New Coach for the Vols?

holvy83

holvy83

Starter
SI.com is reporting that the Vols have hired Derek Dooley from Louisiana Tech???

:dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno

 
ESPN is reporting that after interviewing (and probably getting shot down by) coaches such as ex-Bucs HC Jon Gruden, Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, Duke coach David Cutcliffe Temple's HC Al Golden, and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, they were blown away by Dooley's interview. Yeahhhhhhhhhhh <_<

 
What I read is that after their initial list of candidates didn't pan out, they decided to look for a coach on the rise from the non-BCS conferences. They interviewed 3 guys, including the HC at Houston. Dooley was head & shoulders above the 2nd tier candidates, so they moved to get him in there pretty fast.

I'll be interested in seeing how he does at UTK, and whether the fans & boosters really get behind him. From my experience living down here, I've come to think of Tennessee fans as a cross between Mizzou & Buffs fans, so I don't see them being too classy in how they handle this situation. I also have a hard time pulling for them to be successful because of their demeanor. The fan base seems underwhelmed by, and in some cases, hostile to Dooley. The majority of fans that post at volnation.com seem to be taking this about as well as they took Kiffin's departure. It reminds me a bit of how Auburn fans reacted when Chizik was hired. While not the "home run" hire that they seem to have expected, I've read and heard a lot of good things about Dooley. I don't know that anyone can do much better than .500 at LaTech, so it's hard to judge him based only on his record there. He has a pretty impressive resume as an assistant coach, and is universally described as a very bright person. By all accounts, he was a phenomenal recruiter under Saban at LSU, and Saban still speaks highly of him to this day. He may not have been their first choice (or their 5th), but I think he'll be a fairly good fit at UTK - much better than Kiffin was, imo.

The biggest problem I see is that the UTK administration is forcing him to keep a number of the existing staff so that they don't have to pay off the multi-year contracts that Kiffin got for most of his staff, including about 6 members of that staff who remain at UTK. This is supposedly what kept Cutcliffe from taking the job. Placing limits on getting his own staff together seems to be hamstringing him before he can even hit the ground.

 
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bhamHusker said:
What I read is that after their initial list of candidates didn't pan out, they decided to look for a coach on the rise from the non-BCS conferences. They interviewed 3 guys, including the HC at Houston. Dooley was head & shoulders above the 2nd tier candidates, so they moved to get him in there pretty fast.

I'll be interested in seeing how he does at UTK, and whether the fans & boosters really get behind him. From my experience living down here, I've come to think of Tennessee fans as a cross between Mizzou & Buffs fans, so I don't see them being too classy in how they handle this situation. I also have a hard time pulling for them to be successful because of their demeanor. The fan base seems underwhelmed by, and in some cases, hostile to Dooley. The majority of fans that post at volnation.com seem to be taking this about as well as they took Kiffin's departure. It reminds me a bit of how Auburn fans reacted when Chizik was hired. While not the "home run" hire that they seem to have expected, I've read and heard a lot of good things about Dooley. I don't know that anyone can do much better than .500 at LaTech, so it's hard to judge him based only on his record there. He has a pretty impressive resume as an assistant coach, and is universally described as a very bright person. By all accounts, he was a phenomenal recruiter under Saban at LSU, and Saban still speaks highly of him to this day. He may not have been their first choice (or their 5th), but I think he'll be a fairly good fit at UTK - much better than Kiffin was, imo.

The biggest problem I see is that the UTK administration is forcing him to keep a number of the existing staff so that they don't have to pay off the multi-year contracts that Kiffin got for most of his staff, including about 6 members of that staff who remain at UTK. This is supposedly what kept Cutcliffe from taking the job. Placing limits on getting his own staff together seems to be hamstringing him before he can even hit the ground.
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The word is after Muschamp turned down UTK, he recommended Dooley for the job.

The UTK message boards aren't really melting down over this hire and are willing to give him a chance. At this point, I think they know the program is in full damage control mode trying to keep as many recruits as possible.

Cutcliffe was also quoted as saying he was tired of being UTK's 2nd pick. I guess he was in the running when they replaced Fullmer with Kiffin.

Dooley was also the AD at LaTech so he's no stranger to shaking hands and kissing babies.

 
sarge87 said:
The word is after Muschamp turned down UTK, he recommended Dooley for the job.

The UTK message boards aren't really melting down over this hire and are willing to give him a chance. At this point, I think they know the program is in full damage control mode trying to keep as many recruits as possible.

Cutcliffe was also quoted as saying he was tired of being UTK's 2nd pick. I guess he was in the running when they replaced Fullmer with Kiffin.

Dooley was also the AD at LaTech so he's no stranger to shaking hands and kissing babies.
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Yeah, I'd heard the same thing about Muschamp recommending Dooley, but what was being said yesterday is that UTK didn't really give that recommendation much serious consideration until after they'd been turned down by the remainder of their short list of preferences. Dooley & Muschamp spent many years together on Nick Saban's staff at LSU and with the Dolphins.

Maybe "melting down" was a bit of an overstatement, but threads like "the official make fun of dooley" thread and no shortage of posts & threads expressing "we're screwed," "this has got to be a bad joke," "Hamilton got another unqualified coach," and similar sentiments show that a lot of them are very unhappy about this pick. They may be starting to circle the wagons in support of the program, but it seems to be pretty widely believed that this isn't the guy that the fans want. That's what reminds me of the Chizik hire at Auburn.

 
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