Dooley Would Be “A Great Pick” By Ohio State?

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Here’s one that’s really starting to make the rounds on the messageboards today: A Cleveland blogger thinks Ohio State should take a good long look at Tennessee’s Derek Dooley to replace Jim Tressel.

According to Roger Brown of SportstimeOhio.com writes:


“He’s sharp and personable.  He took over a UT program that was rocked by the abrupt, sneaky departure of Lane Kiffin — and made the Volunteers a competitive, interesting team in the SEC, college football’s toughest conference.

In short, Dooley is a good football coach — and he’d be a great pick by OSU.”


Dooley is sharp and personable and he’s quickly rising as the go-to quote guy at SEC functions.  But in four years as a head coach at Louisiana Tech and Tennessee his record is 23-27 and he has just one winning season (8-5 with Tech in 2008) on his ledger.  In four years he’s beaten just one FBS opponent that’s finished its season with a winning record (beating 7-6 Fresno State in ’08).

Dooley may turn out to be a great find by UT athletic director Mike Hamilton, but would another major school already be willing to roll the dice on a guy with that record?

Brown also mentions LSU’s Les Miles among the top six coaches he’d like to see the Buckeyes pursue… with Miles ranking fourth, two slots behind Dooley.

As someone who lived in Columbus for a number of years and remembers the “hillbilly” insults tossed at former coach John Cooper — a Tennessee native — I seriously doubt the folks in the Buckeye State will look south of the Mason-Dixon line for their next coach.