There is a faction of Tennessee fans who really want Jon Gruden. This is not news to people paying attention to college football.
Watch this Tennessee fan follow athletic director John Currie through the stadium yelling ‘hire Gruden’ over and over
Maybe this is a little bit too much.
Whenever Tennessee fires a coach, Gruden’s name gets brought up.
2008: Gruden says taking Tennessee job isn’t in his future, by ESPN.
2010: Jon Gruden turns down Tennessee’s advances, by the Sporting News.
2012: Jon Gruden tells Vols he’s not interested in coaching position, by CBS Sports.Gruden’s agent calls the entire Gruden-to-Vols rumor-industrial complex “just a fantasy world.”
And at a press conference after Butch Jones’ firing, athletic director John Currie was specifically asked about Gruden, because of course he was.
He was a GA in Knoxville back in the day, and his wife was also a UT cheerleader.
During Tennessee’s rain-soaked game against LSU, AD John Currie was just minding his own business walking through the Neyland Stadium concourse. Naturally, this seemed a good time to accost him about the coach who was erroneously rumored to be dining across the street from the stadium Saturday night.
A precise transcript of the one-sided exchange below:
“Bring back Gruden,” the fan yells. “Hire Gruden, Currie. We want Gruden. You gonna hire Gruden? Are you bringing Gruden home? Bring us Gruden, Currie. We want Gruden. Bring Gruden home. Hire Gruden.”
This is basically Stewie Griffin bothering Lois in real life.
Currie offers no response. Not even the cursory “I’ll consider it,” or even a: “I appreciate the enthusiasm, go Vols.”
This is impressive restraint as he’s being yelled at by a (probably) inebriated Tennessee fan. Maybe he cracked a smile, but we don’t know. What we do know is Tennessee fans’ dogged pursuit of an NFL coach who hasn’t coached in 10 years knows no bounds.
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