Tom, it would appear to me that he was not ready for a head coaching job when Georgia hired Richt. Also it seems that Dooley had a bit of a falling out with the administration. He's only been a head coach for three years, but his assistant jobs look pretty impressive to me. Trouble is that if he doesn't get support of the fan base it could lead to even more turmoil. Anyway, I do not envy all of you right now, but I do think you are ahead of a guy who after a year thought your team colors were yellow. Keep us informed as to how the fans accept him.
Right now, there is a fan poll going on with ~65% for and ~34% against. Poll: Do you approve of UT's hiring of Derek Dooley?
Tom, We ND fans are open about this hire. We say give this O'Dooley a chance. We know shitty coaches when we see them. This guy passes the sniff test. 8)
Another problem I have is speculative: With a Georgia background, is he going to want to leave after a few successful years to take Richt's place?
Tom, as an outsider for Tennessee, but not an outsider as far as SEC football, I can only say that I hope the fans give him a fair shot. We have seen first hand what a disturbed fan base can do to a program. I need to be a bit careful here because Zook was not the answer for the long run for the Gators. My problem with that whole situation was that some people were trying to run him out of town before he even arrived. I think Dooley's background is better for a college coach than Zooks was. I think there is a good possibility that if given the chance he could succeed. As far as going to Georgia at the first opportunity, who knows. If he gets a good thing going at Tennessee I doubt that happens. If it does it would be because he was successful at Tennessee and then it would be easier to bring in a good replacement. He's not my coach and I won't argue, but I kind of like his background.
Tom, Take this what it's worth as it is Finebaum and there are some here who will outright dismiss anything related to his name. For those people, stop reading now: For you Tom, you and Cindy know that Paul isn't just connected at Tennessee, he's a hub of information for all parties... even Phil Fulmer who he was no fan of... Anyway, he said today something in passing that the hiring of Dooley has tremendous upside but he is quite concerned with Phil 'poisoning the well from the inside' with his job at the school. One of the things that we were to look out for were 'mandatory assistants' that had to be carried over... I believe that might be the case. I think Dooley might be a good hire. As you well know though, the oldboy SEC style network is something to fear... If they don't want Dooley to work, he won't. Here's to hoping they get out of his way, lest you find yourself making room for the return of Phil.
Finebum is a bottom feeder but that doesn't mean he can't be right. I don't buy the Fulmer part but think he's right about Dooley. You know the old saying about blind squirrels and acorns.
And you guys thought they were a figment of my imagination. And I thought they were so old they were all in the old folks homes by now.