Derek Dooley (American football)

Early years

Dooley was born in Athens, Georgia, in 1968, the son of University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley and his wife, radio talk show host Barbara Meshad Dooley. Dooley played high school football at Clarke Central High School in Athens under legendary coach Billy Henderson. He was a star tight end on the school's 1985 AAAA State Championship team. Dooley played alongside other notable Clarke Central (and later NFL) players, including kicker John Kasay (Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints), defensive end and former University of Tennessee defensive line coach Chuck Smith (Atlanta Falcons, Carolina) and wide receiver Willie Green (four teams).

Dooley was a walk-on wide receiver at the University of Virginia. He earned a scholarship with the Cavaliers following his second season and helped the school to three bowl appearances, including an ACC championship in 1989. In 1990, he was named first-team Academic All-ACC and participated in the Senior Bowl. He graduated in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in government and foreign affairs, and went on to earn his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1994. Dooley practiced law at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Atlanta for almost two years before embarking on his coaching career.

College coaching career

Dooley started his college coaching career with a one-year stint as a graduate assistant at the University of Georgia in 1996. Dooley spent the 1997–99 seasons as wide receivers coach at Southern Methodist University, while also holding the duties of assistant recruiting coordinator during his final two years. In 2000, Dooley was hired by Nick Saban at LSU as the Tigers’ recruiting coordinator/tight ends coach, a capacity in which he served until 2002. Dooley then spent the 2003–04 seasons coaching the Tigers’ running backs and special teams, and in 2004 was named assistant head coach. In 2005, Dooley left LSU with Saban when the latter became head coach of the Miami Dolphins.

On December 17, 2006, Dooley was hired as the new head coach at Louisiana Tech University. He replaced former coach Jack Bicknell, who was fired on December 4 after the Bulldogs finished 3–10 in 2006.

On January 15, 2010, Dooley was hired as the 22nd head coach at the University of Tennessee. He replaced Lane Kiffin, who resigned to become head coach at the University of Southern California after one season at Tennessee. Dooley was replaced by Butch Jones.

Athletics Director of Louisiana Tech

On March 6, 2008, Dooley was named the Athletics Director of Louisiana Tech University replacing former AD Jim Oakes. During his tenure, Dooley implemented a complete overhaul of the infrastructure of the athletics department from staffing, to facilities, to external and internal operations of the athletic department from the ground up.

His notable accomplishments include:

Professional coaching career

Dooley was named to the Dolphins’ coaching staff on January 10, 2005 by Nick Saban, for whom Dooley had previously worked at Louisiana State University. Dooley served on the staff for two years, but left the Dolphins' staff in 2006 when he was chosen as the new head football coach at Louisiana Tech. In 2013, Dooley was hired by the Dallas Cowboys.

University of Tennessee

Dooley had a challenging three seasons as the head coach at Tennessee. The only in-depth on the record discussion of his tenure was given nearly four years later during a live two-hour televised interview with Clay Travis of Fox Sports Outkick the Coverage in June of 2016. Dooley inherited a program for which he would be the third head coach in as many years. Perhaps due to these coaching changes, a number of scholarship players had left the University. The 2010 Tennessee Volunteer football team was expected by many to be one of the worst in school history. With few scholarship players and a very young team, Tennessee started the season 2–6. However, they won their last four regular season games to finish the season 6–6 and bowl eligible. Tennessee went on to lose the Music City Bowl to North Carolina on the last play of the game. In 2011, the team finished a disappointing 5–7, dropping the last game of the season to Kentucky, which ended a 26-game winning streak against the Wildcats. Combined with the 6–7 record of 2010, it was the first time since 1910–1911, that the Vols had finished with losing records in back to back seasons.

At the outset of the 2012 season the Vols had high hopes for a major turnaround. With returning star quarterback Tyler Bray back at the helm and star wide receiver Justin Hunter returning from injury the Vols were expected to tout an offense that could compete against the top SEC defenses. Boosting the offense from the start of the season was the emergence of community college transfer WR Cordarrelle Patterson who became a big threat in both receiving and returning plays. However, another loss to the hated rival Florida Gators, a game in which the Vols were in control for a majority of time, would send the season sinking. The Vols would then lose six of the nine remaining games including a four-game losing streak. A heartbreaking loss to Missouri left many fans fed up with Dooley after a questionable call to play overtime rather than play for a game-winning field goal would deprive the Vols of a victory. A lop-sided loss to in-state rival Vanderbilt would be the final straw. Derek Dooley and the Volunteer football team went 5-7, with all 7 losses being to SEC teams. As a result, Tennessee recorded three consecutive losing seasons (2010, 2011 and 2012). Derek Dooley amassed the worst record of head coaches with more than two seasons in Tennessee history, and the worst overall since 1906. He also has the worst record of all Tennessee coaches in SEC play. On November 18, 2012, Dooley was fired from his head coaching position effective immediately, being replaced by Butch Jones, the former head coach of the University of Cincinnati.

Dallas Cowboys

On February 5, 2013, the Dallas Cowboys officially hired Dooley as their Wide Receivers coach, a position which he currently holds. In 2014 and 2016 the Dallas Cowboys were named NFC East Champions.

During his time, the Cowboys offense ranked in the top 5 in the NFL in Points per Game (2014,2016); Total Yards (2016); Pass yards per Play (2014, 2016); 3rd Down Conversion Percentage (2014); Red Zone Conversion Percentage (2014, 2016); and Goal to Go Percentage (2014, 2016). In 2016, the Cowboys offense set an NFL record 8 consecutive games of 400-plus total net yards.

Under Dooley’s tutelage, Dez Bryant was selected to his only three Pro Bowls of his career, and in 2014 was named 1st Team All-Pro. In that same year, Bryant set the Dallas Cowboys record for most touchdowns in a season.

Dooley’s tenure also includes the development of Terrance Williams and undrafted free agent Cole Beasley. Williams is #7 in the NFL in Yards per reception from 2013-2016, and is ranked #5 in Cowboys history in touchdowns in first four seasons.

Beasley was ranked #1 in the NFL in 2016 by Pro Football Focus in WR Rating. He also was top 5 in the NFL in Catch Percentage (2014, 2016) and 3rd Down Receiving (2016).

Personal life

Dooley's wife is Dr. Allison Jeffers Dooley, who is an OB/GYN, and they have three children named John Taylor, Peyton, and Julianna. Peyton was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in August 2014. Dooley currently serves on the board of the JDRF Dallas chapter.

While at Tennessee, Dooley helped raise over $1 million for children and other causes in the local community. The Dooley’s hosted the Big Orange Experience, an annual fundraising event for Variety, an organization that provides financial support for numerous children’s charities. In 2012, some of the proceeds funded the Dooley-Witten Learning Center at the Halls/Powell Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley, a project on which Dooley teamed up with former Vol and Dallas Cowboys All-Pro Tight End Jason Witten.

Dooley’s brother-in-law is former NFL wide receiver Patrick Jeffers.

Coaching tree

Assistant coaches under Derek Dooley who became NCAA or NFL head coaches: