KNOXVILLE — University of Tennessee football is rich in tradition and Vols Wire will explore the program by examining each head coach’s tenure.
This installment will look back on Derek Dooley’s tenure as head coach on Rocky Top.
Dooley had a coaching pedigree when he arrived in Knoxville. His father, Vince, was a legendary coach at Georgia and won a national championship. His uncle, Bill, was once head coach at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
Dooley came from Louisiana Tech and inherited a program in shambles with the Volunteers.
Lane Kiffin came and went in one year, as he left for the University of Southern California just days before National Signing Day. Kiffin left UT scrambling to find a coach.
The school opted to hire Dooley and things looked good at first. He was a southerner with roots in the Southeastern Conference. Unlike Kiffin, fans got the feeling that he was one of their own and he wanted to be in Knoxville.
In 2010, Dooley and the Vols went 6-6 during the regular season and accepted an invitation to play in the Music City Bowl.
The Vols lost that game in overtime and finished 6-7.
Dooley’s first season appeared to be star-crossed as he lost an SEC game to LSU early in the year in heartbreaking fashion. He won three SEC games in his first year.
After that, things got ugly for Dooley.
During the next two seasons, things went further into disarray. The Vols went 5-7 in 2011 and lost to Kentucky for the first time since 1984. Tennessee went 1-7 in the conference, beating only Vanderbilt.
The next season, 2012, things got worse and Dooley was fired before seasons end with UT 4-7 overall and 0-7 in the conference.
Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney coached the Vols against Kentucky in the season finale and the Vols finished 5-7 in a campaign that saw them embarrassed in a 41-18 loss at Vanderbilt.
That was Dooley’s last game at Tennessee. He finished 15-21 and won just five conference games in his tenure with the Vols.