If Jon seriously wants this coaching job then cleaning house is easy. Its the nuclear torpedo option. Trusted media member calls Jon.
Media: hey Coach Gruden, thanks for talking with me today. You stated before that UT is a dream job, yet media members are presenting it as a dumpster fire job nobody would take so Im reaching out for your opinion. How are they wrong? What makes Ut a dream job?
Gruden: its the fans first and foremost. Over a 100k Vols fans on a fall Saturday singing Rocky Top together is a thing of beauty. You know I love that song. The location is awesome and the facilities are top notch as well. Its just everything, man running through that T is such a rush. Why wouldnt it be a dream job ya know.
Media: whats your view on the current firestorm surrounding the Vols coaching search?
Gruden: I love VolNation, those fans are best in college football. Man, ya know, the optics from that situation and the Admin arent real great right now.
Media: so Coach, you know I have to ask, because everyone wants to know... would you ever want to coach the Vols?
Gruden: its a dream job, of course I would, but that stuff on the Hill right now, oh man..I dont know if I could do it the way things are right now..but if an AD like David Blackburn or Phil Fulmer called me, I would absolutely sit down with them and work out a deal to coach the Vols.
Boom! Do that with a pickup from national media and watch this fan base blow that Admin apart. All it takes is the fans to know Jon would come and how to get him here. Anybody standing in the way of that, Currie, Bev, the Haslams, collateral damage and gone.