Vols' faithful may not miss Kiffin, but his hasty exit tarnished UT's shiny image and a newbie has been tossed a rag and some polish
by Terry McCormick
Athletic Director Mike Hamilton was true to his word. He has a new football coach in place in time to salvage at least part of the University of Tennessee's 2010 recruiting class, which will officially come to fruition on Feb. 3. But at what cost? With apologies to new coach Derek Dooley, it appears he was at the very least a fourth or fifth choice for Hamilton to fill the vacancy caused by Lane Kiffin's desertion to Southern Cal last week. And that's certainly not a good thing for an athletics director who is under pressure to hit a home run with his new hire — being forced to send to the plate a coach that on first glance appears to be more of a singles hitter.
In fairness, trying to rustle up a new head coach on short notice and so close to the signing date for high school recruits is a tall order. But seeing the Volunteers being turned down by coaches from Air Force and Duke had to be quite humbling for Big Orange Nation, even given the unusual circumstances.
Hamilton appears partly to blame in this scenario, and not just because he brought the mercurial Kiffin to Knoxville. His bigger mistake might have been tying too much money into Kiffin's staff, some of which remain and reportedly have to be kept on by any head coach who took over the program.
That was reportedly the overriding factor that kept one of Tennessee's own — the respected one-time UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe — from coming on board with the Vols. Cutcliffe apparently wanted to bring much of his Blue Devils staff with him to Tennessee, but when an agreement on that couldn't be worked out (if you believe the reports and speculation) he said "No."
To make matters worse for Tennessee, Cutcliffe wasn't the only one who said "thanks, but no thanks" to Hamilton. According to various reports, so did Texas assistant coach Will Muschamp, Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.
That is perhaps the most astounding part of this equation.
This is the University of Tennessee, arguably one of the 10 or 15 most storied programs in the nation, and a top tier school in the Southeastern Conference — hands down, the best college football conference in the country. This isn't Vanderbilt or Mississippi State where football coaching searches can sometimes be a tough sell. And it certainly isn't Duke or Air Force.
It must be tough for Tennessee fans to swallow that the Vols didn't have quite the cachet they thought they should have when it came to finding a new coach.
So who did UT wind up with? The son of legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley. Perhaps Derek has the pedigree to be successful. But here's something to ponder: If his name was Smith or Jones, and not Dooley, would UT have still hired him based on his track record? Thus far, success isn't exactly dripping from his résumé. His head coaching record is 17-20 overall in three seasons at Louisiana Tech, which in case you didn't know, is in the Western Athletic Conference, not exactly a powerhouse place to play.
The WAC is the league that Boise State rules every year, and is criticized for, because of a conference schedule that is simply too soft for the SEC, the Big 12 or in most years even the Mountain West.
Nonetheless, Dooley steps onto the big stage now as the Vols new head coach. And while his overall performance to date strongly suggests that he might not be ready for it, he does have one thing in his favor with Tennessee fans: He's not Kiffin.
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