Derek Dooley was fired today by Tennessee.
Dooley was 15-21 in three years with the Vols, 0-15 against top 25 teams and 4-19 in the SEC. So I guess Tennessee AD Dave Hart was justified in asking for Dooley's resignation, right? Here's a stat for you, Dooley was 17-20 in his three seasons at Louisiana Tech before coming to Knoxville. What did they expect? I think it's important to remember how Tennessee got in this spot in the first place.
Remember Philip Fulmer (152-52 in 17 years) who won a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP in 1998. He won 10 games in '07, but slipped to 5-7 and was forced out in '08. It didn't help that the hot property Lane Kiffen was available. Remember Kiffen had been fired by crazy Al Davis for cause. When Lane jumped for USC one season later, the jilted Vols looked to Dooley to lend stability.
In hindsight, rather than having their heads turned by the notion of Kiffen, the more prudent move may have been to let Fulmer leave on his own terms. Or let him promote his OC David Cutcliff. Instead Cutcliff went 73-44 at Ole Miss. and is currently 58-21 at Duke (bowl eligible this year) a program he took over in 2008.
This is not a new phenoneon. I remember Rich Rodrigez, on the balcony of the Reilly Center, green blazer drapped over his arm, ready to accept the Head Coaching position at Tulane when Tommy Bowden left for Clemson. Only the Greenies flipped the script and tapped Chris Scelfo instead. By the way the Wave has a history of this (see Lindy Infante).
So Rich Rod heads to Morgantown, goes to 6 bowls in 7 years, wins 11 games three years in a row and wins 87 games in seven years. Scelfo went 37-57 and was gone after '06. Tulane still has not recovered. But the story doesn't end with Rodriguez planting his roots and leaving a legacy with the Mountaineers. Instead it was off to Michigan, bigger program, bigger stage.
How did that work out?
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