KNOXVILLE – Three weeks ago, just as he was preparing for Tennessee’s football season opener against outmanned UT-Martin, someone asked new Volunteers coach Derek Dooley if he could poor-mouth as expertly as his father Vince once did at Georgia.
“We used to joke about it as kids,” said Derek, mindful that Vince could make Vanderbilt sound as dangerous as Alabama, even if the Tide had just beat the Commodores by 63 points.
“I remember him going on and on about somebody’s onside-kick coverage one time and thinking, ‘These guys must be pretty bad if Dad had to dig down all the way to their onside-kick coverage to say something nice about them.’
“But you get into coaching and you realize he was right, because every time you overlook somebody or don’t take them seriously, you get embarrassed.”
Dooley made sure the Vols weren’t embarrassed by little brother UT-Martin, grounding the Skyhawks 50-0.