This quote won’t inspire confidence in new Mizzou OC Derek Dooley
One of Dooley’s old players suggests the coach didn’t teach him how to run routes.
Here’s a nice compliment from a Cowboys receiver to his new coach:
Cole Beasley a big fan of new Cowboys WR coach Sanjay Lal: It feels like the first time we’re actually being taught how to run routes instead of just naturally doing
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) June 12, 2018
It’s good that Cole Beasley and new Dallas receivers coach Sanjay Lal are getting along. Lal is a well-regarded assistant, and Beasley likes him a lot.
One does wonder, though: Who was the last Cowboys receivers coach — the one Beasley indicates never taught his receivers how to run routes? Why, I wonder:
That there is Derek Dooley, the former Tennessee head coach.
Dooley went to the Cowboys ahead of the 2013 season, after a 15-21 run in Knoxville that led to his firing after three seasons. The Volunteers’ recruiting tanked near the end of his tenure, so much that the program didn’t produce a single NFL draft pick in 2015 or 2016.
After five years in North Texas, Dooley is back in college in 2018. He’ll be Missouri’s offensive coordinator under head coach Barry Odom.
He has a big job in front of him. Mizzou might be the second-best team in the SEC East, and he’s replacing a coordinator, Josh Heupel, who got the UCF head job on the strength of a great second half of 2017. In his new job, Dooley’s also the guy in charge of quarterback Drew Lock, a potential first-round pick. The schedule includes some stingy defenses.
Maybe this works out. Let’s not prejudge anything.
Dooley’s never been an offensive coordinator or a quarterbacks coach before. He’s both at Mizzou, taking on that particular position title for the first time.
Here’s a point in his favor, via Mizzou blog Rock M Nation:
Dooley Pro: He’s a Nick Saban guy
Yes, Dooley worked for Saban for seven years at LSU and with the Dolphins. But, really, if you’re a position coach on the offensive side of the ball working for a defensive coach, does that make you a “XXXX” guy? Is Glen Elarbee a “Barry Odom guy?”
Some would argue “yes.” I say “no.”
I think Dooley being a “Nick Saban guy” is more applicable when it comes to big picture, running a program matters. Like, say, if he were a head coach...which he was...and he didn’t do too well at that.
Really, if we’re going this route, I’d say Dooley is more of a “Jimbo Fisher guy.” Which, you know, isn’t that bad of a thing after all, if we’re talking offensive chops.
One con is that Dooley hasn’t had to recruit at all in six years, since he was at the helm of a program that went through a hilarious NFL Draft drought shortly after he left.
Another con is that a receiver who’s spent his whole six-year career under Dooley just said, in effect, that Mizzou’s new OC never taught him how to run routes.