Dooley hire a triumph of substance over style
Vince Dooley remembers the day that his youngest son, Derek, made it clear that he wanted to be a football coach.
Derek had received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia where he played for George Welsh. He then attended law school at the University of Georgia.
His mother, Barbara, had seen her husband dedicate their entire married life to the coaching profession. That was enough heartache for one family. Her son–the baby of four children–was going to someday be a partner at King & Spalding, one of the biggest law firms in the country.
There was just one problem. Derek Dooley did not enjoy being a lawyer. He loved football. He had seen his father’s level headed, methodical approach to the profession and decided that was who and what he wanted to be. So, just like his father, Derek Dooley put together a game plan to convince his parents that leaving the legal profession–and the financial rewards that came with it–to make NO money in coaching was the right thing for him to do.
“He put together a compeling argument and had all of his bases covered like a good lawyer would,” Vince Dooley told me. “Finally, I stopped him and told him that he had convinced me. The real challenge was going to be talking to his mother.”
Barbara Dooley knew it was coming and knew what her response would be. Birds gotta fly. Fish gotta swim. Coaches have gotta coach. As Lou Holtz often says “Only coach if you can’t live without it. It’s just too hard.”
Derek Dooley couldn’t live without coaching and today he is the head coach at the University of Tennessee.
“Obviously, I am very proud of him as a father,” Vince Dooley told me Friday night. “As a coach, I know how hard these jobs are and I know what the challenges will be. There is part of me that wishes I could take some of the hits for him. But Derek is his own man. He proved that long ago.”
Some Tennessee fans may not be excited about this hire. They wanted a sexy name like a Will Muschamp or a Jon Gruden. First of all, neither of those guys were coming. Secondly, you have to understand that with this hire AD Mike Hamilton had to go with stability and competence over flash. Tennessee didn’t need somebody to win the press conference. They need somebody to run the football program. They didn’t need somebody to tweak Urban Meyer and get the chat rooms humming.
It was that desire for sexyness–of style over substance–that got Tennessee into trouble in the first place.
Here is what I mean by that. There seems to be this notion that in order to recruit the modern day high school football player you have to offer him some kind of show-business, NFL draft camp, MTV new-age mentality approach to the game.
The reality is that what has worked in college football for over 100 years still works today: You recruit good players with the opportunity to improve themselves educationally as people and professionally as athletes. You hire good coaches and you set high standards. You demand that everyone in the organization meet those standards. You understand that you work for the institution and not the other way around. You never do anything to embarrass the institution and you honor its history and traditions. You put together the plan for success and implement the plan. Those who do not wish to follow the plan are free to leave or will be asked to leave.
And that’s it. As the head coach, you do those things well and the rest will follow.
Is Derek Dooley going to have some rough spots ahead of him? Sure, because when everything shakes out, there may be more damage done to the program by Lane Kiffin than currently meets the eye. There were obviously some misgivings by others, who turned down the opportunity, that there are some real problems in this program.
But in the final analysis, the younger Dooley is not only the right kind of coach, he is the right kind of MAN that Tennessee needs to lead its football program at this point in history. Tennessee got away from the things that made it great–the fundamental principles of General Neyland–with the hire of Lane Kiffin. It went reaching for something that was totally out of character for the institution hoping to keep pace with the University of Florida and to get back to the top of the SEC.
Tennessee is Robert Neyland, Bowden Wyatt, Doug Dickey, Bill Battle, Johnny Majors, Phillip Fulmer and Peyton Manning. It stands for something fundamental and unchanging. It does not alter its mission and values hoping that talented players will come. It offers talented high school students an opportunity to be part of something special–something bigger than themselves.
Tennessee forgot that for 14 months. With the hiring of Derek Dooley, UT now has a chance to get it back.
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348 comments Add your comment
Jake
January 17th, 2010
1:04 pm
1. He’s a southern Boy
2. Comes from a great family
3. Understands Tradition
4. Neyland would approve
5. Has great looking family
6. Speaks well while looking into one’s eyes
Must be a great guy to name his son Peyton.
Go Vols.
Boots
January 17th, 2010
1:26 pm
You can write volumes about the Lane Kiffin hire and his short stay with the Vols, but when all is said and done, he’s a classless Buffoon!
And, Crazy Al Davis has been wrong about 10,000 things, but I believe he was right when he said, “Kiffin is a liar.”
So, with Kiffin gone, there’s only one way for the Vols to go and that’s up. I wish Dooley and the Vols well.
Buckhead Bulldog
January 17th, 2010
1:32 pm
MT
January 17th, 2010
12:13 pm
Maybe, because Tee Martin has one year of college coaching experience at New Mexico as the QB coach. What do you think is the reason he was “overlooked”?
how2fish
January 17th, 2010
2:44 pm
I’m listening to the Vol fans for what they think…we have a number of non Vol fans seemly shaking in their shoes….if I’m a Bama or Gator and I thank the Lord above every night that I’m not..I’m just watching how this plays outs..quietly the young man is 17-20 at La Tech but took them to their 1st bowl in what forever? So its a mixed bag…but better than a losing record in the pros where you get canned after 1 year..honestly if the Lammer hadn’t brought Daddy with him could they have gotten to 7-5..really what does UT have to lose..if Dooley shows in a couple of years that he can’t get the job done..well the program can’t be in any worse shape that it was at the beginning of last week. Really all of you Bama and Gator fans… if your so sure your going to be unstoppable why all the angst ?? All this we have done this and done that? What is up about that..we know we get it so why the blog by blog history lessons…unless you remember that your in the SEC and the rest of the league is not shaking in their little booties and you can’t blog your way to the promised land and laddies we are all licking our lips waiting for next season..man come on spring ball !
Born2Buzz
January 17th, 2010
3:35 pm
I’m more impressed with Cutcliffe for turning them down.
Tony you hypocrite. As I asked earlier, why was it such a travesty for Kiffin to leave UT after 14 months yet you had no problems with Cutcliffe bolting Duke after 28 months. 1 extra year is all that was needed? Thankfully Cutcliffe has more class.
I think all UT fans will eventually agree that in the long run this is the best thing that could have happened.
DCDawg
January 17th, 2010
4:28 pm
Has anyone mentioned Mike Shula yet? This hire has a Mike Shula feel to it? But good luck to him anyway.
Sui generis
January 17th, 2010
4:44 pm
Personally I have no problem with Dooley taking the UT job, but there seems to be a double standard in how coaches are perceived when they switch jobs. Dooley is portrayed as a paragon of ethics even though he jumps ship from La Tech before even seeing his first recruiting class graduate. He only stayed 3 years after they made him AD, and he publicly interviewed for the Auburn job LAST year, an act that would normally have angered the AD of his present institution. However, Petrino, Saban, and Kiffin are scum of the earth because a job came open that they would rather have than their job at the time.
Dawg Tired
January 17th, 2010
4:44 pm
Did Mike Shula have head coaching experience before Bama? If not, I think that is a big difference. Plus, I’m not convinced Shula would not have grown into the job if given the chance.
Jesse James
January 17th, 2010
5:51 pm
Mike Shula was very close to turning the Bama program around. He also recruited some pretty darn good talent. There seems like there was always one play that they just couldn’t make. They lost some tough close games.
Bball fan
January 17th, 2010
5:54 pm
Derek Dooley = Mike Shula
Here is a question, if Derek Dooley was that great of a coach, why didn’t his alma mater hire him last month? I never heard Derek Dooley name mentioned as a possibility at the Virginia job.
He went 5-8 in first year, 8-5 in second season and 4-8 in third year. LA Tech had its worst year under Dooley when his first recruiting class were juniors. That is never a good sign when the guys you have recruited have their worst season. s
Mike Hamilton panic after getting turned down an, hired a guy with a known last name. I agree with most people, if his name wasn’t Dooley and you are a Tennessee fan looking at his resume, you would be saying “WTF?”
Hamilton should have given the job to Kippy Brown on an interim basis to hold the ship together and started fresh after the season.
Dawg realist
January 17th, 2010
6:08 pm
Tennessee fans: before lane kiffin ditched them for usc, he was brash, bringing “new life” to Tennessee, putting them back on the map, getting “national attention.” The moment he leaves, he is now a classless jerk, an arrogant SOB, blah, blah, blah!! Funny how perceptions change overnight. Dooley–a nice kid, but he’s another mike shula and will not last in the SEC. He will not beat Saban, Meyer, Richt or Miles enough to keep his job. 17-20 will not cut it when you make $3 mil per year.
bamaguy
January 17th, 2010
6:39 pm
He is a class guy and will bring stability to Tennessee. But UT might, and I mean might, have hired the “last name” instead of the ability to coach (see Clemson and Auburn: Bowden. See Alabama: Shula)
Tide Rising
January 17th, 2010
8:03 pm
Lord of the Lizards,
I hear ya on the kool aid and I started laughing myself. Nothing against UT but what is it that some of these kool aid drinkers think that Dooley 17-20 and 4-8 last year is going to come in and outrecruit Meyer or Saban? Or nab Georgia recruits from Mark Richt for that matter?
As for your previous post about Jeremy Foley would put his throat down Urban Meyer’s throat if he embarrassed UF the way Kiffin embarrassed UT I would have to agree on that also. Hell, Bama’s president fired Mike Price after one discretion that embarrassed the school. Mike Hamilton was weak in dealing with Kiffin. And he was weak in going for the easy hire in Derek Dooley who is in way over his head.
SC Rules!!!
January 17th, 2010
8:48 pm
Dawg realist;
“Tennessee fans: before lane kiffin ditched them for usc, he was brash, bringing “new life” to Tennessee, putting them back on the map, getting “national attention.” The moment he leaves, he is now a classless jerk, an arrogant SOB, blah, blah, blah!! Funny how perceptions change overnight”
HOW VERY TRUE!! Funny how when the shoe is on the other foot it is all of a sudden covered in dog sh!t, yet when you’re the one wearing it (VOL FAN) it looks “cool” (????) sorry but your lack of logic on this one is un-defensible.
Personally, I like very much the group of assistants he’s been able to gather for the SC job, but I am not now, nor ever was a fan of him. We will fight on!
WE ARE SC!!!
p.s. Buckhead bulldog, search youtube (Song Girls) several hundred vids of past performances both on the sidelines and at celeb functions around L.A.
Chuck Uga
January 17th, 2010
11:10 pm
There truly is no way to tell what will happen in the SEC, much less at UT under Dooley. But those who have come before us and laid a foundation for a great conference filled with class, dignity, respect, sportsmanship and honor can how rest in peace again (or at least get some sleep). Order has been restored now that the “hollywood mentality” has headed back to the left coast.
Chuck Uga
January 17th, 2010
11:13 pm
People, you forget about Cutcliffe’s health problems and his age. Why in the world would he want to take the UT job with all the attention and pressures that go with it? Heck yeah, I’d stay at Duke as well! He would have been GREAT for UT, but he doesn’t need that at this point, not to mention his relationship with Fulmer. Figure it out!
Derek Dooley's press conference.
January 17th, 2010
11:55 pm
“I am not Nick Saban”- Derek Dooley.
No sir. You’re certainly NOT Nick Saban.
Why Derek Dooley Is A Good Hire for Tennessee « Vols in the Fall
January 18th, 2010
3:32 am
[...] Dooley hire a triumph of substance over style (Tony Barnhart) [...]
Yellow Fuzz
January 18th, 2010
6:46 am
Two Questions
One: How many uga players could earn a degree from Georgia Tech?
Answer: Very few, if any
Two: How many Georgia Tech players could earn a degree from uga?
Answer: Most, if not all
Yellow Fuzz
January 18th, 2010
6:47 am
45-42
Yellow Fuzz
January 18th, 2010
6:47 am
45-42 > 1980’s
Factuall
January 18th, 2010
8:56 am
From a Bama fan.
I think UT just made a great hire. It is a bit controversial, but so what? There were plenty of doubters when Auburn hired Chizik, There are plenty of believers now.
I love the Bama-UT rivalry. I think it used to be one of the more intense, but classy rivalries in sports. Here’s hoping that we can recapture that somehow.
John
January 18th, 2010
9:01 am
All the best to Derek Dooley (except against UGA) with his future endeavors, but where’s the beef? Other than being the anti-Kiffin and the scion of SEC royalty, how does his resume to-date warrant this gig? You gotta figure UT is one of the top ten coaching jobs in the country.
I don’t get it. Which, by the way, will be my epitaph if I don’t go the cremation route. Always gotta think ahead.
Barnhart Approves Of Dooley’s HIre At UT | MrSEC.com
January 18th, 2010
9:24 am
[...] after begin given a token interview) should have been Tennessee’s hire.One man who’s A-OK with the hire of Dooley is Tony Barnhart of The AJC.According to Mr. Barnhart, Dooley might hit “some rough [...]
Tron Carter
January 18th, 2010
9:59 am
Al Groh seen buying new tires for his hoveround today.
Hitting the recruiting trail at 3-5 mph.
Good luck on improving that #42 in the nation recruiting class (#8 in your joke conference).
The triple joke is dead – except in the Pop Warner league. High schools everywhere dropping it after the orange bowl.
Otto
January 18th, 2010
10:02 am
Yellow Fuzz good to see you, its only been since November? How many GT QBs can count to 4?
Why is it that Cutcliffe had class for turning UT down? He did take the interview from what I understand or was interested. So he turned it down due to something UT was not offering or someone tied to the Athletic Department.
Dooley is a great hire, sure he was 17-20 but what was LA Tech before he arrived? Dooley did get La Tech’s first bowl win in 20 years.
Smart more qualified? He has not even fielded a press conference. Dooley was Saban’s recruiting Coordinator at LSU and went to Miami with Saban. Then Dooley struck it out on his own and made it to HC and AD. Seems Dooley is more his own man than Smart.
JB
January 18th, 2010
10:22 am
Meyer, Saban, Richt, Miles, Tuberville,Carrol………………………………….What do they all have in common. They were assit. Coach’s at one time and hired to be a head coach………UT fans need to know that Louisiana Tech was a sacrificial lamb most weeks for BCS teams for money, and Dooley did a pretty good job. Ask Boise St and LSU this year. They almost beat them, and I understand they had a lot of injuries. If they will give him a little time, they will be fine. But, what worries me, like us at Georgia, if you don’t go 11-1 or 12-0, they ask, ” what’s wrong with this team. UT fans on this blog peed on Themselves over Kiffens 7 wins this year and loved his “threats”. Give this coach time, I think you’ll like him.
Dawg Fud
January 18th, 2010
11:17 am
great hire for Tennessee and the SEC. way to go Vols!
Dagny
January 18th, 2010
11:59 am
This is going to make for some very interesting games between UGA and Tennessee. Unfortunately there may not be many games, since Dooley will, as others have noted, have a very short honeymoon. If he doesn’t have a winning BCS bowl team within a couple of years, he’s gone.
Rocky Top
January 18th, 2010
12:10 pm
I am very saddened by this hire. Dooley may be a nice guy, but I wonder how he will do in the recruiting arena. He sort of reminds me of the door to door salesman who knocks on a door and says ‘You don’t want to buy any of these, do you?’ I was really hoping for an orange blooded type such as Darrel Dickey, but who cares what I think?
Your Mama
January 18th, 2010
12:22 pm
I care what you think, son. Now get in here and massage my bunions.
Mark
January 18th, 2010
1:12 pm
If this kid coaches half as hard as he played, the SEC better watch out…
Ed
January 18th, 2010
1:51 pm
“Only coach if you can’t live without it. It’s just too hard.” You can substitute “practice law” for “coach” and this sentence would be just as true. Don’t try to do either without a total commitment or you won’t last long. I’m glad Derek Dooley found his calling, his gamble has definitely paid off.
I’ve always liked Tennessee, at least the pre-Kiffin version, when they weren’t playing Georgia. I hope Dooley does well. It’s nice to have someone from that family back in the SEC, and Derek seems to have his father’s class and dignity.
His La. Tech career was a little underwhelming, but he’ll definitely have the horses to succeed at Tenn. Good luck.
Alphare
January 18th, 2010
1:59 pm
Here is the substance:
1. his last name is Dooley
2. he is a UGA gradate, so must be good
3. he is a good looking guy
4. he can talk like a lawyer
Here is the style:
1. he wins 17-20 record
2. he is head coach in a small college
Yes, its a triumph of substance over style.
Ed
January 18th, 2010
1:59 pm
ESPN showed the won-lost record of recent Tennessee coaches, with a question mark after Dooley’s name. Kiffin was 7-6, but the surprise was the next two guys: Fulmer was 152-52, and Johnny Majors was something like 115-65. Fulmer was much, much better than any other coach in recent history from a winning percentage standpoint, yet he got canned after a 5-7 record. Texas A&M did the same to RC Slocum after a 6-6 record which followed the longest sustained success in that program’s recent history. Tuberville got fired by Auburn after a 5-7 season despite a recent perfect season and SEC championship and a 7-3 record over Alabama (since when was that not enough at Auburn?). I think Richt might be one mediocre season from getting fired by Georgia.
I’m just wondering if expectations in major college football have become so outrageous that someone like Dooley is almost doomed from the start. He will have a one year honeymoon, two at best. After that, he better win big.
sec fan
January 18th, 2010
2:00 pm
Mark,
Assuming Dooley coaches as hard as he plays we can assume it still wasn’t good enough given his 17-20 record and last year 4-8. And you’re saying the SEC better “watch out”. What are you smoking dude?
JB,
Wrong. LA Tech is not a sacrificial lamb for BCS schools. They play AU, LSU, next year out of conference but its not as if they play national powers week in and week out. They still play Nicholls state Div. 2, Utah State, New Mexico state, San Jose St, Idaho,etc. The point is that Louisiana is an extremely talent rich state even if La Tech is the little brother there. The talent level is far and away superior to that of similar talent in the states they play against such as New Mexico, Idaho, Utah, etc.
There is absolutely no excuse for fielding 4-8 teams given the statue of the teams in their conference. A coach there should minimally have 7-9 wins year in and year out based on talent level alone over the weak sisters of the western athletic conference.
sec fan
January 18th, 2010
2:00 pm
Stature not statue. Typo
Otto
January 18th, 2010
2:24 pm
SEC fan, The state of Louisiana is not that talent rich. LSU has to recruit Texas to stay competitive in the SEC. Louisiana also has 5 D1 programs to support, LSU, Tulane, UL La., UL Mo, and La Tech. 4-8 is better than the team he took over and again Dooley did win a Bowl at La Tech something that had not been done in 20 yrs.
The question is how much control over the staff does Dooley have?
Multiple rumors have it that Cutcliff turned down the job due to having to retain certain coaches, which is not hard to believe since he was fired from Ole Miss for refusing to fire coaches.
sec fan
January 18th, 2010
2:55 pm
Otto,
Wrong. The state of LA. is right up there in terms of talent and is either 5th or 7th in the U.S in numbers of high school athletes playing pro ball. Cali, Texas, and Fla. or the top 3 followed by Gerogia, Ohio, and La . They don’t have to recruit Texas. They just do because it borders the state and because Texas also has more athletes than UT could ever sign. They recruit western Texas in the same fashion that Georgia recruits athletes like Orson Charles or Aaron Murray out of Fla. Houston is only 3 or 4 hours from New Orleans and probably fairly close to Baton Rouge as well.
As for the fact that LA. has 5 D-1 schools that is correct. However, anyone from LA. will tell you that LSU is king, LA. Tech is a distant 2nd, and the other directional schools all are 3rd choice. LA. Tech has had good football teams in the past and has more notable NFL products such as Terry Bradshaw than the other LA. directional schools. They are way behind LSU but are in front of the other directional LA. schools.
And as I mentioned above its inexcusable not to have an automatic 5-6 wins playing in the paltry WAC where there is Boise and everyone else. 4 wins playing against the teams I mentioned above? I am not impressed. Face it. This guy got the job because of his name, his good looks, because he says the right things, he is classy, etc. He was hired for all the right reasons except for one: He has no record of winning consistenly and his last team regressed. To use what a Bammer fan wrote earlier he is a Mike Shula type caretaker for a few years who they hope may possibly end up working out like Richt did at UGA. But its a long shot.
sec fan
January 18th, 2010
2:56 pm
Baton Rouge is LSU not Tech. In any event Texas is still close to Tech as well.
Reality
January 18th, 2010
4:18 pm
Dooley has class. His hire was a bit of a surprise due to his only 3 years as a head coach and 17-20 record. Will Tennessee fans be patient with him? Lame Kiffin left their program in a real mess. It may take a while to get up to the level Vol fans expect and add to that how tough the SEC is. An SEC team may actually be much better than their record indicates.
Bad Karma
January 18th, 2010
4:23 pm
Tennessee asked for all these problems when they fired the greatest coach they’ve had since Neyland! Bad karma is all over UT. Don’t expect young Dooley to turn it around is less than 3 seasons.
PS. Fulmer is the only coach to win a national championship at Tennessee in my lifetime and I am not a young man!
cullowheedawg
January 18th, 2010
5:22 pm
As a Georgia DAWG, who now lives in NC mountains, but did grad. work at UT, well I think you got a much better man and coach this time around.
Usually I pull for Tennessee after the DAWGS, maybe Ky (my wife is from Louisville, and maybe after Vandy as you just got to pull for them. Now maybe Tenn will be my second. Of course it will be best it they lose to UGA for any of us to really pull for them.
Go D. Dooley and yes, the Tenn. Vols.
Cullowheedawg
Tron Carter
January 18th, 2010
5:48 pm
UT Lane Kiffin Hire
A Triumph of a lack of intelligence over mountain folk
Robert Vernon
January 18th, 2010
5:58 pm
The best sports column that has been written in tha AJC since Furman Bisher retired.
Otto
January 18th, 2010
6:06 pm
SEC fan, La Tech was also a D2 school when Bradshaw was there.
Wrong recruiting Texas is key to LSU success and Dooley was Saban’s Recruiting Coord. UGA typically signs far fewer players from Florida than LSU does from Texas. There is also a big gap between those top few and LA.
La Tech is also North La. which is considered redneck to many Baton Rouge South more considered Arkansas than La. Also the talent rich area of the state is in the southern area with UL La, Tulane, and LSU.
2nd in the state? IMO Tulane squarely has that honor, the record, and continued time in D1 to argue the point.
At any rate Dooley had a great 2nd year maybe the best since La Tech turned 1A for the 2nd time. 4 0f the 8 losses were by 10 or less to some good teams. Chizik did worse and is progressing just fine at Auburn.
Rocky Top
January 18th, 2010
6:35 pm
Clear a few things up. He never played for Georgia. He played at UVa. He went to Georgia to get his mouthpiece degree. This worries me more than Kiffen. Who are his assts. going to be? Richt scanned the field for two months before he settled on the one he got. Dooley’s dad is not going to come and help him.
help, I live in Ga
January 18th, 2010
7:58 pm
Has anyone stated the obvious? What if Dooley beat Ga on a regular basis and TN does well for the next 6-7 years? Who do you think is going to come calling? Hint: Athens GA area code. How is Dooley going to say no to Georgia? Back to square one.
Jesse James
January 18th, 2010
8:18 pm
Help, I live in Ga. – Everybody thought his dad would go back to Auburn. I think you have something that is very rare here. A loyal young coach that will appreciate Tenn. giving him the opportunity. For his sake I hope he goes 11 and 1 every year, and I am sure Tenn. would meet any financial offer that GA could give him. Like I said you have a rare breed here. Now he left LA. Tech I know but they knew that he would be moving on. They wished him well and knew he should have the opportunity at a top football program.
Harold Stamps
January 19th, 2010
3:17 am
I am from Atlanta,went to high school and college there and have watched UGA football and Ga Tech football growing up and remember when Wally Butts and Bobby Dodd coached. I remember when Ga Tech bolted from the SEC( bad mistake) and it has costed them dearly over the years and they are just now comming back. I moved to Knoxville with my job in 1980 and became a UT fan and a season ticket holder and I still have my tickets. I have watched Tenn. football for all these years and one thing I can tell you about UT fans. They will support Coach Dooley passionately because they want to him to be successful. They supported Kiffin even though many of them did not like some of the things he did or the way he was as a person and I promise you they will support Coach Dooley because I believe he is a better person.Lane Kiffin needs to understand there are some things in life you just don’t do no matter how much you may want another job or more money. It has to to with character and how you approach things when a lot of other people are involved. Good article Tony. I will be looking foward to watching Talking Football again this year.Good hire for the long run for UT.