Tennessee is finally done sending six-figure checks to Derek Dooley.

As Rhiannon Potkey of the Knoxville News Sentinel notes, the final installment of Dooley’s buyout was scheduled to be mailed out this month. Dooley had a $5 million buyout at the time of his firing on Nov. 18, 2012, which has been paid out in monthly checks of $102,049.

In total, Dooley’s $5 million was less than half of the buyout money Tennessee paid to make the coaching change. Vols assistant were owed $4.36 million in buyout money, led by $645,000 for offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Another $1.4 million was paid to Cincinnati to buyout Butch Jones, Dooley’s replacement. Potkey notes that Jones would be owed $10.625 million in buyout money if he were fired today without cause.

Dooley went 15-21 with the Volunteers from 2010-12. When he succeeded Lane Kiffin in 2010, he was UT’s third coach in as many seasons.

Since leaving Rocky Top, Dooley has been an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys.

Read More

Tennessee online sports betting officially launched on November 1, 2020, and many of the largest sportsbooks are live and operating in the volunteer state. Tennessee is only one of a handful of SEC football states with legalized sports betting.