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Pruitt Out at Tennessee

Liberty City El said:
I’d say it really depends on which way the Boosters are leaning & how much they are going to allow Danny White to make the final decision...

If they leave it all up to Danny White it narrows it down to most likely Frost or Heupel.

If they want a splash hire, there’s a number of names along with the candidates already mentioned that could be a candidate, but that would more so come down to them being able to lure away a coach from another program & I’d imagine most coaches already in a good situation wouldn’t wanna touch that Tenn job.

But if they want a solid coach who understands the terrain of the SEC Malzahn is probably the best available choice.

As far as other names not mentioned, I would guess guys like Tom Herman, Matt Campbell or Neal Brown could be in the discussion.

A big time sleeper candidate would be Coastal Carolina HC Jamey Chadwell, he’s originally from Careyville Tennessee which is just a few minutes outside of Knoxville, he played QB at East Tennessee State & has coached at nothing but Southern schools like Delta State, Charleston Southern & Coastal Carolina his whole career. He’s also 79-52 as a HC in his career although he has no P5 experience, but he just lead Coastal Carolina to their best record in school history going 11-1.
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I'm surprised Bob Stoops name hasn't come up, seems like the perfect fit for Tennenssee.
 
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Rumor is they have their guy. It isn't any of the names mentioned publicly. The belief is Danny White has thrown out a lot of smoke to prevent any real info from leaking - seems he's very good at that. Supposedly the hire will not be anyone with any kind of prior baggage, per the Administration. the Chancellor also said they preferred a HC with experience. That let out Chadwell and a few others. White mentioned in his intro presser that he was intending to bring in a HC with offense as his background. The word on the Tennessee version of CIS is they are going big on $$ and will be paying in the $5-7 Million range , more if necessary. They are waiting for the announcement now. Word is the team will be told first. Feldman may get the scoop for the press

It also seems that PJ Fleck was spoken to and perhaps even vetted. He is staying at Minnesota as he has told his staff and team.
Jeff Fisher is also saying he was contacted about interest - not by Danny White but it sounds like maybe the firm UT hired.
 
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Liberty City El said:
I’d say it really depends on which way the Boosters are leaning & how much they are going to allow Danny White to make the final decision...

If they leave it all up to Danny White it narrows it down to most likely Frost or Heupel.

If they want a splash hire, there’s a number of names along with the candidates already mentioned that could be a candidate, but that would more so come down to them being able to lure away a coach from another program & I’d imagine most coaches already in a good situation wouldn’t wanna touch that Tenn job.

But if they want a solid coach who understands the terrain of the SEC Malzahn is probably the best available choice.

As far as other names not mentioned, I would guess guys like Tom Herman, Matt Campbell or Neal Brown could be in the discussion.

A big time sleeper candidate would be Coastal Carolina HC Jamey Chadwell, he’s originally from Careyville Tennessee which is just a few minutes outside of Knoxville, he played QB at East Tennessee State & has coached at nothing but Southern schools like Delta State, Charleston Southern & Coastal Carolina his whole career. He’s also 79-52 as a HC in his career although he has no P5 experience, but he just lead Coastal Carolina to their best record in school history going 11-1.
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Good pick on the sleeper candidate, Chadwell, your rationale is excellent, although like you said, I think he would be a big time sleeper candidate. Somebody’s going to grab that guy somewhere though. May not be Tennessee, but I could see a lower tier SEC school grabbing him, or a higher tier G5.
 
Seems like a coach may be announced sometime today. The general belief of those who can get any kind of info is that it's James Franklin. Multiple people have sources and while this has been really a closed search, what little info that has gotten out seems to point to Franklin as their #1 guy. Rumor is they offered somewhere between $7-$8 mill. (one poster on a Tennessee site says it was closer to the $8 mill). (Franklin currently makes $5.5 at PSU). It's been slow developing - the assumption is the unknowns with the NCAA sanctions are the biggest hurdle. The other bit of info is that Tony Elliot , Clemson OC, is probably the backup plan. That's a little more vague. If nothing else, Danny White knows how to lockdown a coaching search...
 
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Liberty City El said:
I just read Feldman’s article on The Athletic about the Tennessee debacle & it was a complete disaster.

As far as names in the coaching search, Gus Malzahn, Josh Heupel, Scott Frost, Clemson OC Tony Elliott, Sony Dykes & PJ Fleck are most of the top guys they’re looking after.

Apparently one of the big time boosters that has influence on the hire told the rest of the trustee group, “**** no” when Hugh Freeze was brought up lol.
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That’s b/c Hugh would bring a freggin tanker to the fire! Lol.
 
Ayooo wtf we talking so much about Tenn 😂. Place ain’t been **** since that boy Brent baby Vick Schaefer threatened Ole boy with a baseball over a chick
 
Hoyacane1620 said:
Seems like a coach may be announced sometime today. The general belief of those who can get any kind of info is that it's James Franklin. Multiple people have sources and while this has been really a closed search, what little info that has gotten out seems to point to Franklin as their #1 guy. Rumor is they offered somewhere between $7-$8 mill. (one poster on a Tennessee site says it was closer to the $8 mill). (Franklin currently makes $5.5 at PSU). It's been slow developing - the assumption is the unknowns with the NCAA sanctions are the biggest hurdle. The other bit of info is that Tony Elliot , Clemson OC, is probably the backup plan. That's a little more vague. If nothing else, Danny White knows how to lockdown a coaching search...
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James Franklin?!?

Holy shìt, that would be completely out of left field, but I guess someone on their board of trustees must have a connection with him from his time in Nashville at Vandy.

That would be a total shock if they pulled James Franklin.
 
I'll believe they're pulling James Franklin when I see it. He could very likely be USC's next coach and seems like a much better fit.
 
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Liberty City El said:
James Franklin?!?

Holy shìt, that would be completely out of left field, but I guess someone on their board of trustees must have a connection with him from his time in Nashville at Vandy.

That would be a total shock if they pulled James Franklin.
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Lol, no way its Roosevelt Franklin
 
Tenn is going to have to shell out a ton of money to get someone to take that job. They are a total dumpster fire . Their roster is decimated and looking at probation on top of that. I don’t think any ambitious coach in their right mind would want to take that job, unless the money is just too good to pass up.
 
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Liberty City El said:
I’d be shocked if they really hired Frost, I think they’re vetting him because of the close Danny White connection but the boosters who have the most influence more than likely would want a more sure thing than someone like Frost. I will say, if Frost is the guy it means the money men at Tenn gave Danny White full autonomy over the hire, which I highly doubt happens.

I think Josh Heupel is a sleeper pick, he’s had very good success as a new HC in his first 3 years at UCF as an innovative offensive minded coach, plus his time at Oklahoma & Mizzou gives him legit history & experience at P5 programs. The question would be how well does he invigorate the Boosters to rally around him, he wouldn’t be the exciting flashy hire the Boosters & fans would want, but bringing his offensive system to the SEC would make him a coach in the same vein as Kiffin as a guy that will make all the Defensive gurus in the SEC sweat bullets if he ever finds a QB.

Gus Malzahn would probably be the safest hire, you know exactly what you get with him & despite AU pulling the trigger on him, he was 68-35 with a 66% winning percentage, he really wasn't that bad but AU is plagued with being in the SEC west living in Bama’s & LSU’s shadow, so they canned him without realizing that they’ll never be better than Bama until Saban retires lol.

I think Tony Elliott would probably be the best hire in terms of recruiting, but no way in **** would Tenn ever hire a Black HC lol.

I doubt PJ Fleck would leave Minnesota after he just signed an extension 2 years ago & big pay raise making $4.7 mill a year with a $10million dollar buyout, plus he’s a Midwest guy who fits perfect at Minnesota, I don’t think he’d be a fit personality wise at a good ol’ boy program like Tennessee.
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hoops156 said:
white is an awful choice. UCF fans will be happy tho
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Why would it be awful Tennessee fans would hate it but they are awful at picking coaches. Fans boycortted Schiano and he was a better choice than pruitt. Like @Liberty City El i think it would be low risk and possibly stabilize the program. UCF fans are delusional they had an average covid year after multiple players kicked off the team. The fans think they are bama.
 
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White has been a genius running this search. So many names, rumors out there. Mike Tomlin emerged as someone White spoke to over the weekend, at least according to a few people. Seems like a lot of people were spoken to but declined interest....

Heupel , bringing Jeff Lebby, remains the one standing as of this morning.

Team meeting at 8 am. Press conference to follow.
 
jmccomber5 said:
My father in law is pretty well connected with some of the boosters. He said Franklin got an offer and he turned them down. Seems like a lot of misinfo is being tossed out, so not sure what to make of it.
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yes... supposedly they worked him pretty hard all weekend. Also seems like PJ Fleck was a target early on and he also declined interest.
 
Hoyacane1620 said:
White has been a genius running this search. So many names, rumors out there. Mike Tomlin emerged as someone White spoke to over the weekend, at least according to a few people. Seems like a lot of people were spoken to but declined interest....

Heupel , bringing Jeff Lebby, remains the one standing as of this morning.

Team meeting at 8 am. Press conference to follow.
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UCF should hire Lebby to be the HC.
 
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