On January 15th The University of Tennessee hired Derek Dooley. Dooley, who is 41 years old comes to Tennessee as the 22nd Head Football Coach for the University of Tennessee. Dooley spent the last 3 years as the Head Coach for Louisiana Tech. There are several things about Dooley that concern me and makes my eyebrows raise a little at the decision of Mike Hamilton to hire Dooley.
First, as you can see Dooley only spent 3 years with Louisiana Tech, and he only achieved a 17-20 record. He was just hired in March of 2008 as Louisiana Tech's Athletic Director in addition to being the head football coach.You have to ask the question why would a guy who not only just achieved a first Bowl win and just newly hired as Athletic Director decide to leave. This has the appearance of another man that is lead by money rather than commitment to a program.
Now, on the plus side Derek Dooley did lead Louisiana Tech to its first bowl game in 30 yrs last season, and their first Bowl victory by winning the Independence Bowl. He did finish his last season at Louisiana Tech with a winning record, and had obviously changed the course of direction for that program for the better.
As far as what he will do for Tennessee... well to be fair, before I make that kind of judgment, I would like to see how he does with a full recruiting season. He was hired only days before the national signing day, which does not fully show his capability or lack there of at recruiting. If he can stay longer than one season with the Vols then he will be heading in the right direction in regards to the Tennessee fan.
First, as you can see Dooley only spent 3 years with Louisiana Tech, and he only achieved a 17-20 record. He was just hired in March of 2008 as Louisiana Tech's Athletic Director in addition to being the head football coach.You have to ask the question why would a guy who not only just achieved a first Bowl win and just newly hired as Athletic Director decide to leave. This has the appearance of another man that is lead by money rather than commitment to a program.
Now, on the plus side Derek Dooley did lead Louisiana Tech to its first bowl game in 30 yrs last season, and their first Bowl victory by winning the Independence Bowl. He did finish his last season at Louisiana Tech with a winning record, and had obviously changed the course of direction for that program for the better.
As far as what he will do for Tennessee... well to be fair, before I make that kind of judgment, I would like to see how he does with a full recruiting season. He was hired only days before the national signing day, which does not fully show his capability or lack there of at recruiting. If he can stay longer than one season with the Vols then he will be heading in the right direction in regards to the Tennessee fan.
