Rucker:
We will not 100 percent close this door, but we continued digging into the Jon Gruden situation after our afternoon update and weve learned enough that wed be surprised if Gruden and UT even had any more serious discussions about the Vols' coaching vacancy. Its very important to note that from everything weve heard, this isnt necessarily about anything UT did or didnt do in its efforts to land Gruden. In speaking with multiple college and NFL sources close to Gruden and UT athletic director Dave Hart, we have been told Gruden has decided that hes simply much comfortable with the NFL as opposed to the college game. Rules and regulations, lack of recruiting, abundance of practice time and other differences seem too big for UT to overcome. Hes just more comfortable in that league. UT has done a lot in order to get itself into discussions with Gruden. But we would be surprised if they go anywhere else from this point. We rarely say never, and this isnt one of those rare times, but we would be surprised if anything more develops on that front. Its true that UT and Gruden werent on the same page with money, but we think that could have worked itself out if that were the only issue.
