The Legend of Barbara Dooley

Derek Dooley may have learned a lot of football from his father, but when it comes to commitment and giving a crowd what it wants, the new Tennessee football coach will be wise to borrow a few pages from his mother Barbara too.

Barbara Dooley arrived in East Tennessee on Saturday. She spoke at the Hiwassee College Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony. 

The wife of legendary Georgia football coach Vince Dooley made it clear whose side she's on now. She was dressed in an orange and white blazer with orange heels and she looked fantastic.

Mrs. Dooley has been heard in East Tennessee frequently since her son was hired by UT in January. She has made frequent radio appearances both in Knoxville, and region-wide on Paul Finebaum's critically acclaimed Birmingham, Ala. radio show.

But this was Barbara's first public appearance here.

She's an author and outstanding public speaker. She spent nearly one hour mixing stories of her life raising a family in college football, and she did it with a huge dose of humor and inspiration. She paid tribute to the Hiwassee Hall of Fame inductees and she knew all the roads she took in HER DRIVE from Athens, Ga. to Madisonville.

When Barbara Dooley talks about SEC football-- you believe her.

Mrs. Dooley actually arrived in East Tennessee on Friday night, and paid an improptu visit to her son's new home in West Knoxville. Unsuccessful attempts at ringing the doorbell forced her to call her son from a cellphone.

"Where are you?," she said.

"In the kitchen," he reportedly replied. "Where are you?"

"I'm at your front door," said Barbara.

Derek Dooley came to the door, and in the words of his mother replied, "I have told the press don't show up without an appointment, and I am tell you the same thing."

The driveway encounter story may be true, or it may be Barbara Dooley's way of saying that life for a coach and his family has boundries-- either way, she should know.

Derek Dooley is going to be focused on football this season, and while UT fans will pay attention to his pregame and postgame comments-- for the first time in my career, I am hoping a coach's mom is also available for interviews after the game.