Tennessee football vs. Missouri: 10 keys for Vols and Tigers

10. The Derek Dooley effect

The last time Derek Dooley was coaching a game at Neyland Stadium, he was Tennessee football’s head coach and going against the Missouri Tigers. Now, he’s Mizzou’s offensive coordinator and going against the Vols. It’s a bit of irony.

To add to that irony, Dooley was a Nick Saban assistant. And the Vols are in their first year under a Saban assistant right now in Jeremy Pruitt. A win would put Pruitt’s team in a bowl game, something no first-year coach for the Vols has done since, well, Dooley.

So the irony runs deep. But the real question is what effect it will have on Dooley. Nobody on the Vols was playing when Dooley was head coach, and there’s nobody who even committed to him. Pruit and Dooley, despite being Saban assistants, never worked together.

That makes this effect all about how Dooley approaches it. Has he been saving something all year to bring out against the Vols? Will his familiarity with Saban-style defenses work to his advantage on Saturday? After all, he’s more familiar with what Pruitt does than Pruitt would be with what he’s doing offensively.

Or will the effect rattle him? That’s also possible. Dooley wasn’t the best at keeping his players focused when things turned negative while he was UT’s head coach. So you have to believe that the magnitude of returning to Rocky Top could have a negative effect on him. This is not the most important key, but it it is a factor. And if Dooley is any different in any way for this game, it could dramatically affect the outcome.