Rocky Top Tastier Than Tech: Derek Dooley Leaves Bulldogs for Vols

Muschamp. Calhoun. Holtz. Big names flying around somewhere up in Tennessee. Something to do with the latest Volunteer crisis. Nothing to worry about down in Ruston.

Front-page news in the major college strongholds. Tremors in the north for Bulldog fans, no big deal.

Friday afternoon, that all changed.

Derek Dooley tendered his resignation to Louisiana Tech University and accepted the head coach offer from the University of Tennessee.

Shockwaves rocked northeast Louisiana. The catch out from under Nick Saban at the Miami Dolphins, after a 17-20 record at Louisiana Tech, had resigned.

Dooley had restored a faltering Louisiana Tech team to, if not national prominence, self-respectability with an Independence Bowl win in 2008. This was the Bulldogs' first bowl win in 30 years, and its fourth Independence Bowl showing. He was the athletics director as well as head coach, a valuable combination.

The appeal of Dooley to the Vols is obvious: He learned much of his coaching from Saban as a TEs/RC coach and then a RBs/ST coach at LSU, seeing a National Championship. His father is Vince Dooley, the legendary Georgia coach.

The Louisiana Tech job was Dooley's first shot at head coaching, and he didn't do too poorly. The 2009 season, however, brought his record from 12-12 to 17-20, despite an amazing season of almost-upsets.

Although Bulldog fans like us grieve the loss, Dooley made the wise career move and catapulted from the WAC to the SEC and an excellent team.

I wish him the best of luck with the Volunteers.

Looking Forward:

Offensive coordinator Frank Scelfo is acting as interim head coach, and deputy athletic director Bruce Van De Velde has been named the acting athletic director.

Although it hasn't even been a day, the university is already in the process of hiring a new head coach.

What's the outlook? Favorable, I would say. While Louisiana Tech is not a national program, it is full of potential, as evidenced by the Boise State and LSU games during the 2009 season. Dooley, after all, was a grab from the NFL.

We eagerly await the university's choice: they'll choose the best bet going into 2010.