Coaching Carousel (Tennessee)

Tennessee Volunteers

When Lane Kiffin left Tennessee after only serving one year on the job the administration chose to go in a different direction hiring Louisiana Tech Head Coach Derek Dooley.  The decision to hire Dooley was a cause for concern because he wasn't a hot coaching name and his 17-20 record at LaTech wasn't very good.  Heck he was 4-8 in his last year.  But Dooley had a good pedigree   His dad was legendary Georgia Coach Vince Dooley, and Derek was from the Nick Saban Coaching tree.  But you have to wonder if the AD hired Dooley with the thought he wouldn't leave for the next best job like Kiffin did.

As many expected, things didn't go very well for Dooley.  His first year was his best.  He ended with a 6-7 record and made it to the Music City Bowl.  In year two they finished with only 5 wins and only won one SEC game.  His hot seat was getting pretty warm in year 2.

This year looked like it could go pretty well.  The Vols entered the season with a ton of talent on the offensive with QB Tyler Bray and WRs Justin Hunter, Da'Rick Rodgers, and Cordalle Patterson.  However Rodgers was kicked off the team.  Tennessee started the season with a big win over NC State, but once SEC conference play started the wheels fell off.  They lost a 2nd half lead to Florida, lost by less than 10 points to Georgia, Miss State, and South Carolina but all of them are losses.

After losing to Vanderbilt, Dooley got the ax.  Failing to win a single SEC Game this year had to sting the administration big time.  Now that the job is open it will be easier for them to talk to potential candidates and hopefully get the first crack at a lot of top names.  The Tennessee job isn't the most appealing, but it's an SEC job and it's in the weaker (relatively speaking) East Division.  Plus word out is that their willing to spend  in the $4 million range.  That makes the job more desirable 

Potential Candidates

John Gruden (Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach)
Gruden has to be their top choice and would be a great hire.  He is a proven winner with both the Raiders and the Bucs.  There is a connection to the program.  Gruden was a Grad Assistant at Tennessee for a season and met his wife there.  But other than a couple of years he doesn't really have any college experience and we don't know if he wants to go to college.  As good as this sounds, don't look for it to happen.

Butch Jones (Cincinnati Head Coach)
His name has been thrown around quite a bit lately and with good cause.  Jones has done a great job where he has gone.  But you have to wonder how good has he been or has he just reaped the benefits of Brian Kelly.  He followed him at Central Michigan and then Cincinnati.  With his experience in the area he could be a good fall back candidate if they don't get one of their top choices.

Dan Mullen (Mississippi State Head Coach)
Here is the guy that I believe could be the best choice.  Mullen has a ton of exprience in the SEC.  He was Urban Meyer's offensive coordinator at Florida and then went on to Mississippi State and has built them into a top 25 team.  But it's extremely hard to win in the SEC West unless you are at LSU or Alabama.  Mullen isn't likely to stay at Miss State, so this could be his way out.  The SEC East is much more winnable and Mullen could see this opprotunity as a good one.  He is clearly one of the most underrated coaches in the nation.

John Chavis (LSU Defensive Coordinator)
One name that is very popular with the Vol fans is former Tennessee player and defensive coordinator John Chavis.  Chavis is enjoying a ton of success at LSU and if he's interested could make his head coaching debut for the Vols.  But that's part of the issue.  Chavis has never been a head coach and hasn't necessarily indicated that he wants to.

David Cutcliff (Duke Head Coach)
Much like Chavis, Cutcliff's name has been very popular because of his former ties to the Volunteer program.  Cutcliff is a former Vol offensive coordinator who had much success when Payton Manning was there.  Cutcliff has had success at Ole Miss and now at Duke.  And if you can win at Duke, you are a good coach.  However Cutcliff has already turned Tennessee down once and just signed a long extension at Duke.  So it doesn't look likely that he'll be in Knoxville.

Kirby Smart (Alabama Defensive Coordinator)
All depending on what he wants to do, Smart could be the next Volunteer coach.  He's a very popular name with ADs because of the success he's had at Alabama with Nick Saban.  But there are some ties to Tennessee because their AD Dave Hart came from Alabama and knows Smart.  He could be their first choice and if he wants it, it's likely his.