Wednesday morning didn't bring any closure to Tennessee's search for a new football coach, but it has shifted the focus squarely on Louisville, Ky., and Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong.
With Strong spending much of the day on Tuesday talking to various people, including an NFL scout with Vol ties about the Tennessee job, those conversations were about numerous aspects of UT's coaching vacancy, we are told. Chief among them are the academic issues that have been discussed the last month or so. Strong has spent Wednesday morning visiting by phone with Tennessee athletics director Dave Hart, as Louisville's athletics director Tom Jurich has been working on a contract extension and raise for his third year head coach.
As of 12:30 p.m., Strong was undecided on whether he was staying at Louisville or accepting a job offer from Tennessee that sources have indicated to us would likely top $3.5 million-plus.
The focus shifted to Strong Wednesday after Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy let it be known that he was going to remain at his alma mater in Stillwater. However, multiple sources indicated to VolQuest.com that UT had already shifted its sole focus to Strong long before it was leaked that Gundy would remain at OSU.
