New Head Football Coach Derek Dooley took time out of his suddenly busy schedule to make an appearance in front of Tennessee basketball fans at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday.
Dooley, who was meet by a chorus of ‘doooos‘ from Tennessee fans, was introduced at center court during halftime of the Vols’ basketball game against Ole Miss.
Bob Kessling asked Dooley about being at Tennessee.
“We are moving fast but also being diligent”, Dooley said. “I’m not going to rush into decisions just to try to get through two weeks. This is a process. It’s a long process and every decision we make is going to be thorough and with a lot of diligence.”
Dooley has coached in many different stadiums around the county but believes Neyland Stadium is a really special place.
“All of the things about coaching is great, but nothing fires you up more than getting into a stadium like that”, Dooley told Kessling. “I’ve been in that stadium on the other end and it isn’t a lot of fun, I can tell you that. I’m looking forward to wearing orange in there.”
“The last time I was at Neyland Stadium was when I was coaching at LSU”, Dooley continued. “The season prior we had beaten Tennessee in an exciting overtime game in Tiger Stadium. We came up here feeling pretty good and we got it handed to us. They got after us good. So it was a great experience but always a tough place to play.”
Dooley doesn’t have any children on the way that he plans to name Knox, but he does have a son named Peyton.
“I made the remark that I’m finally in a state where that name is well received”, Dooley said. “In the south, that name isn’t very popular outside the state of Tennessee because of all the hurt he put on so many institutions.”