Notebook: Muschamp welcomes Dooley back to SEC
Missouri offensive coordinator Derek Dooley used to be one of the head coaches standing behind the podium fielding questions at the SEC Media Days. This week, the former Tennessee head coach isn’t in attendance, but his name has surfaced a few times as other coaches have expressed pleasure at having him back in the league.
One of those coaches, South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp, said he’s spoken with Dooley a few times since his hiring. Muschamp, who served as an assistant coach under Nick Saban alongside Dooley from 2001-2005, said Dooley has expressed excitement about his first chance to serve as an offensive coordinator.
“I know he's excited about the opportunity to be offensive coordinator,” Muschamp said. “He's got a great quarterback and a lot of really skilled guys and I think four or five offensive linemen back from last year.”
Muschamp surmised that Dooley’s arrival will cause the Tiger offense to look a bit different than Josh Heupel’s unit, which led the SEC in yardage and scoring a season ago. Dooley has spoken repeatedly about installing more pro-style packages, including having quarterback Drew Lock line up under center from time to time. But Muschamp also predicted that the Tigers will still feature plenty of the deep throws that Lock feasted on in 2017.
“I think they may be a little bit differently offensively,” Muschamp said. “As far as schematically of what they do, I'm sure that they're going to still play to Drew Lock's strengths, and that's throwing the football down the field. He's a very effective deep ball thrower.”
Stidham jealous of Lock’s arm
Aside from Lock, the other quarterback who has drawn a big media following this week has been Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham. Amid questions about his recent engagement, Stidham spoke about his relationship with Lock.
Stidham said he and Lock have known each other since high school, when they were both selected for the Elite 11 quarterbacks camp. Four years later, the two were both counselors at the Elite 11 camp, as well as the Manning Passing Academy, this summer.
“We were roommates at the Finals together this year and spent every minute together basically at the Manning Camp,” Stidham said. “So it was good to get to know him a little bit better.”
One thing Stidham already knew about Lock prior to this summer was the Missouri quarterback's strong right arm. Stidham said Thursday he's a bit jealous of that attribute.
“I wish I had his arm,” Stidham said.
Mason embracing new role as ‘CEO’
Wednesday, Missouri coach Barry Odom told media members that he is transferring defensive play-calling responsibilities to defensive coordinator Ryan Walters so that he can devote his attention to a more broad array of issues. Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason said Thursday that he’s making a similar move this offseason. The Commodores hired Jason Tarver as defensive coordinator, and Mason said Tarver will call the plays.
Mason had a unique name for his new role.
“I'm excited about me getting back to the responsibilities of being head coach, CEO of a program,” Mason said.
Odom said the decision to delegate play-calling duties was a difficult one, but Mason said he’s happy to have someone else fill that role. He said he will now be able to focus more on the big-picture aspects of instilling a culture and shaping the direction of the program — like a corporate CEO.
“For me, it's about being able to see your program holistically,” Mason said. “… You have to be able to make sure you can forecast out, build your program the right way.”