[flowplayer video=”mp4:Meet_Coach_Dooley” width=”480″ height=”295″ captions=”https://news.utk.edu/media/Meet_Coach_Dooley.xml” splash=”https://news.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/Meet_Coach_Dooley_splash.jpg” /]
Recently, Head Football Coach Derek Dooley answered a couple of questions for his fellow Volunteers.
When asked if he has a pre-game ritual, Dooley said:
“One ritual is to be very nervous before the game. I can’t help that. I have tried to change it but I am always nervous. But I am not really a superstitious guy but I do have a few routines that we do. Sometimes I actually change things up on purpose just to prove that maybe it is not the underwear I am wearing that is going to help us win. So I do change things up but I always am nervous and I always pray to God that we play our best.”
When asked about his favorite thing to do in Knoxville, he answered:
“Well, I haven’t had a chance to get out too much in Knoxville since I haven’t been here very long, but I do enjoy walking out and looking at the view of the mountains. And I hope to enjoy some time out on the lake, whenever I can get a little time off. I hope it’s coming soon. But now that it is warmed up we can get out on the lake.”
Dooley practiced law at a private law firm in Atlanta for two years. When asked how his law degree helps him coach football, he said:
“I think I am one of the few coaches that can actually read the 500 page NCAA rulebook and know what it says. But I think the biggest thing a law degree does is it helps you solve problems and anticipate problems when you make decisions. And I think even though it doesn’t prepare you specifically for which problem, it does give you some open-mindedness to understand all the issues that may come into play when you make a decision and in my job you make a lot of decisions every day.”
When asked if he has any tips from his dad, former University of Georgia coaching legend Vince Dooley, that he lives by, he answered:
“I wouldn’t call them tips but I do think that he established a certain value set in me — on my approach at work, how I work, my work ethic and the integrity in which I work with. So some of the fundamental values of how to manage a football team and how to approach your work, I think I carry with me from my childhood.”
To learn more about Coach Dooley, visit http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/dooley_derek00.html.