Posted by bambi2godzilla on 3/6/2008, 9:14 am
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Tech’s Dooley adds another line to his resume
Second-year football coach to be named AD in morning news conference
Nick Deriso
The News Star
RUSTON — Derek Dooley will have more on his mind next season than Xs and Os.
Louisiana Tech’s second-year football coach will be named athletics director today. An 11 a.m. news conference has been called on campus.
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Telephone messages for Dooley, outgoing Tech athletics director Jim Oakes and sports information director Malcolm Butler weren’t returned. A subsequent release on Wednesday night said Tech officials would not comment until today’s media event.
Dooley would continue to coach the team. Salary implications, if any, were unclear on Wednesday night.
He replaces Oakes, who served as AD for 13 years before stepping down last January.
Dooley’s promotion, surprising since many assumed Tech would mount a nationwide search similar to the one that solidified his own football coaching candidacy, completes a whirlwind transformation.
He has spent just one year at Tech, establishing a 5-7 overall record (and going 4-4 in the Western Athletic Conference) — but played for a post-season berth until the final week of the season.
Along the way, he often spoke in the expansive nomenclature of an athletics director.
"Our goal here is to relentlessly establish a complete program that will maximize the development of every student athlete," Dooley said last year, "not only in academic endeavors and not only athletic endeavors, but also in their personal growth. It’s important that every person in this program understand that we're here to develop a complete program to develop a complete student athlete and we're going to do it with a tremendous amount of energy."
Dooley’s five-year contract, signed in January 2007, included a total salary package of $1,925,000 — making him the highest paid Tech football coach in school history.
That deal calls for a base of $200,000 in each of the five years, with salary escalators of $150,000 last season, $175,000 this year, and then $200,000 over the last three seasons — funds underwritten by the Louisiana Tech University Foundation.
Dooley, an attorney, negotiated the deal and included steep buyouts for leaving in any of its first three years, beginning at $1 million. There is no penalty for leaving in years four or five.
"From the very first time I met Derek Dooley, I was super-impressed," Tech president Daniel Reneau said upon hiring Dooley. "He is a man of integrity, character and high intelligence. ... It’s a new day for Louisiana Tech, and Derek Dooley is the man we need to lead us into this era of success."
Before arriving at Tech, Dooley worked the previous seven seasons under Nick Saban, including the first five at LSU. Dooley coached the Tigers’ running backs and was special teams coordinator during their 2003 national championship season.
He also worked as the team’s tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons before following Saban to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Saban has since left pro football to return to the SEC as head coach at Alabama.
Dooley played collegiate football at Virginia and earned his law degree at Georgia, then coached wide receivers at Southern Methodist for three seasons from 1997-99.
He replaced Jack Bicknell, who was fired Dec. 4, 2006 after the Bulldogs finished 3-10 overall, and 1-7 in the WAC. Bicknell had a 42-53 record in eight seasons at the school.
Oakes, meanwhile, leaves behind a legacy that rests largely in Tech’s affiliation with the WAC. Reneau has described the departing AD as "the quarterback" in that process.
Oakes oversaw a tripling of the athletic budget, numerous championships and facilities upgrades including the completion of the Charles Wyly Athletic Center and renovations to Joe Aillet Stadium, the Thomas Assembly Center and J.C. Love Field.
But criticism mounted late in Oakes’ tenure, as Tech tried but failed to move into a more centrally located conference affiliation. Meanwhile, the Lady Techsters fell from their position of dominance in women's basketball.
The football program’s continued reliance on playing out-of-conference opponents for big paydays and an on-again, off-again project to install a new scoreboard at Aillet also provided a drumbeat of dissatisfaction.
Reneau, however, focused on the school’s graduation rate, which was the highest in both the state and his home conference last year. Tech also went the length of Oakes’ tenure without NCAA sanctions, Reneau said.
Tech indicated interest in several other candidates with LSU ties before selecting Dooley as head coach — including wide receivers coach Todd Monken, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jimbo Fisher, and Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, a former LSU and Miami Dolphins assistant under Saban.
Then, here is Nick DeRiso's take on the move:
Dooley noted
Nick Deriso
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Derek Dooley fits the profile for an athletic program looking to slingshot into mid-majordom.
He's smart, driven, a can-do guy. Full of ideas, principles and vinegar. Just what Louisiana Tech needs to build on the platform already in place with the departure of athletic director Jim Oakes.
That's also why Derek Dooley is no long-term solution, though.
I just can't see him hanging around at Tech. He's smart, driven, etc., etc. Translation: upwardly mobile.
Dooley's inevitable departure for Bigger and Better would then put Tech in the position of looking for two people, not an easy proposition.
He will leave it better than he found it. But Derek Dooley won't be around long.
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