Derek Dooley’s stint as Tennessee’s head coach is the kind Volunteer fans would very much like to forget. Equal parts short and unsuccessful, Dooley was unable to bring the SEC success that his father Vince did as the long-time head coach at Georgia. Hired after leading Louisiana Tech to a 4-8 season, Dooley posted a 4-19 SEC record in his three seasons in Knoxville, with a Music City Bowl loss to North Carolina in 2010 as his only postseason achievement.
Former Tennessee players call out ‘loser’ Derek Dooley
Troy Fleming, Al Wilson and Corey Larkins did not play for the former head coach, but they have strong words anyway.
Frederick Breedon
Dooley is now the wide receivers coach for the Dallas Cowboys, but some former Tennessee players still have him on their minds. Fullback Troy Fleming, linebacker Al Wilson and running back Corey Larkins, all of whom preceded Dooley's three-year tenure, were asked by the Times Free Press how they felt about the direction of the program under Butch Jones. Their responses took little time to call out Dooley. Emphasis ours:
Fleming: “With Coach Jones, when you walk into the facility now it’s like you never left. The guys who have worked around the program for years are at ease now, which tells you things are good again. The biggest thing about Coach Jones is he actually does his job. Unlike that guy we call Derek Doolittle, who really did very little. This recruiting class that just came in, and with what they’re already getting for next year, I believe we’ll be better this year and we’ll be back competing in a big way in 2015, which is good because there’s a lot of people who are going to hear my mouth again.”
Wilson: “I really don’t even want to say the names of the two guys who were there between Coach Fulmer and Coach Jones. They don’t deserve to have their names mentioned with Tennessee football. As somebody who went 45-5 while I was at UT, that’s a place I care a lot about and I’m just glad that there’s somebody in charge again who gets it and who wants to be there and take the program back to where it was and where it should be. For Coach Jones to embrace us and bring us back in is a big deal for us.”
Larkins: “I just want to see some fight. I’ve seen our guys for the last few years not only get beat to the ground, but then the other players push up off their chest to go back to the huddle and our guys just got up and walked back to the huddle. I want to see some guys with some fight and defend the program. That mentality came from the guy we had before Coach Jones. Derek Dooley was a loser. He’ll always be a loser and he rubbed off on the program and created a losing attitude.”
After successful stints at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, Jones was hired by Tennessee prior to the 2013 season. The Volunteers went 5-7 in that year, with a 2-6 record in conference play. Tennessee currently claims the seventh-best recruiting class in the country for the second year in a row under Jones.
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