Coaching Carousel: 2021 Edition

It has been a week since Jeremy Pruitt and nine others were fired for cause at Tennessee.  Since that time, Tennessee has hired a new athletic director in Danny White and begun searching for the next head coach.

Danny White is no stranger to making great hires.  He hired Bobby Hurley and Nate Oats while at Buffalo, and continued that success when he went to Central Florida.  He hired Scott Frost and Josh Heupel as football coaches and Johnny Dawkins as basketball coaches.

Now that White is in place as the athletic director.  He wants to put his imprint on the program by bringing in someone that fits the style of football he likes.  It is time to revisit the coaching candidates and see what the board looks like now:

Tom Herman

Herman is still at the top of my list.  The 45-year-old MENSA member knows football.  The offensive minded coach brings the style of play that White is looking for.  He had a .710 winning percentage and has never lost a bowl game.  Only reason Herman might not be the guy is if he decides to take a year off and collect some of the $15 million dollar buyout from Texas.

Jamey Chadwell

Chadwell is still number two on my list.  An East Tennessee native, who grew up cheering for the Volunteers.  Would be a great hire for the University.  Everything I have read and heard is that Chadwell wants the job.  He is an offensive guy, but the only thing that will hurt him is his lack of Power 5 head coaching experience.

Billy Napier

Napier could have had the Auburn job if he wanted it.  An offensive minded guy who has had success at Louisiana.  However, he is a Saban disciple and I'm not sure if Tennessee is really ready to go down that road again after the massive failures with Derek Dooley and Jeremy Pruitt.

Now that my Top 3 have been addressed, here are some names that have been popping up since Danny White was named athletic director:

Lane Kiffin

Jesus I can't believe I'm even talking about this as an option.  But it actually is starting to make sense to me.  White and Kiffin both love to use Twitter.  Kiffin is hands down one of the best offensive minds in college football.  He has a winning record, and has head coaching experience in the Power 5.  The one thing that puts Kiffin on the radar, is he was the head coach at Florida Atlantic, where White's brother, Brian was the athletic director.  Brian White tried to lock Kiffin up long term, before he bolted for Ole Miss.  Would Tennessee welcome Kiffin back after the way he left town in January of 2010?

Josh Heupel

This name isn't a sexy pick.  However, it is a safe pick.  Heupel was the quarterback who helped build the foundation of what Oklahoma football is today.  After spending two seasons as a player in the NFL, Heupel returned to college and began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater.  He has worked his way up to become the offensive coordinator at such places as Oklahoma, Utah State and Missouri, before Danny White named him the head coach at Central Florida in 2018.  He has compiled a 28-8 record in his 3 seasons at Central Florida.  While Heupel is offensive minded, the guy he replaced, Scott Frost, hasn't faired to well since he jumped to Nebraska.  I think it is fair to say that Tennessee fans could be worried that the same thing could happen to Heupel if he made the jump to Rocky Top.

Tony Elliot

Elliot's name has gained a lot of steam since Danny White was named athletic director.  Elliott, the current co-offensive coordinator at Clemson is a rising star in the coaching ranks.  Elliott has a history with White, as he was one of the people interviewed by White to replace Scott Frost when he left for Nebraska.  Elliott has been picky about his next move.  Will Tennessee be that next move?

Gus Malzahn

If Tennessee hired Malzahn, they would be getting a a veteran SEC coach with a championship pedigree, who has beaten Saban three times.  A solid offensive mind, who doesn't have a buy out does make him attractive.  However, Malzahn has a history of not being able to develop a quarterback, and after the last staff wasn't able to develop Guarantano or any quarterback, would Tennessee really go there again?

Bill O'Brien

While O'Brien is rumored to be the next offensive coordinator at Alabama, he proved when he took over Penn State following the Sandusky scandal, that he knows how to rebuild a major Power 5 program.  It would be hard to sell O'Brien to a lot of the fan base because of how he ran the Houston Texans into the ground as the general manager.  Doesn't make many fans feel like O'Brien knows how to identify talent.

There have been three names that I have started to hear about in the last 24 hours:

Sonny Dykes

Dykes is the current head coach at SMU.  He got his first head coaching break in 2010, when he replaced Derek Dooley at Louisiana Tech, when Dooley left to go to Tennessee. (Jesus, have we come full circle on that??)  He was there for three years, and left for Cal-Berkley, where he spent four seasons as the head coach of the Golden Bears.  He has been the head coach at SMU since 2018.  It would be hard to sell Dykes to the fan base, since Cal-Berkley was his only Power 5 head coaching job, and he went 19-30, including a 1-11 record his first season.

PJ Fleck

The current Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach would be a solid hire.  He has gone 26-19 in his four seasons at Minnesota.  Prior to Minnesota, he was at the helm of Western Michigan for four seasons.  He was able to build the Broncos from a 1-11 team his first season, to 13-1 in his final season, with the only loss being a 24-16 defeat at the hands of Wisconsin in the Cotton Bowl.  Fleck's record at Minnesota hasn't been stellar, and his "row the boat" gimmick he has used would wear very thin on Tennessee fans, especially after the "brick by brick" gimmick fans had shoved down their throat by Butch Jones.

Will Healy

This name has got my attention.  In 2018, he was the second youngest head coach in Division 1.  The 36-year-old head coach has had a lack luster record in five seasons as a head coach, compliling a 22-31 career record at Austin Peay and Charlotte.  Healy does have ties to East Tennessee.  He is from Chattanooga.  He played quarterback at Boyd Buchanan high school, and still holds the Chattanooga-area career passing record with more than 7,700 yards passing.  He started his college career at Air Force, before transferring to Richmond, where he played quarterback for future Tennessee OC, Dave Clawson.  He then returned to Chattanooga to become an assistant coach at the University of Chattanooga, where he helped coach former Tennessee quarterback, B.J. Coleman.  Healy eventually worked his way up to recruiting coordinator where helped compile back to back top recruiting classes in FCS.  Healy isn't even close to being a home run hire.  He would be very hard to sell to sell to the fan base, even with his East Tennessee ties.  A sub-.500 coaching record and an extreme lack of Power 5 coaching experience in any capacity, would make this a very blah hire.

Regardless of who Danny White decides to name as the next head coach, they will have a lot of work to do.

Black Monday: Jeremy Pruitt Is Out

Monday afternoon Jeremy Pruitt was officially relieved of his duties as the head football coach of the University of Tennessee.  While many fans wanted Pruitt fired after the team went 3-7 in 2020, it was the NCAA investigation into Level I and Level II recruiting violations that did him in.

Chancellor Donde Plowman made it very clear at the press conference on Monday that Coach Pruitt was fired for cause, which means the University does not have to pay any of his $12.6 million buyout.  Less than four months ago, Pruitt agreed to a contract extension that not only gave him a pay raise, but increased the buyout as well.

Pruitt's contract includes more than 30 fire-for-cause provisions. Among them, he can be fired for cause if he engaged in conduct likely to result in an NCAA finding of a Level I or Level II rules violation, or if someone who reports to Pruitt engaged in conduct that constitutes a Level I or II violation or is likely to result in such a violation and the university determines Pruitt was negligent in his oversight or lacked reasonable preventative compliance measures.

Additionally, he can be fired for cause for a failure to promote and maintain an atmosphere of compliance or a failure to monitor employees who report to him.

While Pruitt was a successful defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama, Pruitt showed shortcomings as the head coach of a college program.  This was his first head coaching opportunity at any college level.

Pruitt's defense first coaching philosophy showed during his time at Tennessee.  The Vols' offense ranked among the SEC's worst throughout his tenure, as Pruitt and his staff failed to develop a quarterback.

Pruitt went 0-9 against the three teams any Tennessee coach will be measured against: Alabama, Florida and Georgia.  Eight of the losses to those teams came by more than 20 points.  Pruitt came under fire in October from media and fans following a 31-point loss to Alabama when he stated that Tennessee was closing the gap with the Crimson Tide.

Pruitt's downfall started on October 17, when Tennessee lost 34-7 to Kentucky.  During that game, Tennessee had four turnovers, including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.  It marked the first time since 1984 that Tennessee had lost to Kentucky at Neyland Stadium.

During his three years on Rocky Top, Jeremy Pruitt compiled a record of 16-19.  Since World War I, there have only been two coaches in Tennessee's history with a worse record:  W.H. Britton (4-5) and Derek Dooley (15-21).

Butch Jones remains the only Tennessee coach to last more than three seasons since Tennessee fired Phillip Fulmer in 2008.  Lane Kiffin bolted for USC after the 2009 season.  Derek Dooley was fired in his third season.  Butch Jones was fired in his fifth season.

Pruitt Is Out

Pete Thamel with Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Tennessee will be parting ways today with Jeremy Pruitt.  The report also says that Phillip Fulmer's future will also be addressed today.

Vols Hire Kevin Steele

Chris Lowe is reporting that the Vols have hired former Auburn Defensive Coordinator and former VFL, Kevin Steele.  This move comes as a surprise as it was reported last week by ESPN that the administration had placed a freeze on all contract negotiations and hirings for the football program while the internal investigation is open.

It is unclear at this time what role Steele will have.  Tennessee is in need of a defensive line coach after Pruitt fired Jimmy Brumbaugh after four games into his first season on the staff.  Steele has never coached the defensive line before.  He has however, coached linebackers in the NFL as well as college.  Does Shelton Felton move from linebackers coach to defensive line coach?  It would make sense since he played defensive line in college.  Does that mean Brian Neidermeyer is out?  Quite possibly because his contract is up at the end of the month and his name has been mentioned prominently in the ongoing investigation.

What does this move mean for Pruitt?  Is he safe?  Is he gone? It is hard to say.  I believe that Tennessee wants to keep Pruitt to give him a chance to right the ship after a disasterous 2020 season, something that Tennessee and Mike Hamilton did not allow (now Athletic Director) Phillip Fulmer to do.  At this time, I don't think even Tennessee knows if they are going to be able to keep Pruitt.  With Steele on the staff, it gives Tennessee a chance at stability in case they have no choice but to let Pruitt go either now or in the near future.

Steele might not be the ideal long-term coach for Tennessee, but in the event that the S.S. Pruitt is sunk by the investigation iceberg, he might be able to keep the program a float long enough for help to arrive.

Pruitt Out? If So, We Need Candidates!

What a difference a year makes.  This time last year, Jeremy Pruitt and the Volunteers were riding a high of winning their last six games, including a miraculous come from behind win in the Gator Bowl over Indiana.  Now, Volunteers fans and the media are beginning to wonder when the hammer will fall on Jeremy Pruitt's tenure on Rocky Top.

If a 3-7 season wasn't bad enough, that saw losses to a mediocre Kentucky, an Arkansas team with a first year head coach, it was announced during the season finale against Texas A&M, that there is possibly a chance NCAA investigators will come calling.

For those of you who don't know, let me catch you up:

Shortly before the game against Texas A&M, Jeremy Pruitt announced that star running back, Eric Gray would not be available for the game.  Pruitt did not give an explanation as to why, other than to say he wasn't available.  After the game started, the story broke that Tennessee was doing an internal investigation into allegations of recruiting violations.  After the game when asked if Eric Gray was held out due to this investigation, Pruitt again said, "He was unavailable."

These alleged recruiting violations are supposed to include current members of the Tennessee roster, recruits, assistand coaches, student volunteers and other athletics department officials involved in football recruiting, as well as the recruitment of offensive lineman Amarius Mims, by linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer.  Mims went on to sign with Georgia. in December.

This week, it was announced that Tennessee has hired Kansas City-based attorney, Mike Glazier to help with the investigation and assist the in-house counsel.  Glazier worked for seven years on the NCAA's enforcement staff.  Ironically, he assisted in the probe of Tennessee's athletic department in 2011 that led to the school firing Bruce Pearl.  He also has represented the University of Louisville during multiple investigations into their men's basketball program, as well as representing UNLV and helping them avoid the death penalty for rules violations stemming from the recruitment of Lamar Odom in 1997.

Now that you are all caught up, I'm sure you are asking, "What does this all have to do with Jeremy Pruitt?  After all, his name hasn't been mentioned in any of the violations."  

It's simple.  The University of Tennessee is looking into how they can fire Jeremy Pruitt with cause, so they do not have to pay any buyout.  If they do fire him without cause, then he is owed $12.7 million.  This would explain why Mark Schlabach is reporting that Tennessee has put a freeze on any contract extensions with the current staff and not allowing Pruitt to fill the two vacancies on his staff.

Now as I would expect from any fan of any team, in any sport, if you are going to call for the head coach to be fired, you must have a candidate or two in mind to replace him.  With that being said, here is who I think should be a serious candidate:

Tom Herman

Tennessee got lucky and caught lightning in the bottle when Texas fired Rick Barnes.  Could lightning strike twice if Tennessee hired Tom Herman?  I think so.  In four years at Texas, Herman went 32-18.  He did not have a losing season in Austin.  In fact, in two seasons at Houston prior to taking over the Longhorns, he went 22-4.  Herman is 45 years old and a member of MENSA, which means he is young and incredibly smart.  Hiring him would be a no-brainer for me.

Jamey Chadwell

Chadwell went 11-1 this year at Coastal Carolina, which won him the AP Coach of the Year Award.  He is the hottest name right now and is tied to any job that comes open.  I honestly thought he was going to be the top target for South Carolina, before they hired Shane Beamer (that hire still puzzles me).  His name was also mentioned with the Vanderbilt opening before they hired Clark Lea.  One thing that would be hard to sell to Tennessee fans is his record is only 79-52.  However, I have always said it is going to take a Tennessee guy to turn around the Tennessee program.  Jamey Chadwell was born and raised in Caryville, Tennessee, which is 45 minutes from Knoxville and he went to college at East Tennessee State.  Chadwell was my number one choice before Texas parted ways with Herman.

Billy Napier

If you want a Tennessee guy to fix the Tennessee program, then take a look at Billy Napier.  The current head coach at University of Louisiana was born in Cookeville, Tennessee.  He is in his second year at Lousiana, posting a 28-11 record.  Hardest thing to sell Tennessee fans is the Louisiana job is his only head coaching experience.  Last time Tennessee hired a football coach from the state of Louisiana with only two years of head coaching experience, was Derek Dooley.  However, Napier does have a pedigree that does make him attractive.  He was the offensive coordinator at Clemson under Dabo Swinney and the wide receivers coach at Alabama under Nick Saban.  He was the offensive coordinator for Herm Edwards at Arizona State before he left there to take the Louisiana job.  Napier is definitely a name to watch if Pruitt is let go.

Luke Fickell

The current head coach at the University of Cincinnati has a 35-14 record in four seasons there.  While he is a solid, young coach, I don't think he is the right choice for Tennessee.  Outside of one year as the interim coach at Ohio State, where he went 6-7, the only other head coaching experience he has is at Cincinnati.  I think the lack of a coaching resume is what will keep Fickell from getting the job at Tennessee.  Plus the last guy you hired from Cincinnati was Butch Jones.

Gus Malzahn

Auburn fired Gus Gus on December 10 after a 6-4 season and consistently delivering what was deemed "underachieving and underwhelming" results.  The record speaks for itself.  In eight seasons on The Plains, Malzahn went 68-35.  His worst year at Auburn was in 2015 when Auburn went 7-6 with a bowl win.  That's right.  Even being in the same division as Nick Saban, Malzahn never had a losing season.  He has an appearance in a national championship game and a decent record against Saban.  While he would be an interesting hire, bringing him in means you are going to have to change the offense yet again.  

Now that the serious candidates are out of the way, here are other names that have been mentioned:

Hugh Freeze

No! No! No!  The fanatical side of the Tennessee fan base wants Freeze to be the next head coach.  I say fanatical side of the fan base, because you have to be crazy if you think he is going to be the next head coach on Rocky Top.  Tennessee is staring down the barrel of a major NCAA investigation.  Why in the hell would Fulmer hire Hugh Freeze, who was just fired from Ole Miss not 4 years ago for recruiting and academic violations?  I think Fulmer's job could be on the line with this hire, and making a deal with the devil is not the way to go.

Jeff Fischer

This one came out of left field.  The former Tennessee Titans head coach has not coached since 2016 and has never coached in college.  However, the 62-year old Fisher went on The George Plaster Show in Nashville on Friday and said, "If, for some reason Pruitt is no longer the head coach at the University of Tennessee, yes, I would have a great deal if interest in that program."  It is hard for me to tell if Fischer's interest was tongue-in-cheek or if he was being serious.  Either way, I don't think this would be a great hire, and Fulmer would have a very hard time selling it to the fan base.

Phillip Fulmer

The football program is at an all time low.  The decline started in 2010 when Lane Kiffin left in the middle of the night to take the USC job.  Mike Hamilton scrambled to find a head coach and the rest is history.  Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and now Jeremy Pruitt.  The program has gone through four head coaches since Phillip Fulmer was fired after only his second losing season in 16 years as the head coach.  If Fulmer's job as athletics director is on the line with this hire, then I say let him do the coaching.  Allow him to go out on his own terms this time and maybe lift whatever curse was placed on this program when Mike Hamilton fired him in 2008.  The man knows how to coach.  He went 152-52 with a national championship and two SEC championships.  If Tennessee wants to get back to the promise land.  Maybe it needs to turn to the coach that got them there, and let him finish the job this time.

It doesn't matter if it is Pruitt, any coach I mentioned or someone I didn't mention, it is time for Tennessee football to get on the right path and put the program back at the top of not only the SEC, but the top of college football.