Former Tennessee Vols head coach among betting choices to succeed Nick Saban
The retirement of Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban has captured the attention of the nation. While Alabama fans wait to see who their new leader will be, many others across the country wonder if their coach will have eyes towards Tuscaloosa. There's also another category of interested folks: those who have wagered on […]
The retirement of Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban has captured the attention of the nation. While Alabama fans wait to see who their new leader will be, many others across the country wonder if their coach will have eyes towards Tuscaloosa.
There's also another category of interested folks: those who have wagered on who the next head coach will be. Yes, that's an actual thing that can be wagered on right now.
Oddly enough, a former Tennessee Vols head coach is listed among the choices, and it's one that Tennessee fans would probably be thrilled to see take over their chief rival: Derek Dooley. Yes, seriously.
Dooley is listed by online sportsbook BetOnline as one of 18 candidates that can be wagered upon to succeed Nick Saban at Alabama. As of Thursday morning, he has the same odds (+4000) as Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Houston Texans head coach Demeco Ryans. Those are two big names in the coaching world right now, so those are extremely surprising odds for the former UT coach.
There is at least a connection between Dooley and Alabama. Dooley has spent the last two seasons in Tuscaloosa under Saban as an offensive analyst. He also hasn't been a head coach since flaming out in Knoxville from 2010 to 2012, so perhaps the sportsbook sees enough time having passed that the memory of his failure has faded somewhat.
Regardless, it's still an odd choice considering he was nothing more than an analyst under Saban and not a coordinator or even a position coach.
Dooley was fired from Tennessee on November 18, 2012. He posted a 15-21 record in his tenure that included an 0-15 mark against Top 25 teams and a 4-19 SEC record. Since his dismissal from UT, Dooley served as the Dallas Cowboys wide receivers coach from 2013-2017 before succeeding Josh Heupel as Missouri's offensive coordinator in 2018. He went on to join the New York Giants' staff in 2020 for two years before winding up at Alabama.
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