People keep saying head coach experience is needed for our UT football job then what is the difference? Because Muschamp, STrong, and Mullen were never head coaches and their doing just fine.
Head coaches have more responsibilities and demands. They're responsible for the whole program, and not just an offense or defense. That being said I'm sure some coordinators (ie muschamp at Texas) have additional responsibilities that other coordinators may not. The difference between those 3 and Dooley is that they were all pretty successful coordinators before becoming coaches, and Dooley was not. Basically with those 3 you knew you were getting at least a great offensive or defensive mind.