Official Coaching Search Thread

#277
#277
tennesseeduke said:
Per Athlon Sports:

12 Coaching Candidates to Replace Jeremy Pruitt at Tennessee
Jamey Chadwell, Head Coach, Coastal Carolina
Chadwell agreed to an extension with Coastal Carolina earlier in December, but he’s still worth a mention here. The Tennessee native went 22-14 at North Greenville in his first chance to be a head coach (2009-11) and went 3-7 in his only year at Delta State (2012). Chadwell took over at Charleston Southern and experienced instant success, winning at least seven games every year and going 35-14 overall. He left to be the offensive coordinator at Coastal Carolina but worked as the interim coach after Joe Moglia spent 2017 on medical leave. Chadwell took over on a full-time basis in 2019 and went 16-8 over the last two years, which included a perfect 11-0 regular season in 2020.

Bill Clark, Head Coach, UAB
Clark is a coach with extensive ties to the state of Alabama, and considering what’s he’s built at UAB the last few years, leaving Birmingham won’t be easy. However, Tennessee should inquire to see if he’s interested. Clark has been successful at every stop, including as a high school coach in the state of Alabama. He was hired as the head coach at Jacksonville State in 2013 and went 11-4 with a trip to the FCS Playoff. Clark guided UAB to a 6-6 mark in his debut (2014), but the program shut down its football team at the end of the year. After a two-season absence on the gridiron, the Blazers made their return in 2017 and finished 8-5 with a bowl trip. UAB went 11-3 with a C-USA title in 2018, followed by a 9-5 mark in ’19 and a 6-3 record in ’20.

Dave Doeren, Head Coach, NC State
Doeren’s name popped up in the last search at Tennessee. He’s 55-46 at NC State since taking over in 2013 and guided the program to five consecutive bowl trips from 2014-18. The Wolfpack finished 4-8 in 2019 but rebounded to 8-4 in ’20. Prior to NC State, Doeren went 23-4 at Northern Illinois and lost just one game in MAC play. Doeren also has stints on his resume as an assistant at Kansas and Wisconsin.

Tony Elliott, Offensive Coordinator, Clemson
Elliott played his college ball at Clemson and has worked at his alma mater since 2011. The California native arrived in Death Valley in 2011 after spending two years at South Carolina State (2006-07) and three at Furman (2008-10). Elliott coached running backs from 2011-14 before taking over as the team’s play-caller in ’15. Clemson’s offense has consistently ranked among the nation’s best with Elliott calling the plays.

Luke Fickell, Head Coach, Cincinnati
Fickell will be mentioned in this search, but it seems unlikely he will be a serious candidate for this job. The Ohio native is 35-14 at Cincinnati and has recorded 31 wins over the last three years. The Bearcats were the top Group of 5 team in 2020 and nearly defeated Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Fickell doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to jump to a Power 5 program, but Tennessee should at least inquire to see if there’s any interest.

Hugh Freeze, Head Coach, Liberty
It’s no secret Tennessee is a job that Freeze would be interested in. The Mississippi native spent time as a Tennessee high school coach before landing on Ole Miss’ staff in 2006. After a two-year stint as an assistant, he was the head coach at Lambuth (2008-09) and spent time as the offensive coordinator and head coach at Arkansas State before going to Ole Miss in 2012. Freeze resigned due to conduct off-the-field but went 39-25 over five years. He’s 18-6 in two seasons at Liberty and has posted winning records in back-to-back years. Overall, Freeze is 87-38 as a head coach.

Will Healy, Head Coach, Charlotte
Healy was in the mix at Vanderbilt, and he’s primed to be a head coach at a Power 5 program in the near future. The Tennessee native inherited an Austin Peay program in need of major repair in 2016 and went 0-11 in his debut. However, the Governors improved to 13-10 over the next two years, which helped Healy land the job at Charlotte. The 49ers finished 7-6 with the program’s first bowl trip in Healy’s debut last fall and went 2-4 in 2020.

Tom Herman, Former Texas Head Coach
Herman was dismissed as the head coach at Texas in early January following the 2020 season. In his four years with the Longhorns, Herman went 32-18 overall and 22-13 in Big 12 play. Texas made one Big 12 Championship Game appearance under Herman and never finished with a losing record. He also went 22-4 as the head coach at Houston from 2015-16.

Rhett Lashlee, Offensive Coordinator, Miami
Lashlee is a rising star in the assistant ranks and it’s only a matter of time before he gets a chance to run a program. The Arkansas native started his on-field coaching career at Samford (2011) and made other stops at Arkansas State (2012), Auburn (2013-16), UConn (2017) and SMU (2018-19) before landing in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes showed improvement in Lashlee’s first year directing the offense, helping the program make a two-game jump in the win column.

Gus Malzahn, Former Auburn Head Coach
Malzahn was dismissed at Auburn this offseason but could bring a level of stability to a Tennessee program that’s experienced a lot of turnover in recent years. The Texas native went 68-35 with the Tigers and led the program to the national championship in 2013. The Tigers never won fewer than six games and went 39-27 in SEC play since ’13.

Billy Napier, Head Coach, Louisiana
Napier’s name has popped up for openings at South Carolina and Auburn this offseason, and he’s expected to be near the top of Tennessee’s list. In three years at Louisiana, Napier is 28-11 with three Sun Belt West Division titles. Additionally, the 11 victories in 2019 were the best for a single year in program history. Napier also spent time as an assistant at Clemson (2006-10), Alabama (2013-16) and Arizona State (2017) prior to taking over at Louisiana.

Kevin Steele, Defensive Assistant
Steele was recently added to the staff as a defensive assistant after working at Auburn from 2016-20. The South Carolina native played his college ball at Tennessee and worked on Rocky Top as an assistant in 1982 and again from 1987-88. Steele has a wealth of experience in the SEC, including stints at Alabama and LSU. He was the head coach at Baylor from 1999-02 and went 9-36 over those four years.
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Bill Clark always has a tough team, he'd be alright but further down my list.
Dave Doeren is just Butch 2.0
Tony Elliot and Rhett Lashlee: No, we've tried the coordinator trying to learn to be a HC before, not again.
Luke Fickell would be a great hire, but probably is fine staying at Cincy. Though being left our of the playoffs despite being undefeated has to hurt.
Hugh Freeze is doubful because of the NCAA stuff, given what we are about to go through.
Will Healy, no we've hired a coach with a losing record from a small school Turns out, not usually winners.
Tom Herman is definitely the most attainable mostly because he's not currently coaching anywhere. He did fairly well at Texas, he did really well coaching Sam Ehlinger up. He needs a solid defensive staff obviously, but Kevin Steele is on staff already.
Gus would be alright, but if we are going retread, I'd rather go with Herman.
Billy Napier would be a homerun hire.
Steele is just our last resort.
 
#278
#278
Well if we hire an interim coach for a year Jon Gruden maybe out of a job in LV. From what I can tell UT Nation wants Jon Gruden or a coach like Freeze, Chip Kelly or Lane Kiffin.
 
#283
#283
Fisher is about to turn 63. Is he going to be here for 10 years?

He might be a good hire; he might be a disaster. His college/SEC capacity is unknown. You can a) Hire younger or b) hire that age range that has a track record of succeeding in the SEC as an HC.
 
#285
#285
Finebaum is a bammer homer not fit to be trusted......I know he says he attended TN, yet he is bammer through and through
 
#286
#286
Volnbeers said:
I personally think that the administration has learned their lesson and know who they are going to get....but just in case.

Go nuts.

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I have to say very smart by Fulmer to bring in Steele when he realized he was going to fire Pruitt. Stabilizer for program, recruiting etc... I'm not saying hire him but we could do a hellava lot worse than Coach Steele. UT player and coached under a bunch of legends. His short time at Baylor was 30yrs ago. So I don't use that as a measuring stick for him.
 
#288
#288
tennesseeduke said:
I have to say very smart by Fulmer to bring in Steele when he realized he was going to fire Pruitt. Stabilizer for program, recruiting etc... I'm not saying hire him but we could do a hellava lot worse than Coach Steele. UT player and coached under a bunch of legends. His short time at Baylor was 30yrs ago. So I don't use that as a measuring stick for him.
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I understand what you are saying about Steele, but I can't help but think of him as an auBarn reject.......if he is not good enough for those hayseeds then he is not good enough for us......I know that sounds small minded but............
 
#289
#289
alvinkamara said:
I understand what you are saying about Steele, but I can't help but think of him as an auBarn reject.......if he is not good enough for those hayseeds then he is not good enough for us......I know that sounds small minded but............
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Auburn wanted to hire him.
 
#291
#291
Napier, Healy, Fickell, Lashlee, Elliott, Clark do nothing for me. Doeren at least has Power Five HC experience. If you are going to hire a project keep Steele and hire a staff to surround him with. Chadwell at least is offensive minded and Steele could be the defensive coordinator to build a defense. Pruitt has fielded crappy defenses IMO even if he is a great scheme guy but he has not fielded enough talent to compete if he really is that great a defensive minded football coach. Clemson LSU Alabama Ohio St play good defense but they also field powerful high scoring offense's. OGRE at LSU just won a NC a year ago if he does not fix and field a better offense he will soon be unemployed. He is not some kind football genius he just knows what great teams look like, he will cheat with the best of them and his interviews are hilarious
 
#296
#296
Kiffin if you can get him. If not, go with the local guy in Chadwell. Don’t go anywhere close to any coach that has ever coached a Bama or has even been on the campus at Tuscaloosa.
 
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#297
#297
Hire Malzahn. Steele is already here so he would have his same DC. We have mobile QBs here next year. Last time he had a true dual threat, he took a projected last place team to the national title game. We wont do it on a year in and year out basis, but he will beat the big 3 more than anyone else we have had by far. He will bring continuity.
 
#299
#299
I don't hold out much hope for a solid hire. There's a strong slate of head football coaching candidates right now and what does TN do, hires Steele as a defensive asst. and now names him interim, virtually shutting down a short-term head coaching hire while Herman, Freeze, others are available. TN's track record is comical when it comes to hiring head football coaches over the past decade. Really thought they might get it right if given another shot. Nope.
 
#300
#300
VOLinAL said:
Hire Malzahn. Steele is already here so he would have his same DC. We have mobile QBs here next year. Last time he had a true dual threat, he took a projected last place team to the national title game. We wont do it on a year in and year out basis, but he will beat the big 3 more than anyone else we have had by far. He will bring continuity.
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I Don’t think Steele and Malzahn are buddies right now
 
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