Tony Elliot

[rockydoc]

Sometimes you best hit the anvil when it's hot. I'm afraid the Iowa State coach may be in same situation.

 

[Keefus]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Or he’s getting off the Clemson program that’s currently taking on water

 

[VFL-82-JP]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Rumor isn't true.

Tony Elliot was never offered the Tennessee job.

Dan White put out feelers to gauge Elliot's interest while going after James Franklin. Franklin was the target; Elliot was one (of perhaps two) early fall-back plans.

But...and this is key...by the time Franklin gave his definitive "no," White had already figured out what the best Plan B was: Josh Heupel.

So Elliot never got the chance.

Maybe if he'd gotten an offer, he would've come. But that's all just a hypothetical now.

Go Vols!


p.s. And it's really not even so much that the rumor wasn't true. More like how people UNDERSTOOD the rumor, that's the part that wasn't true. The truth was being reported (Dan White possibly 'in communication' with Tony Elliot about the Tennessee job), people just didn't pay close enough attention ... misunderstood what they heard (thought communication == job offer) ... and then the social media echo chamber reinforced their misunderstanding over and over again until a lot of people believed it was true.

 

[tim]

Well, I for one, am pleased we fell to Heupel

 

[FïreBall]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Good for UT

 

[EricberryFAN]

I'd say it probably would have to do with him not wanting his first HC job and his first year going up against the #1 toughest schedule and him having to play Bama, UGA and FL every year. You getting judged very quickly on those games. This job isn't for everyone, you could go from hero to zero very quickly.

Glad we got CJH

 

[VolRage]

I don’t care about Elliot, why he might of turned down UT (if that’s even true), or why he may or may not be taking a job at whatever university. I’m very happy with Josh Heupel and I’m glad we don’t have Elliot. Just because he’s been Clemson’s OC doesn’t mean he’s going to be a good HC.

 

[slobberknocker]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Never heard of her.

 

[JMSqb11]

Sometimes you best hit the anvil when it's hot. I'm afraid the Iowa State coach may be in same situation.

Matt Campbell may very well be best positioned in the Big 12 currently. Aranda has taken giant step forward but now the game is about sustaining the expectations. Gundy had a hot year but can he avoid the typical roller coaster season by season result.

Campbell just graduated his best senior class but apparently has good talent ready to take over. I’m shocked he didn’t take the LSU job but i don’t think his window closed at winning and getting back to competing for league title in Ames

 

[VAVol85]

It took a lot of guts and self confidence to take the UT job last year. I wonder whether Heupel would have taken it without the DW relationship.

I am not surprised that Elliott would have taken a pass on UT. UVA is a totally different animal. Football is on their list of priorities but nowhere near the top...maybe a little more pressure than Duke, but not much.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Lol. Nobody should be surprised if Elliot thought VA was a better job. It should just put into perspective exactly what Heupel walked into. And it makes the job he did this year even that much more impressive.

 

[bigorangepoppa]

Maybe he thinks he can beat Dabo consistently and show who the power behind the throne really was.

 

[OLEVOLFAN]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Just be glad we didn't get him!

 

[vegasvolfan]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

I'm glad he did. I didn't want another coordinator.

 

[tennesseeduke]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Hired by UVA today! Duke hired A&M DC as HC today. Brings more hope to flip Nolan

 

[tennrich1]

Honestly, I just don't think the Vols were looking to hire a coordinator as head coach last year. I could be wrong and I had no inside info but we were at a place we needed someone who had proved he could CEO a program and CJH definitely had done that. Not saying he was our first choice but I think we were hiring a head coach and not a coordinator. So I personally don't think he was ever offered the job. JMO

 

[aRmo]

Dabo talked him out of the TN job. Only to return and have an absolute **** year.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

I'll give him this ... if you don't care about winning national titles, but love job security, Virginia is great for that.

They kept Mike London around for 6 years and he was 27-46 with 1 winning season. And I don't even think he was technically fired; he resigned.

And Bronco Mendenhall was 36-38 after 6 seasons and they didn't fire him either; he resigned and they tried to convince him to stay. He was 99-43 at BYU and he's an excellent coach, too; just a difficult job. Academic standards similar to Vanderbilt and Duke, but with a bit more fan support.

 

[Aladywhovolunteer]

Or maybe he didn't want to risk his first foray into HC to be at a school that was looking at possible sanctions and had a sabatuer in the ranks that turned in the last coach? This was a risky job to take for anyone. For a guy like Elliot, he might not a get another HC opportunity if he were to come here and fail. He'll have a longer leash at VA as long as he has a decent record.

Also, even though the football program isn't that good, Virginia is a pretty elite public university. Certainly more prestigious than UT.

 

[LWSVOL]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

there were a lot of reasons coaches turned down Tennessee last year and none had anything to do with any other job. Investigation ring a bell? 30 kids transferring out ring a bell? 33 SEC wins in the last 13 years ring a bell?? hiring 6th head coach in last 13 years?

got lot of turn downs last year and many more in the last 13 years...

 

[Vol8188]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

Or he realized he was going to get fired if he stuck around

 

[Volfan1000]

Solid hire for Virginia.

 

[driscokid]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

The expectations at TN are a little different than at VA

 

[Aladywhovolunteer]

As a parent of a child with three degrees from UVA...I don't disagree that UVA has a higher profile than UT. UVA has battled with the University of California at Berkeley for best public university in the nation over the years. But what I would say is that a lot of the criteria for these ratings is not neccesarily related to education. For example one criteria (in some ratings) is the size of the university endowment.

Additionally, UVA (unless changed recently) reserves 40% of all incoming freshmen seats for out out-of-state students. When my child was at UVA the # of valedictorians and salutatorian from out-of-state high schools was substantial. This is another criteria in some rating systems. Again, the thought is since you are in class with very smart people you will be pushed to excellence. Maybe. I am not sure... other than the Universty of Tennessee and UVA are serving very different communities and both are wonderful institutions that should make us proud.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

If the rumor that he, in fact, turned down the UT job last offseason, he instead takes the Virginia job?
So either that rumor isn’t true, or he thinks Virginia is a better coaching job than UT…yikes.

He was scerrrd of the challenge and all the NCAA bs