The Dallas Cowboys announced Derek Dooley as the club's wide receivers coach today.
Dooley comes to Dallas with 15-plus years of coaching experience,
including six years as a head coach at the collegiate level and two
years as an NFL assistant.
In
Dallas, Dooley is re-united with head coach Jason Garrett after the two
served on the same coaching staff with the Miami Dolphins from 2005-06.
Prior
to joining the Dallas Cowboys, Dooley served as the head coach for the
Tennessee Volunteers, where his club finished with a 15-21 record,
earning a bowl berth in his first year.
Dooley was named Tennessee's
22nd football coach in 2010 and his first two recruiting classes
included the SEC's leading receiver in 2011 and a first-team All-SEC
selection, six Freshman All-Americans, and eight players who were named
Freshman All-SEC.
Also
during Dooley's tenure, quarterback Tyler Bray threw 69 touchdown
passes and set the school record for highest completion percentage in a
game. Wide receiver Justin Hunter also set a Tennessee freshman record
with seven receiving touchdowns and averaged a team-best 25.9
yards-per-catch in 2010.
Before
his arrival in Knoxville, Dooley served as the head coach at Louisiana
Tech during the 2007-09 seasons and also doubled as the school's
athletic director for the last two years of his tenure in Ruston. As the
head coach of the football team, Dooley led the Bulldogs to an 8-5 mark
in 2008, including the school's first postseason victory in 30 years at
the Independence Bowl. Tech finished second in the WAC that season and
played in a bowl game for only the third time since joining the major
college ranks in 1989. For his efforts, the Louisiana Sports Writers'
Association named him 2008 Coach of the Year.
Dooley
first joined the professional ranks as the wide receivers coach for the
Miami Dolphins from 2005-06 under head coach Nick Saban. He served on
the same staff as Jason Garrett, who was the club's quarterbacks coach
at the same time. During his two years in the NFL, Dooley oversaw the
continued development of tight end Randy McMichael, who ended his
Dolphins career as the team's all-time leader in receptions by a tight
end.
Dooley
followed Saban to the professional ranks after serving on his staff at
LSU as the recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach from 2000-02 and
then running backs coach and special teams coordinator from 2003-04. He
helped the Tigers land No. 1 classes in 2001 and 2003. The Tigers won
SEC championships both of those seasons, claimed the BCS national
championship in 2003, and Saban promoted Dooley to assistant head coach
for the 2004 campaign.
He
began his coaching career in 1996 as a graduate assistant at Georgia
under defensive coordinator Joe Kines. He then served from 1997-99 as
wide receivers coach and co-recruiting coordinator at SMU, where Dooley
helped the Mustangs to the school's only winning season over a 20-year
stretch.
The
youngest son of Georgia legend Vince Dooley, who coached the Bulldogs
for 25 seasons and claimed six league titles and the 1980 national
championship, Dooley never accepted the predetermined path to success.
He played his college football at Virginia, turning down scholarship
offers elsewhere to walk on and later earn his own
scholarship from Cavaliers head coach George Welsh.
As
a wide receiver, Dooley earned that scholarship after his second season
and went on to help the Cavaliers to three bowl appearances and the
1989 Atlantic Coast Conference championship. In 1990, he was named first
team Academic All-ACC and helped Virginia to a Sugar Bowl bid against
Tennessee. During his playing career, Dooley caught 41 passes for 604
yards and three touchdowns and participated in the Senior Bowl following
the 1990 season.
He
graduated with a bachelor's degree in government and foreign affairs,
and then went on to earn his law degree from the University of Georgia
in 1994. Before embarking on his coaching career, Dooley practiced law
at a private law firm in Atlanta for two years.
Dooley
is married to Dr. Allison Jeffers Dooley, an OB/GYN and Fort Worth,
Texas, native. They have two sons, John Taylor and Peyton and a
daughter, Julianna.
In
June of 2012, the Dooley's hosted the Big Orange Experience, an annual
fundraising event for Variety, an organization that provides financial
support for numerous children's charities. This past year the proceeds
from the event funded the Dooley-Witten Learning Center at the
Halls/Powell Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley, a project on
which Dooley teamed up with former Vol and Dallas Cowboys All-Pro tight
end Jason Witten.
ROBINSON TO STAY WITH COWBOYS IN CONSULTANT ROLE
Jimmy
Robinson, who served as the club's assistant head coach and wide
receivers coach the past two seasons, will remain with the organization
as a senior coaching consultant.
