Dooley following path of mentor Saban
Vols learn that if you can't get the best, get guy who learned it all from him
Lisa Norman-hudson / APDerek Dooley was an assistant for Nick Saban at LSU and the Miami Dolphins.
By Matt Hayes
updated 10:26 p.m. ET June 5, 2010
 | Matt Hayes |
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SANDESTIN, FLA. - These are the rare moments in life when the who and the what are clearly explained by the how and the why years after the fact.
Derek Dooley looked through the window of his former boss' car earlier this week at the Hilton resort and saw him in an animated conversation on the phone. It's not unlike any other day in the life of Nick Saban, the most meticulous coach on the planet.
Yet when the moment hit, when Dooley was standing next to Saban's wife, Teri, and realizing what he thought for all those years maybe wasn't so true, it all started making sense.
"I told (Teri) I used to wonder why he did that," Dooley said. "Now I know why."
Needless to say, this reclamation project at Tennessee is a bigger job than just about anyone expected. But after two years of fumbling and bumbling its football program into SEC irrelevance with bad and worse coaching decisions, the Tennessee administration somehow stumbled into a lifesaver that initially looked more like a last resort.
If you can't get the best in the game, get the guy who learned it all from him.
"Derek Dooley," said Saban of his former assistant at LSU and the Miami Dolphins, "is everything you want in a coach."
It may take all of that and more to fix this mess.
The current roster — still reeling and short-handed by poor recruiting classes and emotionally shell-shocked from Lane Kiffin's scorched earth, 14-month stay — will begin this fall with its third coach in three years. Third staff, third system, third philosophy.
Dooley walked in the door and had to save a recruiting class. He had to keep midterm enrollees from following Kiffin to USC and keep current players from bailing. He had to hire and organize his staff and somehow find a way to keep everyone on the same page at every breathing moment to leave zero wiggle room for interpretation.
Or what they commonly refer to in Alabama as the Saban Way.
Suddenly Saban's heated phone call earlier this week — months removed from winning a national championship and while all of Alabama glows in the glory — couldn't have been more appropriate. When details are overlooked, someone is going to hear about it.
"I do believe your team forms your personality over time," Dooley said. "Your team becomes a reflection of who you are and what you believe."
Three years ago, when Dooley got his first head coaching job at Louisiana Tech, his team traveled to LSU in yet another a nonconference game of non-BCS little guy playing BCS big boy for a boatload of cash. After it was over, after La Tech had absorbed a 58-10 beatdown, he heard a few of his assistant coaches in the locker room tell players to keep their heads up because they played hard.
Who here thinks "keep your head up" is in the Saban dictionary of winning? No matter what level you're playing at.
"I said that's bull---; put your head down," Dooley said. "Because I was embarrassed. Not because of the score, but because of the way we competed. I told them the next time we come here, I'm bringing a box of Sharpies and I'll have some pictures so you can get their autographs before the game."
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La. Tech began the next season by beating Mississippi State and going to a bowl game for the fifth time in school history. A year after that, the Bulldogs returned to Tiger Stadium to play LSU again. Without the Sharpies.
They led at halftime and eventually lost 24-16, holding LSU to 246 yards and outplaying the Tigers for much of the game.
"A program is based on the intangible value of how you compete and what you show," Dooley said. "That's on the field, in the classroom and as a member of your community representing your university. It is the foundation of who you are, and who we want to be at Tennessee. There are no shortcuts."
Tennessee doesn't have a legitimate Division I quarterback. Projected starter Matt Simms wouldn't be on the two-deep at any other SEC school, and freshman backup Tyler Bray's 6-6 frame looks impressive — until you realize he's carrying about 175 pounds (although listed 17 pounds heavier).
The offensive line is a shambles, full of questions and not nearly enough big-body bruisers to consistently compete in the SEC. The defense will be worn out by midseason trying to hold up while the offense struggles to score points.
It could be one of the worst seasons in years on Rocky Top. And it could be followed by one of the best turnarounds in school history.
Saban's Tide lost at home to Louisiana-Monroe — and lost six games total — in Year 1. They haven't lost a regular-season SEC game since.
"You always find out about people when it gets tough," Dooley said.
Eventually, the who and what becomes the how and why.
© 2012 Sporting News
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