Has anyone considered that maybe it's not an elaborate smokescreen, that maybe there's a lot of truth what's really happening?
I can't imagine Hart not being for Gruden. It would be the biggest hire in the history of AD's and he'd get the credit. It's always been a longshot, an I'll see it to believe it deal. Everything that has been done so far, IMO, was to buy time to see if the longshot Gruden deal could in fact be made. They probably had a deadline of Nov. 30th to work on it, but Hart couldn't wait any longer to start his search and when it wasn't done with Gruden, that was everyone's sign it wasn't happening. Doesn't mean that Haslam hadn't made enough progress to drop it altogether, just meant they weren't close enough for Hart to put off a real search any longer.
Meanwhile, Haslam and some others are still trying to work through the Gruden issues, convince him, and deliver him to Hart. Just because Gruden has agreed to the terms and basic outline of the deal doesn't mean it's anywhere near done in a mega deal such as this because the devil is in the details. It's not a smokescreen, it's the reality of the situation. Either they will work out the Gruden deal and he'll say yes, or Hart will announce the results of his coaching search.
Just my speculation, but it's the only way to explain Hart's actions as well as all of the conflicting information that has been out there and is still out there. Basically, I think there are two deals being worked on - the big money is trying to deliver Gruden and Hart is conducting a real coaching search so if TN is left at the altar, they don't have to reach Derek Dooley2.