Previously on As the Rocky Top Turns, the University of Tennessee fan base, en masse, had decided that not only did Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano not deserve the job as the Volunteers’ head coach, but as the guy that actually offered him said employment opportunity, athletic director John Currie needed to be strapped into the ballista and fired over the nearest hill. How did all these end up with Jeremy Pruitt as the head coach of the Vols football team? We’ll get there.
You can read Part One here and Part Two here.
Let us continue.
JIMMY AND JOHN’S EXCELLENT MISADVENTURE
As I wrote before, it’s no secret that one of Tennessee’s biggest boosters, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, had his grubby hands all over the Volunteers’ coaching search. His handpicked guy, Schiano, had been jettisoned by the fans, members of the Tennessee legislature and God knows how many folks inside Tennessee for no less than being implicated in the Jerry Sandusky child molestation cover-up at Penn State.
With the hard spike of the guy Currie was about to close a coaching deal with still bouncing and resonating throughout NCAA Football, the embattled athletic director began his search anew. How much input Haslam had at this stage was anyone’s guess, but I don’t think it was a lot. The other boosters probably saw to that.
Big ups to Dave Hart, Butch Jones, and John Currie. Very thankful for the state of things.
— Blake (@_BlakeTucker) December 20, 2017
With his own job on the line, Currie offered a deal to Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. Now, it seems to me that Gundy, a guy that had led the Cowboys to five 10-win seasons, two Big 12 titles and a 7-4 bowl record, should have been a little higher on the list than, say, Greg Schiano, a guy that was out of coaching for a couple of years after shitting all over an NFL franchise.
I mean, hell, this is Tennessee and Gundy already had the mullet. Here’s what’s really insane about the Gundy situation. The Vols (via Currie’s predecessor Dave Hart) actually interviewed Gundy the last time they had an opening. Gundy was up against Butch Jones and Tennessee chose Jones. Let that sit in the back of your throat for a minute without gagging.
Tennessee apparently made a monster offer for Gundy that the coach turned down. Again, looking at the Currie/Haslam situation, why in the world would anyone want to get involved in that mess? Especially a guy like Gundy?
Cowboy For Life! #GoPokes #okstate
— Mike Gundy (@CoachGundy) November 29, 2017
Is Gundy a Cowboy for life? Not unless they give him a raise after next season, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to get in bed with Currie and Haslam. Not after the Schiano shitshow. Frankly, the fact they wanted to hire Schiano over him should have been enough to turn the job down on its own. Just from the insult.
With Gundy punting, Currie’s desperation turned to Duke head coach David Cutcliffe. Cutcliffe is kind of a legend in these parts. He’s 63 and has had some health problems, so there could be no expectation of a lengthy stay. What Cutcliffe would have done is calm everybody down. The fanbase loves him and he meets any and all VFL criteria. Hell, re-hiring Cutcliffe at Tennessee in 2006 as the offensive coordinator in 2006 kept Phil Fulmer from getting fired for a couple of years.
Here’s the thing with Cut, he’s set at Duke. There’s no great expectations there. If he wins and keeps the Blue Devils in a bowl game, he’s perfectly safe until the sun burns out. If there are annoying Haslam-like boosters in Durham, they’re all up Mike Krzyzewski’s ass. Cutcliffe has no reason to ever leave and he won’t. So Currie pointed his conjunctive eye elsewhere.
OH GOD, WHO NOW?
Currie was reeling. He, and the entire Tennessee football program, were the laughing stock of college football. Somewhere Butch Jones would have been thrilled to see all this happening if he wasn’t constantly checking his cell phone for service, completely mystified as to why job offers weren’t pouring in.
At this point I have to believe Haslam was completely forced out of the picture and Currie was talking to any head coaching prospect that would take his call. That brings us to Purdue head man Jeff Brohm, who I’m sure accidentally picked up the phone thinking it was a telemarketer trying to sell him a new roof.
Coach Jeff Brohm and family are in attendance and get a standing ovation after a promo for the @FosterFarmsBowl is played on the Mackey video boards.
— Exponent Sports Desk (@Exponent_Sports) December 21, 2017
Brohm is an up-and-coming guy in the coaching ranks and, again, if Currie had made this call much earlier, it wouldn’t have been a problem. On the coaching prospects list Brohm is a mile ahead of Schiano. He built up Western Kentucky to a legitimate FBS program, finished 6-6 his first season at Purdue and got the team to a bowl. If Brohm had been the guy early, I think the Tennessee Twitter-sphere would have been OK and Currie would still have a job. But at this point? Forget it.
Brohm too decided the cluster elf at Tennessee wasn’t for him and Currie panicked dialed Dave Doeren at N.C. State. Doeren was in a contract dispute with the Wolfpack so this seemed do-able. Doeren was head coach at Northern Illinois for a couple of seasons before heading to N.C. State. He was 56-34 and had a 3-1 bowl record of his own. While at N.I,, he’d won a couple of MAC titles. He took over a Wolfpack team with nothing and after going 3-9 his first season, posted winning records ever since including an 8-4 record with a 6-2 ACC mark in 2017.
Vols fans weren’t having it, but again, if this call had happened early, no one would have cared. Doeran looked at the maelstrom at Tennessee, shook his head and signed a new contract with N.C. State.
NC State's @StateCoachD on @payton_wilson21 : He can run, he can bend, he can diagnose plays. He's a great tackler, and he's an incredible person… everything they asked him to do he did and at the highest level possible. pic.twitter.com/p9477Lv9cG
— Inside Pack Sports (@InsidePackSport) December 22, 2017
Currie had been turned down now by four different coaches. Five if you count Jon Gruden, which I do not. That was always a ridiculous pipe dream.
Again, Brohm and Doeren were perfectly respectable choices and both significantly better than Schiano. Currie had already ruined his own search with the Schiano fiasco and nothing short of a huge, famous name was going to calm the rabble. Vols fans would not eat cake. They would have a three-course steak dinner or it was guillotine time.
To be continued…
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