Dooley Will Not Return As Vols' Head Coach

[Sandman]

The University of Tennessee announced today that Derek Dooley will not return as the head football coach of the Vols. The announcement was made by Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Dave Hart, who will immediately begin a search for a new head coach for the Vols.

Hart will address the media at 2 p.m. today (Sunday, Nov. 18) at the Stokely Family Media Center at Neyland Stadium. The press conference will also be streamed live on UTSports.com.

"We very much appreciate the effort and energy that Derek Dooley and his staff have poured into our football program at the University of Tennessee," said Hart. "Derek and I met early this morning, and I informed him that I believed a change in leadership, despite the positive contributions he has made to the overall health of the program, was in the best long-term interests of Tennessee football. We will immediately begin the search for the best possible candidate to assume this leadership role."

Dooley will not coach the Vols in the season finale against Kentucky on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 12:21 p.m. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will serve as interim head coach for Saturday's game.

www.utsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111812aaf.html

They've probably already contacted Petrino.

[The Bubba]

That would be a big time pressure job for sure, more so than the Kentucky job I would guess. Both schools want their program to significantly improve and a big name coach should pull in better recruits. UK might want to fill the position sooner than later with numerous schools looking for a new HC.

[Sandman]

Definately a lot more pressure coaching fb at UT than at UK. UT fb fans are very much like UK bb fans, in that they feel the season is a loss if they're not in the hunt for the NC.

[The Bubba]

Nov 19, 2012 11:23:14 GMT -5 Sandman said:

Definately a lot more pressure coaching fb at UT than at UK. UT fb fans are very much like UK bb fans, in that they feel the season is a loss if they're not in the hunt for the NC.

Not being a die hard UT fan, I can only guess at their intensity and expectations but as you say, if it matches our BB fans, it is much more than just intense. It appears that UT may have to settle for decent bowl games or just lower tier bowl games for a while even until they find their Bear Bryant to lead them back to a NC quality team. All schools go through cycles, as I'm sure everyone knows and no one that has had a decent pedigree in the past, wants their program to slide. That seems to put a lot of pressure on everyone from the school's president, AD and the powers that be to provide an instant fix. Sometimes you hit a home run like a Pitino or a Calipari and sometimes you get a Giiiispie. BTW, I'm far from saying that Joker was a BCG, even with Joker's record, he was far from being placed in that category.

[trueblue]

Phil Fulmer's still available.