Just to clarify, she wasn't offered the TN job. Misleading article title. She didn't reciprocate interest.
Not sure how good a sauce that is. Pretty damn sure Lawson was not offered.
I think the debate is missing the technical distinction between "overtures" and an actual "offer."
White (and I imagine most ADs today when they start the search to fill an opening) talk to and try to inform themselves with as many perspectives as possible.
It's comparable to any of us if we were suddenly in the market for a new car: it takes some initial research just to establish what the right questions are to be asking.
What's changed since the last time I looked at cars? What are the currently available technologies (example: fuel systems) and is there a foreseeable limit on their lifespan? Are there regulation changes being discussed that would effect their long-term viability?
As the AD is talking to other coaches about where they see the game going... assistant coaches they see as having a bright future, or up-and-coming head coaches in the lower ranks... if the AD has interest in the coach he/she's talking to, the conversation might end with an innocuous (but meaningful) "Does your agent have my personal phone number?"
That would be an overture, to which the coach might reply "I'm sure he/she does, but I'm planning to be here awhile." The overture has ferreted out the coach's interest level, far short of any offer being made. So none has been rejected.
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My surmise is that from his conversations with people in women's basketball, Danny White learned that (1) NIL would soon be more equitably regulated, so if you have the money now you need to spend it ASAP to get any competitive advantage from it, and (2) it would take years for Tennessee to compete in the arms race for the size and talent traditional basketball requires--regardless of the "name" of the new coach--to gradually improve recruiting to the point that we were truly competing for national championships again.
Given those two realities, and White's previous successful hires, Danny came away from those conversations with a shopping list for a
solid culture builder (long-term investment), a
proven winner (possessing the intangibles which produce success), wielding an
asymmetrical approach to the game (its own type of
splash hire) that could score some upset wins with first season talent, to put the Lady Vols back into the national conversation (during the NCAA championship game) and back on the list of programs that top 20 recruits would have to consider.
As a recipe for quick turnaround success, look at what Heupel's success in his second season did to put Tennessee football back on the map, both in recruiting and NIL resources.
