To say that some former Tennessee players are not fond of Derek Dooley would be a massive understatement.
A number of ex-Vols had unpleasant things to say about Dooley while working a football camp over the weekend. Dooley went 15-21 over three seasons as head coach of Tennessee before being fired during the 2012 campaign — his third consecutive losing season.
Troy Fleming, Al Wilson and Corey Larkins were among the ex-Vols who helped out at Eddie Moore’s youth camp and participated in a Q&A Friday. When asked about Butch Jones turning around the program, the players took that as an opportunity to fire shots at Dooley.
Here are some of their comments via the Times Free Press:
“I just want to see some fight. I’ve seen our guys for the last few years not only get beat to the ground, but then the other players push up off their chest to go back to the huddle and our guys just got up and walked back to the huddle,” former running back Corey Larkins said. “I want to see some guys with some fight and defend the program. That mentality came from the guy we had before Coach Jones. Derek Dooley was a loser. He’ll always be a loser and he rubbed off on the program and created a losing attitude.”
Former Vols and Titans fullback Troy Fleming agreed with Larkins and said Dooley “did very little.”
“With Coach Jones, when you walk into the facility now it’s like you never left. The guys who have worked around the program for years are at ease now, which tells you things are good again. The biggest thing about Coach Jones is he actually does his job. Unlike that guy we call Derek Doolittle, who really did very little,” he said per the Free Press.
Wilson, who was a program icon and star linebacker for the Denver Broncos, was just as harsh on Dooley.
“I really don’t even want to say the names of the two guys who were there between Coach Fulmer and Coach Jones. They don’t deserve to have their names mentioned with Tennessee football.”
Tell us how you really feel, folks.
Wilson unhappiness with the program is understandable. The guy led the Vols during their glory days in the ’90s. They went 45-5 during his four seasons. Dooley lost at least 7 games in each of his seasons.
Maybe the guys were ganging up because they were in a group and it was easy to bash Dooley, but this just reminds us how bad of a hire that was by Tennessee and how optimistic the players are about the future under Jones.
Helmet smack to Dr. Saturday
