BATON ROUGE – Veteran defensive line coach Pete Jenkins and SMU assistant coach Derek Dooley are the latest additions to the LSU coaching staff, new Tiger head coach Nick Saban announced Monday.
The addition of Jenkins, who will coach the defensive line, and Dooley, who will coach the tight ends, brings to six the number of assistants on Saban’s staff. Three more positions are still to be filled to complete the staff. Jenkins will be in his second tour of duty at LSU.
The Macon, Ga., native served as the LSU defensive line coach from 1980-90. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1987 and to assistant head coach in 1990. Jenkins served under three head coaches during his first stint at LSU, joining the staff under Jerry Stovall in 1980 then coaching for Bill Arnsparger and Mike Archer.
“Pete Jenkins is the best defensive line coach I know,” said Saban. “For years in his profession, he has been the icon for defensive line play in this part of the country. He has strong ties to LSU and the Southeastern Conference and his reputation and maturity as a coach will be good for our staff.”
Jenkins has coached 14 players who have earned All-SEC honors during his career and 22 of his former players have advanced into professional football. While at LSU, Jenkins coached some of the finest defensive linemen in Tiger history, including Leonard Marshall, Roland Barbay and Henry Thomas.
A 1964 graduate of Western Carolina, Jenkins played there for two years before starting his coaching career at Warner-Robbins High School in Georgia as an assistant coach. His career took him to two more high schools before he joined Troy State’s staff in 1968 when Troy won the NAIA national championship. He coached at North Alabama, South Carolina, Southern Mississippi, Oklahoma State and Florida before settling in at LSU in 1980. Jenkins most recently coached at Mississippi State from 1991-95 and Auburn from 1996-98.
He and his wife, Donna, have two children, Jennifer and Jeff.
Dooley, the son of former Georgia head coach Vince Dooley, joins the LSU staff from SMU where he has coached for the last three seasons. He has also served as assistant recruiting coordinator for the past two seasons.
“I think Derek is one of the brightest young coaches I have had the opportunity to meet,” said Saban. “I think he’ll be a tremendous asset to Louisiana State University and to our coaching staff.”
A native of Athens, Ga., Dooley played football at Virginia, participating in three bowl games and helping the Cavaliers win the 1989 ACC championship. He earned four letters at Virginia and earned an invitation to the 1991 Senior Bowl. He graduated from Virginia in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in government and foreign affairs, then went on to earn his law degree from Georgia in 1994.
Dooley served as a graduate assistant coach at Georgia in 1996 before going to SMU in 1997. He and his wife, Allison, have one son, John.