Over 100 years after the James DePree hire, Tennessee football hired the only head coach to have three straight losing seasons with the Vols. Derek Dooley had the worst run of the modern era on Rocky Top, and he was more than just a guy who played for a Power Five school.
Dooley, ironically, was part of the Virginia Cavaliers from 1987 to 1990, and in 1990 he was part of the UVA team who lost to the Vols in the Sugar Bowl. However, his roots were more entrenched in other Power Five places.
For instance, Dooley’s father, Vince Dooley, coached the Georgia Bulldogs, eventual arch-rivals of the Vols, for 25 years. His mentor, Nick Saban, was head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. And he spent five years under Saban with the LSU Tigers, help them deliver the Vols their worst loss in school history in the 2001 SEC Championship game.
Still, Dooley was tasked with rebuilding the Vols in 2010. He then went 6-7, 5-7 and 5-7 while losing to the Kentucky Wildcats in 2011 and Vanderbilt Commodores in 2012. With those numbers, he could be lower on the list. But Dooley inherited the biggest mess of any UT coach in history, so he does deserve somewhat of a break.