SIAP
Feldman
We heard over the weekend that White is willing to take some big swings. Does that mean he might try to see if there is any real interest from Penn State head coach James Franklin, who did a miraculous job at Vanderbilt and then invigorated Penn State as it was still coming out of the Jerry Sandusky scandal? It seems like a long shot that Franklin would be tempted by this.
Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck took over a very messy dynamic when he got to the Gophers in the wake of a scandal at the end of the previous season. The program had been reeling from a threatened player boycott of a bowl game in response to a sexual assault investigation from which multiple players had been suspended. Fleck rallied that program and stabilized things to a large degree, leading Minnesota to 11-2 and a top-10 finish in year three. The 40-year-old from Illinois is a Greg Schiano protégé, though. Would
what happened with his old mentor and Tennessee turn him off this? Also, would what the Vols might have to pay to get Fleck (he makes almost $5 million a year now) feel like a reach given his 15-19 record in Big Ten play?
One name I’ve heard a lot is the one non-head coach I thought Tennessee might consider even before White was hired: Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott, one of the top assistant coaches in college football. He won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach in 2017, and you could see how much the Tigers missed him when he was unable to coach in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State after testing positive for COVID-19. South Carolina wanted to talk to Elliott for its coaching search, but he declined interest in joining the Tigers’ archrival. Would the Vols’ uncertain NCAA issues scare off a coach who probably could get a good Power 5 job a year or so from now? Also, after just watching a first-time head coach fail at Tennessee, would the Vols actually give another first-timer a crack at trying to figure this thing out?
Another coach we’ve heard the Vols have some interest in is Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell. The former Ohio State lineman has really elevated the Bearcats, going 31-6 the past three years, including a No. 8 finish this season. White knows all about the job Fickell has done in the AAC. He drew some interest from NFL teams, with the Eagles taking an especially close look. Fickell has been very choosy about his next move, and we wouldn’t expect he will be tempted by this situation.
Two months ago, the guy I thought would be the obvious choice was Liberty’s Hugh Freeze, who dreamed of the Vols head coaching job before he’d ever coached a college game. But he might be a tough sell optically given that he was fired from Ole Miss in the wake of an NCAA investigation. Would SEC commissioner Greg Sankey even allow Tennessee to touch Freeze? I didn’t think so, but I have heard some conflicting things about that in the past week.
If Tennessee hired Freeze, I’m convinced he would win there. He’s wasted little time elevating Liberty, 10-1 this season, into a Top 25 program with a roster largely built on FCS recruits. He is a terrific offensive coach and play-caller who did beat Nick Saban and Alabama in back-to-back seasons. That seems almost impossible in the SEC these days.
Another Sun Belt coach whose stock has really risen this year is Coastal Carolina’s Jamey Chadwell, a Tennessee native. He’s taken the Chanticleers from 3-9 in his debut season to 5-7 last year to 11-1. Chadwell is beloved by folks who have been around him, who see him as a family-oriented, second-generation coach. He’s won everywhere he’s been and has strong ties throughout the region.
The Vols have struggled on offense for a while, and Chadwell would have that part covered. He has a unique system, basing a lot of plays out of 20 and 21 personnel groupings, as opposed to most teams relying on 11 and 10 personnel, and pairing them with all sorts of option and RPO concepts. Chadwell has never worked at a Power 5 program in any capacity, but he’s proven to be an excellent gameday coach and would seem like a good fit for the Vols.
