Video: Derek Dooley speaks to Tip-Off Club

by Will on Feb 24, 2010 5:07 PM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 15 comments

From WBIR, here's the mythical Derek Dooley speaking to the Tip-Off Club today, parts one and two. You are going to like this.

0 recs | Comment 15 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Its refreshing to have a coach who can give a speech.

RIP Steve McNair (1973 - 2009) Retire #9!

by Pride of the Southland on Feb 24, 2010 8:31 PM EST reply actions

Well, he did go to law school...

It sounds nice in press conferences. I just hope he can coach in the SEC.

Lou Brock loves Lamp.

by birdjam on Feb 25, 2010 9:11 AM EST up reply actions

An honest to goodness "warm & fuzzy"

This guy is the real deal. He’s not about himself as Lame was. I honestly think the players will REALLY WANT to play for him. I really feel good about this coach.

by voodoovol on Feb 24, 2010 11:57 PM EST reply actions

I get the same feeling voodoovol

The guy is no nonsense. He is focused on the long term of this program and the players both on and off the field. I know hindsight is 20-20 but thinking back to Lame it seems he was here for the quick turnaround, nothing was said about taking time to build relationships like DD is saying which leads me to believe as long as he can coach than we have found a long tenure type of coach here.

by bullrider73 on Feb 25, 2010 10:22 AM EST up reply actions

I like DD, BUT

Let’s not get carried away on him just yet. I wish that good guy=great coach, but that equation seems to be more and more of a rarity in college football. Sure, this guy will stick around, but in 4-5 years will we want him to stick around? And as much as I hate to defend that last guy, you know as well as I do that if he had stayed on, taken us back to SEC and National Championships, we would all be happier than pigs in…well let’s just say happier than Gary Danielson in Tim Tebow’s arms.

I’m not saying Dooley has to win and win now, but I think we’ll see very quickly how this team responds to his coaching style. As he said, it’s more important for fans to see how hard the team is playing, which will certainly be my measuring stick this season.

So Sayth King Zach I

by kingofzachland on Feb 25, 2010 10:44 AM EST up reply actions

There's an interview with Mike Hamilton up on VolQuest now

(pay link) where he talks about it taking until 2012 before Tennessee will compete for an SEC Championship. I thought it was interesting that the AD would come out and say that – and I’m not necessarily disagreeing with him – but I think there’s some getting out in front of the storm going on.

Dooley is right though, that fans and people following the program know to a degree about a team playing hard, and playing well within the process. So even if it’s a couple of years still before we’re back towards the Promised Land, if Dooley gets off to an acceptable start, there will still be grace from both Hamilton and the fanbase.

Rocky Top Talk

by Will on Feb 25, 2010 11:14 AM EST up reply actions

I still think that's an overly pessimistic view

And that there’s no reason we shouldn’t be competing in 2011. He might be exaggerating to lower our expectations?

by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 25, 2010 11:17 AM EST up reply actions

i agree!

i think that is rediculous. We should be competing for an SEC championship now. Vanderbilt, for that matter, should compete for an SEC championship. If not, what in the world are they playing for? Maybe it’s a poor choice of words. What he must mean is that Tennessee isn’t likely to win the SEC championship until maybe 2012. In either case, what’s the point of making that announcement? I think it’s stupid.

by golfballs03 on Feb 25, 2010 12:47 PM EST up reply actions

Don't forget in whose home Derek Dooley was raised

In 25 seasons as an SEC head coach, Vince Dooley won 201 games, six SEC titles, and a national championship while attending 20 bowl games (when that meant more than it means today) and posting only one losing season . . . yet, every year, without fail, he downplayed his team’s chances. The poor-mouthing by Coach Dooley pere famously included his statement that William & Mary had the best long snapper he’d ever seen.

That’s the backdrop against which public statements by Coach Dooley fils must be viewed. It will almost always be reasonable for Tennessee fans to be more optimistic about the Volunteers’ chances than the head coach seems to be . . . so, Incipient_Senescence, you’re right to call his view “overly pessimistic.” It’s just the way he was raised, which probably is the best way for a coach to view it. Pessimism prevents complacency.

For the record, Vince took over a Georgia program in much worse shape than the Tennessee program was in on the day Derek arrived, and he won an SEC championship in his third year. Expecting the Vols to be legitimate contenders in 2011 is in no way unrealistic. As a Georgia fan, I wish that wasn’t true, but it is.

Go 'Dawgs!

by T Kyle King on Feb 26, 2010 12:54 PM EST up reply actions

Good points

2011 was the target year when Kiffin was here, and I think most people are buying into the same three-year sort of window with Dooley and pushing it back to 2012. But since Dooley really saved our recruiting class this season, there’s reason again to believe that 2011 could be a more realistic expectation, regardless of (or hopefully because of) the head coach.

Rocky Top Talk

by Will on Feb 26, 2010 2:07 PM EST up reply actions

Elsewhere, it seems like year two is stereotypically the big turnaround year

Under Kiffin, based on the makeup of the team (lots of seniors and freshman, few juniors and sophomores), we moved the window BACK a year. I see no reason to move it back yet another year, especially given that the two deep should be dominated by freshmen and sophomores this year. When Kiffin left, I was prepared to do so, but like you said, he saved the recruiting class. If he gets another top 10 class, we’ll have three on campus in 2011. It may not be national title year, but there’s no reason it can’t be compete for the East year (see: ’09 Alabama. No way the team was going to win the title, but a lightish schedule gave them the shot at 12-0 and, more importantly, a few timely performances gave them the SEC west crown).

Also, TKK, I agree that pessimism prevents complacency. I’m glad that we have a coach who appears that he’ll always be on his toes.

by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 26, 2010 6:18 PM EST up reply actions

Hindsight can be 20/20 sometimes...

… but not always. For instance, I heard Heather Harrington claim on the Sports Animal this morning that she didn’t like how Lane Kiffin took shots at opponents’ coaches in the press. That’s revisionist history if I’ve ever heard it – she loved that crap when he did it last year.

I like what I have seen from Dooley so far, and he definitely knows how to say the right things. As I pointed out above, he is a trained public speaker so that shouldn’t surprise anyone. And it is obviously a stark contrast from our previous coach, Mumbles Kiffin. Even Coach Fulmer, while well-versed in coach-speak, wasn’t much of a dynamic speaker like Dooley is.

But where the rubber will meet the road for Dooley is winning football games. Being a nice guy bought Buzz Peterson an extra year or so, but if you can’t win games then it doesn’t matter. I have an open mind about him, but until he proves he can win at this level I’m not quite ready to anoint him as our program’s savior or the definite longterm solution to what has plagued us the last 5 years or so.

Lou Brock loves Lamp.

by birdjam on Feb 25, 2010 2:19 PM EST up reply actions

Well said, birdjam

I agree completely. People who are all of the sudden dumping on FUCLK’s methods were applauding him last year when Tennessee was making off-season news for the first time in nearly a decade. From my perspective, we had been the punchline of numerous head coaches from other SEC schools and it was nice to have someone who was swinging back on our behalf (and landing some big-time recruits to boot). Furthermore, Vol fans were thrilled with the way the team played under Kiffin, even if a 7-6 season wasn’t up to our high standards.

I hope Dooley can provide the same level of play and top-level talent as the last guy while doing things “the right way.” But let’s not pretend that we wouldn’t dump him in heartbeat if he’s not getting it done.

So Sayth King Zach I

by kingofzachland on Feb 25, 2010 3:09 PM EST up reply actions

I see you're points and I agree with what you are saying,

I approved of Kiffing until he left us in the middle of the night. I just think DD is more of what we are used to around these parts, and it is nice to have someone you can relate to back in charge of UT football. With that said you are 100% right the guy still has to prove on Saturdays that he can coach, if he can not do that than what the heck is he here for.

by bullrider73 on Feb 25, 2010 4:48 PM EST up reply actions

I know to speak for myself

I liked all of his shots except for the ones that were factually inaccurate (and there were at least two, possibly more). Those made me cringe. And the shirtless stunt for the recruits, my thought was “Wow, that’s seriously stupid. Wait, recruits are liking it? Whatever man, if the kids are into it, I’m older than I thought [21, at the time]”

by Incipient_Senescence on Feb 25, 2010 6:58 PM EST up reply actions