During Herschel Walker‘s amazing three-year run at Georgia in the early eighties-- my two copper Lincolns: a run that left him as the greatest player in collegiate football history -- the running back was coached by the legendary Vince Dooley.
Dooley’s son, of course, is Derek Dooley, Tennessee’s third head coach in three years and the replacement for Lane Kiffin after he bolted for Southern Cal.
Walker has known the younger Dooley since the UT coach was in his very early teens, and obviously has a fondness for his coach’s son. In speaking to the Knoxville News Sentinel, that fondness shined through. As did his contempt for Kiffin and how he left the Volunteers.
Can you really blame Herschel, though? I mean, after all, who can resist taking a shot at a viable contender for the Sexiest Woman Alive crown, if for nothing more than out of a fit of jealousy?
Anyway, incoming Lane. Duck...
“Derek (Dooley) has done very well and is a very smart young man,” Walker told the News Sentinel. “I’ve known him since he was a little boy. I’m happy to see him here and see (former UT coach Lane) Kiffin leave.
“He (Kiffin) is a guy you don’t want to trust at all. I think it’s sad when you trust your kids with someone like that and they leave.”
Ouch. Now Kiffin knows exactly how Bill Bates felt 30 years ago.
Walker also gave the obligatory thumbs-up to the hire and to the job he thinks Dooley will do.
“I think he (Dooley) is going to do well,” Walker said. “He’s always loved football. I think Tennessee is going to be very happy with him. One thing about Coach Dooley is he believes in running the ball. In the SEC that’s what you’ve got to do.”
Well, it worked for Alabama in 2009, that’s for certain. You still need to be able to throw the football, though, and those UT quarterbacks leave a little/lot to be desired...