Tennessee has backed out of a memorandum of understanding with Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano to be the Volunteers' next football coach, sources told ESPN's Chris Low.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by both parties Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. But when news broke that Tennessee was close to finalizing a deal with Schiano earlier Sunday, there was public outcry among Tennessee fans, with people citing his alleged connection to the Jerry Sandusky era at Penn State.
Schiano, Urban Meyer's defensive coordinator at Ohio State, and Tom Bradley, defensive coordinator under recently fired UCLA coach Jim Mora, were both Penn State assistants under Joe Paterno during Sandusky's tenure.
Both have denied allegations of their knowledge of child abuse by Sandusky from a 2015 deposition by ex-Penn State assistant Mike McQueary. The allegations became public in July 2016, at which time both Meyer and Mora defended their assistants' integrity.