Days after coaching Prairie View in the SWAC Championship Game, Eric Dooley has found a new home.
On Monday, Southern in a social media post announced that Dooley has been hired as the football program’s next head coach.
He replaces Jason Rollins, who was named interim coach for the 2021 fall season after Dawson Odums took the Norfolk State job following the shortened spring campaign.
Rollins, in his lone season at the helm, led Southern to a 4-7 record, including a loss to Grambling State in the Bayou Classic.
Dooley, who spent four years at Prairie View, was an assistant at Southern under legendary coach Pete Richardson from 1997-2009. The New Orleans native and longtime assistant made stops as a coordinator at Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Grambling before he landed his first head coaching job with the Panthers in 2018.
His last appearance as coach at Prairie View was in a 27-10 loss to Jackson State on Saturday in the SWAC title game. Overall, he and compiled a 20-16 record with a 16-9 showing in SWAC play.
