Tennessee football: Coaches responsible for Vols worst draft decade ever

3. Derek Dooley

NFL Draft picks signed: 7

Years at Tennessee in 2010s: 3

By many standards, Derek Dooley is the worst coach on here. After all, Tennessee football being shut out of the 2015 and 2016 NFL Drafts is on him. Those were when his recruits largely became juniors and seniors. But looking at that fails to see the bigger picture.

Dooley inherited a program on fire, one that fired a legend in Phillip Fulmer in 2008 and saw Lane Kiffin depart after one year in 2009. Ushering in the next decade as the third head coach in three years gave him a very short stick.

Even more than that, Kiffin’s one recruiting class for the Vols, the 2009 class, turned into a huge bust. It was a top 10 class that produced no draft picks. Then, when Dooley was trying to recruit guys who would have entered the 2015 and 2016 NFL Drafts, the program was under NCAA investigation and had the threat of probation looming over them.

Simply put, Dooley could’ve done more, and he’s certainly at fault for the Vols’ issues this year, but he’s not as much at fault as other guys. After all, Dooley still did officially sign seven guys who were taken in the NFL Draft. Now, two of those players committed to Kiffin, but it cancels out because two players Butch Jones signed who made the NFL Draft committed to Dooley.

Considering the circumstances and the fact that Dooley was only head coach for three years and only put together three recruiting classes, averaging slightly over two NFL Draft picks a recruiting class isn’t horrible. Those are close to Phillip Fulmer numbers for this decade.