And now it’s officially official.
Nine days after multiple media outlets reported that Derek Dooley was set to be hired by the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL club confirmed as much Monday evening by announcing Dooley as the newest member of Jason Garrett‘s coaching staff. As expected, Dooley will handle the Cowboys’ wide receivers.
The NFL club confirmed that Dooley interviewed with Garrett two weeks ago in Mobile, Ala., during the run-up to the Senior Bowl.
Garrett and Dooley served on Nick Saban‘s Miami Dolphins coaching staff from 2005-06. That was Dooley’s first and only job at the NFL level.
The son of Georgia coaching legend Vince Dooley, Dooley was fired in mid-November after three seasons as Tennessee’s head coach. Taking over in the wake of the final years of the Phillip Fulmer era and Lane Kiffin‘s one-year carpetbag misadventure, Dooley finished his three seasons with the Vols at 15-21 overall and an abysmal 4-19 in SEC play. He had previously been the head coach at Louisiana Tech.
Dooley had been set to serve as a recruiting analyst for ESPNU’s National Signing Day coverage Wednesday, although its unclear if this move would preclude him from taking part in one his favorite days of the year.