Well, Tennessee, your long nightmare is finally over. Butch Jones has exited stage left, and the Vols can go about the process of rebuilding the program.
15 names to know in Tennessee’s coaching search, plus 8 other fun ideas
Butch Jones is out. So, who’s in?
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
To Jones’ credit, this will not be a rebuild from the rubble. Whoever the Vols do get will have a more stocked cupboard relative to what Jones had four years ago. Much of that has to do with Jones’ efforts on the recruiting trail to get players into a Tennessee program that has some geographical inhibitors to recruiting success.
So who’ll will be next guy? Good bet is it’s one of these names.
1. Tennessee’s decade-long fever dream
Jon Gruden, Monday Night Football analyst
Let’s get him out of the way first. Husband to Cindy, a former Vols cheerleader, Jon gets referenced literally any time this job even gets close to open. Reportedly, he comes with a steep price, and the Super Bowl champ who hasn’t coached in college since 1991 doesn’t like recruiting, per his own admission. But Vols fans want a splash, and oh, would he ever be a splash.
2. Two actual big-name college guys who would probably work out well
Dan Mullen, Mississippi State head coach
Mullen’s made the Bulldogs consistently competitive. It cannot be understated what an achievement that is. Mullen’s interviewed for a handful of jobs since landing in Starkville. A return to the SEC East, where he contributed to titles as Florida’s OC, wouldn’t be a bad landing spot. Coaching sources seem to believe he’d be a fit.
Scott Frost, UCF head coach
In just two seasons at UCF, Frost has engineered one of the nation’s most exciting offenses. He is the big fish of the 2017 coaching carousel. The Vols have the money, but might have to deal with competition from Florida and Nebraska for his services.
3. Other ideas that could make sense, in no specific order
Tee Martin, USC offensive coordinator
The last time the Vols experienced true glory on the football field, Martin was at the helm. Tennessee could be quite an opportunity for his first head coaching job.
Mike Norvell, Memphis head coach
He’s got the team in the western part of Tennessee in a pretty good spot. Perhaps he’d like to take his act east?
Neal Brown, Troy head coach
Brown is just 37. He led the Trojans to a program-record 10 wins last year and this year is 6-2 with a road win over LSU. He also knows offense, something the Vols have missed this year.
Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach
The former Toledo coach is in his second year in Ames. This year, he beat TCU and Oklahoma and briefly reached Iowa State’s highest ranking AP Poll since 2002. He has a big buyout at ISU and has never coached anywhere in the South.
Jim Bob Cooter, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator
Born in Tennessee, played for Tennessee, was a graduate assistant with the Vols 20 years more recently than Gruden was, and currently has a top-10 scoring offense. Why not consider the native son from the NFL?
David Cutcliffe, Duke head coach
He’s won big, in Duke-adjusted terms. He also spent 15 years coaching different positions in Knoxville. Most notable achievement: Bringing some scrub QB named Peyton Manning to Tennessee and tutoring him (wonder whatever happened to that guy). Knock against him: 63 years old and unlikely to coach much longer. (Also, Duke’s not very good this year).
Chip Kelly, former Oregon head coach
Yep, he’ll appear on every one of these lists. Kelly’s a name college fans are very familiar with, but the thing to ponder is what exactly his next offense will look like. Things will never be Oregon cool at his next stop. That was a unique blend of program cachet and inventiveness. How have the NFL (and the rest of college football catching up) changed Kelly?
Bobby Petrino, Louisville head coach
Petrino is a standout offensive mind, despite what you may think about him personally. Louisville’s not having an awesome season, but it’s not because Petrino’s lost his touch. He’s also adept at getting the job done at tough regional locations, twice in Kentucky with Louisville and during his stint at Arkansas. Both those programs face similar recruiting issues to Tennessee’s. He’s also cheaper to grab now than he was a few months ago.
4. The guys Tennessee missed out on last time, and it probably can’t hurt to call again
Gary Patterson, TCU head coach
The Vols had their shot at the defensive savant and Horned Frogs head man. They blew it.
“Tennessee didn’t think I could handle the big stage,” Patterson said. “My wife and I went to dinner with them, and I could tell they had already decided on Kiffin. It was the same with Nebraska. I interviewed and could tell they had already decided on Pelini. I think a lot of these ADs now are more interesting in hiring guys who’re going to win the podium than they are in hiring football coaches, and there’s a lot more to it than that if you’re going to win championships.”
Patterson smiled when asked whether he would have taken either the Tennessee or Nebraska job had he been offered.
“It’s sort of like the old Garth Brooks song. Sometimes the best prayers are unanswered prayers,” Patterson said.
Otherwise, he’s been constantly courted in seemingly every coaching search for years, to no avail.
Charlie Strong, USF head coach
The two parties flirted in 2012.
But there might be another suitor for Strong’s services this time around: Ole Miss.
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State head coach
Looks good in orange, but turned down the Vols in 2012.
Larry Fedora, North Carolina head coach
Unsure about how he looks in orange, but was also linked to the job in 2012. Would be big for an area Tennessee needs to better recruiting in. UNC’s 2017 record certainly isn’t impressive, however.
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Bonus! The guys you mention because it’s a coaching search, and these should be fun.
Bob Stoops, former Oklahoma coach
He’s retired, and if he’s not coming back to take over Florida, he’s not coming back to take over Tennessee.
Brent Venables, Clemson defensive coordinator
The architect of Clemson’s title-winning 2016 defense will probably be a head coach at some point, but it doesn’t seem like he’s in any rush. His son, Jake, is a four-star linebacker in the class of 2018 who’s currently pledged to Clemson. He’s also a Midwesterner, and if he leaves Clemson, that seems like a likelier region.
Kevin Steele, Auburn defensive coordinator
Played for the Vols and coached DBs for the Vols in the late-1980s. It was a while ago, but Steele was for four seasons head coach at Baylor from 1999 to 2002. Let’s not talk about how they went.
Brady Hoke, Tennessee interim head coach
Previous head coaching experience? Check! No need to look into what exactly that experience entailed.
Les Miles, former LSU coach
Phillip Fulmer, former Tennessee coach
He does work for the university again...
Lane Kiffin, FAU head coach
I know it didn’t end well last time, but time heals all wounds, right? Things are going so well at FAU.
Peyton Manning, retired from the NFL
Never coached a lick, but there’s no time like the present to learn.
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