Tennessee AD John Currie reportedly out amid a mess of a football coach search

Tennessee has parted with athletic director John Currie on Friday, according to several reports.

WVLT TV in Knoxville reported Currie’s firing earlier.

The reports comes amid a tumultuous search for a head football coach, after Currie fired Butch Jones before the end of the season. Vols fans were furious at his attempt to hire Ohio State assistant Greg Schiano, and reported overtures to NC State coach Dave Doeren (who didn’t take the job) didn’t make them any happier.

Football Scoop reported Friday that Currie had been restricted in the hiring process by others in Tennessee’s leadership:

Tennessee officials have placed additional limitations on what and how Currie can extend offers in this process. We’re told additional approvals now have to come before an offer can be extended.

“In fact, one source told us this morning this might be the end of Currie at UT,” the report added.

Currie started on the job in April, after filling the same role at Kansas State.

Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman added on Friday morning:

As SI reported earlier this week, there is a growing faction at Tennessee pushing to get Currie removed. Former Vols head coach Phil Fulmer is said to be one of those battling with Currie and that could muck up the process to reel in Leach.

And another report that makes sense in that context:

Currie, who has never personally hired a head football coach, released the following statement on Monday, one day after the Schiano debacle:

As we began our search for our next head football coach earlier this month, I promised that I would pour all my energy and effort into this process.

I have followed Coach Schiano’s accomplishments throughout his career and have been fortunate to get to know him and his family over the last several years. As reported by the media, he was a leading candidate for our position. Among the most respected professional and college football coaches, he is widely regarded as an outstanding leader who develops tough, competitive teams and cares deeply about his student-athletes.

We carefully interviewed and vetted him, as we do candidates for all positions. He received the highest recommendations for character, family values and commitment to academic achievement and student-athlete welfare from his current and former athletics directors, players, coaching colleagues and experienced media figures.

Coach Schiano worked at Penn State from 1990-1995. Consequently, we, of course, carefully reviewed the 2012 investigation report by Louis Freeh. Coach Schiano is not mentioned in the Freeh report and was not one of the more than 400 people interviewed in the investigation. We also confirmed that Coach Schiano was never deposed and never asked to testify in any criminal or civil matter. And, we conferred with our colleagues at The Ohio State University, who had conducted a similar inquiry after the 2016 release of testimony. I know that Coach Schiano will continue to have great success in his coaching career and wish him and his family well.

I am grateful for your patience as our search for the next leader for the Tennessee football program continues, and I look forward to making that introduction soon.

One of his most controversial moments during his time there was his hiring of former Illinois basketball head coach Bruce Weber, as well as his relationship with Frank Martin, who left and took South Carolina to the Final Four. But as Bring On The Cats points out, that wasn’t even close to how Tennessee reacted to Schiano:

The problem, for some Volunteers fans, was Schiano’s resume prior to Rutgers — namely serving as an assistant at Penn State during the time Jerry Sandusky was abusing young boys in the football facilities.

If you thought the outcry in Manhattan from fans wondering what the hell Currie was doing hiring Bruce Weber was loud, you received a quick adjustment yesterday if you were monitoring the situation. Local businesses tweeted that Schiano wasn’t welcome in their establishments.

At KSU, Currie was known for his financial work:

The most obvious was the makeover of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Over a period of four years, several hundred million dollars — every penny of which came from donors — were put to work rebuilding the entire west side of the stadium including the press box, a complete overhaul of the locker room and football offices, and finally, just last year, closing the bowl by adding north end zone seating.

However, Currie also oversaw the construction of a state-of-the-art rowing facility (hi, conference-mates!), renovations to the baseball and tennis stadiums, and some minor work on Bramlage, and the construction of a purpose-built soccer stadium to house the brand-new women’s soccer team which began play in fall 2016.

And he did all this while keeping the budget seven figures in the black.

It seems Currie sought to install current Oregon defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt as K-State’s next head coach, for when Bill Snyder retires. But according to Brett McMurphy, when it was discussed last December, Snyder pushed for his son, Sean, to take over for him instead.

But this isn’t your typical coaching search, as Tennessee proved on Sunday.