Derrick Dooley Will Do Well For The Vols

Both Derrick Dooley and Lane Kiffin are about the same age. They both are sons of football coaches. Dooley's father, Vince Dooley, was a legendary college coach at Georgia. Kiffin's father, Monty Kiffin, was the innovator of the "Tampa Two" defensive scheme and was the Defensive Coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they won the Super Bowl over the Raiders a few years ago.

Also, neither Lane Kiffin or Derrick Dooley had great records as head coaches. When Kiffin was the Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders, he went 5-15. When Dooley was at LA Tech, he went 17-20 in his tenure there. As far as coaching college football goes, Dooley may have more quality experience. He was an assistant coach at LSU under Nick Saban when the Tigers won the National Championship in 2003. Dooley has been around College Football since his first breath. He has seen how his father went about coaching the Georgia Bulldogs. He has the idea of what to do and what not to do. He recently got a ringing endorsement from his former boss, Nick Saban.

In my opinion, one major thing Derrick Dooley has under his belt is that he began his college head coaching career at a program that did not have lofty expectations. Fans and boosters at LA Tech did not expect Dooley to bring home a national championship or a BCS bowl. However, in Knoxville, they are expecting to compete for the SEC Championship year in and year out. It was good for Derrick Dooley that he got experience as a head coach at LA Tech first before he took on a job like that of Tennessee.

The best thing I like about Derrick Dooley is that unlike his predecessor, he has class, just like his father did. He will compete and win at Tennessee without making silly comments about fellow SEC coaches and making unfounded accusations. He, like Vince. will run a clean program. Some may draw a comparison of the hiring of Derrick Dooley to the hiring of Mike Shula at Alabama after Dennis Franchione abruptly left, much like the way Lane Kiffin left Tennessee. Shula had the coaching pedigree, being the son of the winningest coach in the NFL, Don Shula. Alabama was Mike Shula's first college head coaching job, a tough place to cut your teeth at. As we all know, it didn't go so well.

Fortunately for Derrick Dooley, he cut his teeth at a smaller school. This will make the transition to the "big time" more easier. It will be a strange feeling for Dooley when he brings his Tennessee Vols between the hedges next Fall. It was the place his father had so much success. As a Georgia fan, I still don't think much of Tennessee, but I think I can root for them a little more since they have a good man at the helm.