Derek Dooley was officially introduced as Tennessee football's new head coach Friday night.

During an evening press conference inside Neyland Stadium's Peyton Manning Locker Room Complex, the former Louisiana Tech head coach showed honesty and enthusiasm about taking over a football program with a long and rich tradition.

"I'm humbled, I'm honored to stand before you as the next head football coach at the University of Tennessee," said Dooley. "I grew up in the SEC and it didn't take me long as a youngster to realize that Tennessee was the essence of college football."

Dooley quickly let his quaint personality shine as he recalled childhood memories of watching former UT head coach Johnny Majors on television. Dooley also mentioned his admiration for Phillip Fulmer and his goal of coaching with similar honor.

The 41-year old Dooley just completed his third season as head coach at Louisiana Tech, where he compiled an overall record of 17-20. The Bulldogs were just 4-8 in 2009. He also served as athletic director during his stay.

After he joked about the fact that the decision to hire Dooley was made about five hours before the press conference, athletics director Mike Hamilton said he was comfortable with Dooley after their first conversation.

"I have respect for the people he's worked with," said Hamilton. "I knew that he's been trained well for this moment."

Dooley was adamant that he would not make statements of what the program would specifically accomplish because not all will be smooth, but he did make one promise:

"Everything we're going to do is going to be with a foundation of integrity in every aspect of the program," said Dooley. "We're going to represent this institution with class on and off the field. We're going to be a fun team to watch by how we compete, by the effort that we give, by the togetherness and spirit that we play with."

Dooley was Alabama head coach Nick Saban's recruiting coordinator at LSU when the Tigers landed multiple highly-ranked recruiting classes. Dooley was also on Saban's staff with the NFL's Miami Dolphins, serving as tight ends coach for two seasons.

Dooley said he was grateful to Saban for giving him opportunities for great experience, but when the opportunity arose to be a head coach at Louisiana Tech, he had to take it.

"I'm sure if I had stayed with Nick that I might have been a more popular candidate for this job now, but I am certain that I am a better and more qualified candidate by doing what I did the last three years."

Dooley was born in Athens, Ga., to legendary Georgia coach Vince Dooley. He said there was no way that he could immediately convince the fans of his long-term plans to stay, but cited his family as being important to him, and that every move they make for his career gets tougher and tougher on them.

Due to the time-constraints of his hire, Dooley didn't have many specifics about his future staff.

"Every staff member can't be a headliner to make a good staff, because a staff is a team," said Dooley. "What I'm more concerned about is who wants to be here, who's going to believe in how we're going to run our organization..."

Dooley declined to comment on Kiffin's conduct and leaving.

"I'm worried about Tennessee," said Dooley. "I think when you worry about someone else and what other people are doing then you're not taking care of your own house."

Dooley now looks to the future, but says he has to be short-sighted and take things one step at a time.

"I've never been more excited about the future for my family and for a program and for living then I am right now," Dooley said. "I'm excited about what the future holds for Tennessee."