Missouri hires Derek Dooley as new offensive coordinator and QBs coach

On Friday afternoon, Missouri announced that it had finally found its replacement for offensive coordinator Josh Heupel, who left after the regular season to take the head coaching job at UCF.

Over the course of the last few weeks, we had heard quite a few names associated with the job. The official hire ... was not one of the names anyone had mentioned.

University of Missouri Head Football Coach Barry Odom has added veteran coach Derek Dooley to his staff, as announced today. Dooley, who has been part of record-setting offenses all throughout his 20-year coaching career – including six years of collegiate head coaching experience, will take over as Mizzou’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

A 49-year old former Virginia wide receiver, Dooley is known most for his stint as Tennessee head coach, which didn’t go incredibly well. He became the Volunteers’ third head coach in a three-year span following the firing of Phil Fulmer and the come-and-go tenure of Lane Kiffin. He inherited a program that had gone 12-13 over its previous two years, and he went 15-21 over three seasons. He had previously gone 17-20 in three seasons at Louisiana Tech before that.

Dooley’s resume:

• 1996: Georgia graduate assistant (under Jim Donnan)
• 1997-99: SMU receivers coach (under Mike Cavan)
• 2000-02: LSU tight ends coach (under Nick Saban)
• 2003-04: LSU running backs and special teams coach (under Saban)
• 2005-06: Miami Dolphins tight ends coach (under Saban)
• 2007-09: Louisiana Tech head coach
• 2010-12: Tennessee head coach
• 2013-17: Dallas Cowboys receivers coach (under Jason Garrett)

Three quick reactions:

1. Dooley is not being hired as head coach

That should go without saying. Most of the initial online reactions to the hire seem to be mostly mocking what a terrible coach he was at Tennessee and whatnot, when a) he was mediocre, not terrible, and b) all his head coaching experienced proved is that he’s maybe not a good head coach.

Just keep that in mind. One job is not another, and we have no idea what kind of offensive coordinator he might be because he’s never been an offensive coordinator.

2. I have absolutely no idea what offense Dooley will attempt to run

Some of the other names we saw associated with this vacancy — former UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, former Ole Miss offensive coordinator Dan Werner — had background in both pro-style offenses and offenses with spread principles. A mixing of the two worlds was what it seemed Mizzou would be getting.

The last time Dooley was associated with a college offense, it was the tremendous 2012 Tennessee attack led by offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and featuring Tyler Bray and receivers Justin Hunter and Cordarrelle Patterson. It ranked 10th in Off. S&P+ and was quite fun to watch. (Unfortunately for Dooley, his defense fell apart that year.)

He also spent the last few years working under Jason Garrett and Scott Linehan in Dallas. What input did that have on his philosophy? What is his philosophy? Really curious. I’m assuming Drew Lock is, too.

3. I will keep an open mind about this.

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