanta-based firm for two years before deciding to get into coaching.
Where did he get his start? At Georgia, where dad got him his first gig and a pillow-soft opportunity to start his coaching career. Combine that with three years spent at SMU, where they were desperate for coaches in the 1990s, and it is difficult to find much substance from the start of his resume.
4. He's not ready for prime time.
Does three mediocre seasons in the generally mediocre WAC prepare him for not only the difficulties of just coaching games in the SEC, but the cutthroat recruiting trail as well? Dooley got his opportunity to have his team chase Boise State around the field once per year. Now he trades Idaho, Utah State, New Mexico State and San Jose State for Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU.
Trying to upend those teams on Saturdays is a monumental task itself. Now Dooley has to try and outbid others' national championship rings and SEC titles after cutting his teeth on a recruiting trail that featured the absolute bottom of the talent pool that not a single SEC school dove into. Good luck.
5. He doesn't have a primary area of expertise.
Whether he likes it or not, Tennessee fans and other SEC fans are going to compare his resume to his competitors around the conference. Urban Meyer brought his spread offense. Mark Richt was the architect of Florida State's offense in the 1990s. Nick Saban's defense has excelled at every one of his stops. Dooley's work includes wide receivers, running backs and tight ends where the production was forgettable.
Tennessee wants a coach that has weight behind his resume and will offer belief that his way and his system produces results. It is impossible to say that about Dooley.
