Dooley Continues To Stress Character

New Vols coach Dooley continues to stress character

Sporting News staff reports

Wednesday, Mar. 10, 2010 - 7:33 p.m. ET

A common theme in new Tennessee coach Derek Dooley's appearances with the media and boosters since his hiring has been off-the-field goals, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

"Character education—very important to me," Dooley told the newspaper. "So many of these young men come from different backgrounds, they come from different value sets, they come from different socioeconomic places, and they all have different views of what's right and wrong. Let's face it, when you're 18 to 22, no matter where you came from, you have a big hole in your head. I know I did. I did some of the dumbest things that I can't even believe I did.

"I think it's our responsibility as coaches to help educate them as people. That's not an easy task, so we put in a character education program at Louisiana Tech. It was very successful, it's a rough culture there, and over the course of two years we changed the culture. We started defining what's right and what's wrong and helping them make choices."