Dooley admitted that his last name was the sole reason for his hiring at the University of Georgia, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Tennessee.
Dooley was repeatedly fired from coaching jobs he failed at and sued the University of Missouri when they terminated his contract early after a losing season.
[VIDEO] Dooley Said His Last Name Was The Reason He Got His First Coaching Gigs. “CLAY TRAVIS: Some people would say, if your last name wasn’t Dooley, that you wouldn’t have gotten the opportunities or the jobs that you did. What would your response be to that? DEREK DOOLEY: My response would be that’s probably accurate for the first two jobs I got. My SMU was with Coach Cavan. I’ll always be grateful for because he gave me my first full-time job. He played for my dad. And then of course with Nick, there’s no question that it helped me.” [Outkick, 6/17/16]
February 1996: Derek Dooley Began As An Unpaid Graduate Assistance At The University Of Georgia On Jim Donnan’s Staff. According to the Associated Press, “The youngest son of Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley has traded his law practice for an unpaid coaching job at the school. Derek Dooley, 27, started work this month as a graduate assistant on coach Jim Donnan's staff. Previously, the younger Dooley was a civil litigation attorney with the Atlanta office of Columbia, S.C.-based Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. Derek Dooley, who played college football at Virginia, said he is returning to the sport he loves.” [Associated Press, 2/7/96]
1997: Mike Cavan Named Dooley Wide Receivers Coach At Southern Methodist University. According to the Dallas Morning News, “New SMU football coach Mike Cavan named six more members of his coaching staff Thursday, including four assistants from his staff at East Tennessee State. […] The other two new assistant coaches are running backs coach Troy Douglas, 31, and wide receivers coach Derek Dooley, 28. Douglas also coached at East Tennessee until he left two years ago to become running backs coach at UT-El Paso. Dooley is the son of former Georgia coach and current athletic director Vince Dooley, for whom Cavan started as quarterback from 1968 to 1970. Cavan has known the younger Dooley all his life. Dooley played college football at Virginia, graduated from law school and practiced law briefly before deciding to get into the family business. He was a graduate assistant coach at Georgia last year.” [Dallas Morning News, 1/10/97]
ESPN Reporter Travis Haney: “Does Dooley Get This Job If His Last Name Isn’t Dooley.” According to Fox Sports, “Travis Haney: The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier South Carolina beat reporter. Today, ESPN.com National College Football Reporter. Let's just ask the obvious question here: Does Dooley get the job if his last name isn't Dooley? If ‘Derek Smith’ is 17-20 at Louisiana Tech, does he get a sniff from Tennessee or anyone else? It's not as if he was known there as an innovator of some kind. Hamilton took a gamble on the family name, and it bit him.” [Fox Sports, 7/6/15]
November 2012: Tennessee Fired Dooley After An Embarrassing Loss To Vanderbilt. According to USA Today, “Tennessee has fired football coach Derek Dooley, pulling the plug after a lopsided, rock-bottom loss Saturday to Vanderbilt. Dooley, son of legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley, lasted fewer than three seasons in Knoxville, where he won just four SEC games in 23 tries and had an overall record of 15-21. Athletics director Dave Hart will announce the firing at a news conference this afternoon. Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will be interim head coach for the season finale Saturday against Kentucky. UK already has said that this will be head coach Joker Phillips' last game.” [USA Today, 11/18/12]
2011: Dooley’s Volunteers Lost To Kentucky For The First Time Since 1984. According to The Associated Press, “Tennessee coach Derek Dooley believes the Volunteers have hit a low point. Now they have the rest of the offseason to dwell on what comes next. The Volunteers failed to reach bowl eligibility with a 10-7 loss to Kentucky on Saturday after CoShik Williams ran for a touchdown and senior wide receiver Matt Roark filled in at quarterback with 124 yards on 24 carries for the Wildcats' first win the series since 1984.” [Associated Press, 11/26/11]
Dooley’s Contract Was Set To Expire As Rumors Swirled That The Cowboys Wanted Him Out. According to Pro Football Weekly, “The exodus of Dallas Cowboys assistant coaches continued Wednesday, as expected. [...] Receivers coach Derek Dooley, running backs coach Gary Brown, whose contracts were set to expire soon, have already been reported to be on the way out” [Pro Football Weekly, 1/4/18]
The Cowboys’ Wide Receiver Implied That Dooley Did Not Really Coach. According to Yahoo Sports, “Cole Beasley is just one day in at Cowboys’ three-day minicamp and he’s already singing high praises for Dallas’ new wide receiver coach. Sanjay Lal replaced former wide receivers coach Derek Dooley this offseason — who is now the offensive coordinator at Missouri. And according to Beasley, he’s actually learning how to run routes for the first time in his NFL career — something Dooley apparently never taught them. ‘It feels like the first time we’re actually being taught how to run routes instead of just naturally doing (it),’ Beasley said. ‘When you get to the NFL and you’re supposed to know, stuff is assumed. Lal narrows down step by step, doesn’t assume anything from basics.’” [Yahoo Sports, 6/12/18]
The Tigers Fired Dooley, Alongside Head Coach Barry Odom, After Their Losing 2019 Season. According to the Indiana Statesman, “Less than a year after signing him to a three-year extension through the 2024 season, Missouri has fired fourth-year football coach Barry Odom a day after the Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory at Arkansas, the school confirmed Saturday. [...] MU will also owe buyouts to Odom's staff. Offensive coordinator Derek Dooley is the highest paid at $925,000. Nine of Odom's 10 assistants were working under new two- or three-year deals that were finalized after the 2018 season. Their 10 salaries totaled $4,729,500 for the 2019 season.” [Indiana Statesman, 11/30/19]
Dooley Sued The University Of Missouri After They Terminated His Contract Three Years Early. According to KOMU, “A former assistant coach for Mizzou Football filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the university, claiming breach of contract. In the lawsuit, Derek Dooley said Mizzou terminated his contract ‘without cause’ after the Tigers' 2019 football season. That contract, according to the lawsuit, allowed Dooley to accept payment for his remaining salary if the University terminated the contract without cause. The contract was set to expire in February 2022, and was to pay Dooley around $925 thousand dollars in monthly installments just over $77,000 each. No hearings have been scheduled in the case at this time.” [KOMU, 1/31/21]
Dooley Reached A Settlement With The University Of Missouri For $200,000 And Legal Fees. According to KOMU, “A settlement has been reached between the University of Missouri and a former Missouri assistant football coach. The settlement was reached at the end of June in relation to a lawsuit filed in January 2021 by Derek Dooley, according to online records. Dooley claimed that there was a breach of contract between him and the university. According to the settlement obtained by KOMU 8, the university is ordered to pay $200,000 to Dooley and $70,000 to his attorneys within 15 days of the agreement. Dooley will not be able to file any other lawsuit or complaint against the university in connection to his employment at MU, according to the settlement.” [KOMU, 1/11/22]
[VIDEO] Dooley Was Frustrated That His “32 Months In Knoxville” Were “All Anybody Wants To Talk About” And Claimed That “Being Able To Survive Nick Saban For Nine Years” Was His “Greatest Accomplishment.” “HOST: So you did end up at Tennessee, right? And, you know, DOOLEY: Of course, that's the lead after, you know, I have a 28 year career coach. You know, I spent 32 months in Knoxville. That's all anybody wants to talk about, HOST: But you know that orange, it doesn't look good on anybody. Well, I can understand why you had to get out of there. DOOLEY: Yeah, that's right. One one thing, I guess the Georgia fans probably didn't mind me much because they walked out on me pretty good. But I also wore some purple at LSU, crimson at Alabama, or Little Gold in Missouri. And so, yeah, I traveled around the SEC and traveled around the NFL. I spent nine years in the NFL, you know, as a six as a head coach and nine years with Nick Saban, which many people will say that was my greatest accomplishment, being able to survive Nick Saban for nine years.” [Martha Zoller Show, 8/14/25]
Dooley Thought He Had “A Great Career In Coaching” And Claimed He Was “A Part Of Some Of The Great Teams Where We Won National Championships” And “A Part Of Some Teams That Got Their Teeth Kicked In And Had Some Tough Years.” According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “On whether his coaching record is a liability: ‘It’s certainly fair to question everybody’s background, and I did have a great career in coaching. I was a part of some of the great teams where we won national championships. … But I was a part of some teams that got their teeth kicked in and had some tough years. What you don’t see is what you learn from the tough times. You really learn traits that you can never learn by winning all the time.’” [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/25/25]
[AUDIO] Dooley Likened Football To Politics And Wanted To “Listen And Fight For You And Put You First” Which Was “What I Did For 30 Years In Football.” “Well, I spent 30 years not only sitting in kitchens and living rooms with people from all walks of life. Okay, Now, when I say all walks of life, I mean it didn't matter what your race was, what your income was, what your religious affiliation was, what your politics was. You were sitting in somebody's house who might not look like you think, like you act like you in any way. And you're trying to develop a level of common ground and trust to where they are going to send their son for you for four years. All right. To help not only build him as a player, but also improve him as a young man to help better their life and create opportunity. And for me, that's how I want to serve the people of Georgia. [...] All right. But you want a leader who's going to listen and fight for you and put you first. And that's what I did for 30 years in football.” [Politically Georgia, 8/25/25]
[VIDEO] Dooley Thought His Losing Record Was “A Plus” Because It Taught Him “About Overcoming Adversity And Staying Together, And Keep Fighting For Each Other And Finding Solutions.” “I actually think it's a plus, and I'll tell you why, because I was a part of some great teams, national champions, S.E.C. champions, NFC division titles in the NFL. But I was a part of some teams where I got my teeth kicked in. I mean, it was tough. And I think what people don't understand is what's happening during that week after you're having a tough time with your what do you learn from it? All right. What do you learn about overcoming adversity and staying together, and keep fighting for each other and finding solutions on how to get better? All right. And to me, this is why I think people love football, because it truly is the American spirit.” [11 Alive, 8/29/25]