Lane Kiffin isn’t on Derek Dooley’s Speed Dial
Tennessee's new coach hasn't reached out to its old one and... doesn't plan to.
After just a few months on the job in Knoxville, the new leader of the Volunteers doesn't seem to be in need of picking the brain of the guy who blew through town the previous year.
Derek Dooley tells the Paul Finebaum Show:
"I haven't spoken with Lane and I don't know Lane. I wasn't interested in really looking back and I said that at our press conference. I know there's certainly some ill will that still exists and I can't change that and I'm really not concerned about it. I'm more concerned about where we're headed and I think all that sentiment will go away in time."
Where he may be "headed" is into a feud with his own mother. Barbara Dooley is a media darling, especially when it comes to sports talk radio, which has led the son to look to his father for assistance.
As much sway as he had for a generation in Athens, there's a limit to Vince Dooley's powers of persuasion in his own household as described by his son:
"I can tell you right off that I'm not responsible for anything that comes out of her mouth. She's never let the truth get in the way of a good story or a funny story so you gotta take everything she says and knock it down about 80 percent to find the truth.
And I've tried to issue a gag order in the state of Tennessee because when I got the job, any time I would turn on the radio or walk anywhere, everybody would tell me, 'Well, I just heard your mother on the radio.'
And there was a point where I was wondering if she got the head football coaching job, not me. But I had to kind of get her off the airwaves so I reached out to my father for a little help. It slowed her down a little but she can't stay quiet for long.
She's out there and she's relentless and she won't let up but that's who she is and I can't change it."
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