Tennessee Coaching Hot Board: The Ridiculous and The Reasonable

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The past two weeks it seems that most of the Tennessee fan base is calling for Butch Jones’ head. I get it, we lost to a Florida team that we should have absolutely demolished. Then we go out and basically play one of the worst games I’ve ever seen this team play against an 0-4 UMass team who we should have beaten by 30. The fanbase is angered and feels there should be a coaching change immediately. Let me preface this article by giving by opinion on Butch Jones.

First off, the season isn’t over. There are still eight more games to be played this season. Butch Jones could go 11-1, win the SEC championship and a natty at this point. Is that likely, not at all. I’m more likely to get struck by lighting twice at the Tiger Mart while getting a winning lotto ticket. Is that possible? Yes, because there is still 66% of a season to be played. Is it at least somewhat reasonable to think that this team could only have three or less losses for the rest of the season? I think so.

I hear the fans assuming we are going to get beat by LSU, South Carolina, Vandy, Georgia, and even Kentucky. There is absolutely no reason to assume we will get beat in any of those games. Sure this team played like absolute dog shit versus an 0-4 UMass team, but a lot of that could have been hangover from the Florida loss. Alabama is the only game I see as a 100% guaranteed loss on the schedule, but anything can happen.

This team has a quarterback who will hopefully get better as the season goes along, and a defense that can’t get any worse. This team could play a lot better in the eight games we have left. So what is my opinion of Butch Jones? Hold off until the season is done before making your call on him. There’s no need to replace a coach…not even halfway through the season. Wait until the season is done, make your call on Butch Jones, then go out and find your replacement. There’s still a chance Butch can finish 9-3, go to a bowl game and get us double digit wins for the first time since 2007. There’s also chance this team continues to play like they have and we finish 5-7. However, I do understand the fanbase’s frustrations. So here’s my coaching hot board.

THE RIDICULOUS

1) Peyton Manning

Oh our precious Peyton. We just love him. He’s the G.O.A.T. However, to think that Peyton Manning would want to come be the head football coach at Tennessee is insane. He’s already said on record that he wouldn’t do it, and if he were to coach, he would want to be QBs coach. Not only that, but how dumb would it be to take a great NFL player who has zero coaching experience and hand him the keys to the head job. Great player doesn’t equal great head coach. Currie would never do it, and if he did, that would be the death of his job. I can’t really say much more about that.

2) Jim Bob Cooter

Sure Jim Bob is an up and coming offensive coordinator in the NFL. However, the NFL and college are two completely different jobs. Calling plays is just a small part of a college job. You have to recruit, please boosters and maintain a staff year after year. I’ve never understood why people think great NFL coaches could just take a jump down to college and have instant success. Especially Jim Bob, who has no head coaching experience and no real college coaching experience. This would be an absolute disaster. Not only that, but coaches hate recruiting and Jim Bob is just a few years away from being offered a head coaching job somewhere in the NFL.

3) Chip Kelly

Some people may question on why I think this is ridiculous, but hear me out. Chip Kelly bounced from Oregon to the NFL in 2013. He had mild success his first two years there, eventually went to San Francisco for a season and got fired. Why in the hell would he take a job with an SEC team who isn’t going to be happy with eight wins and top 10 classes?

Not only that, but Chip Kelly doesn’t have the recruiting contacts to have success in the southeast region. He recruited from the west coast which is a completely different ball game then recruiting in the southeast. At Oregon, Chip Kelly recruited fast athletes and then figured out where to put them. That isn’t going to fly in the SEC when you face Alabama, Georgia and Florida every single year. The Pac-12, is an offensive league. The SEC is very much a line of scrimmage league in my opinion.

Chip Kelly’s fancy offense isn’t going to work very well out here. At Oregon he was 1-2 against the SEC, with his only win coming against the Vols. Let me also mention, Chip Kelly is an asshole. Not a Bill Bellicheck or Nick Saban type asshole either. Those guys have a license to be an asshole because they’ve won a ton of championships. Chip Kelly is a straight up ASSHOLE. He thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room and no one can tell him he’s wrong.

Tennessee fans aren’t going to like it when Chip says in a press conference that you’re all dumbasses and he knows what he’s doing after a tough loss. Chip Kelly is not a fit in any way for the Tennessee job.  Chip Kelly is waiting for his opportunity in the NFL to come, he’s not coming back to college and especially not in the SEC.

4) Les Miles

Everyone loves Les Miles. It seems great on the surface. Hire a guy who was 114-32 at LSU. However, it doesn’t make sense to retread a guy who is 63 years old and has a cushy broadcasting job. It’s not necessarily true that he would be an upgrade from Butch Jones. In 10 years, he only won the SEC West three times and didn’t win it at all the last five years at LSU. He’s a good coach, but not quite elite level, similar to Butch Jones.

I just don’t see this as an upgrade and see Les Miles as a guy who might win the SEC East once in a while, but won’t take us back to ’98.  There’s no way Currie takes a chance on this guy if Butch is fired. Let me mention again, if you fire Butch Jones going 8-4, a guy like this isn’t going to be interested.

5) Dan Mullen

I think Dan Mullen is a great coach at a school which is one of the easiest jobs in the country. So why would he leave a job where he can go 6-6 or better every season and keep his job for one where 8-4 or even 9-3 could get you fired? He wouldn’t. Starkville is a low key town where Mullen and his family can live somewhat of a normal life. If you are the head coach in Knoxville, expect to be treated like a celebrity every where you go. Expect to have your face painted on a rock when you hit a bad streak and a lot of pressure. Mullen is straight up killing it at Mississippi State and I believe he would only consider leaving for a NFL head coach job. There’s no way he would even be remotely interested in coming to Tennessee.

6) Bobby Petrino

Petrino is a great coach. However, he is damaged goods. I still haven’t forgotten about his motorcycle incident. We just got over a major Title IX Sexual Assualt lawsuit. This wouldn’t be a good look after that debacle. I think enough has been said here.

7) Jon Gruden

I can’t believe I even have to examine this one. Why do we think Gruden could be an excellent college football coach? After not coaching for almost 10 years, I question if he can even coach at all anymore. I just don’t see why he would want to come to UT. Sure he is a former assistant, and his wife was a cheerleader. That doesn’t mean jack squat on why he would want to come to UT. He’s not an alumni, he didn’t play here, and he has no current connections to the administration. Let’s put the Grumors to rest please.

THE REASONABLE

I’ve ordered these guys from my least favorite to my favorite. What criteria did I use to come up with this list? Their team must have winning records over the past two seasons. I was originally going to include Scott Frost and Chad Morris, but those guys do not have great records with their current programs and I think they could be another Derek Dooley situation. The other piece I used is that I think these guys would really consider taking the job at Tennessee. That’s why I put Chip Kelly and Jim Bob Cooter in the ridiculous category. So here is my list of realistic candidates for the head coaching job with the Vols.

5) Mike MacIntyre

I like this guy. He originally interviewed for the job, but we picked Butch Jones over him. He went 10-4 at Colorado last year and won the Pac-12 south. That’s pretty good for the Buffaloes. That is typically not a great program and he did really well last year. MacIntyre attended Brentwood Academy in high school and briefly played for Vanderbilt under his father, George. Warning though, this could be a flash in the pan. His first three years he went 10-27 at Colorado and I’m curious to see how well he does this year before I make my final judgment on him. This would not be my first choice for the job.

4) Scott Satterfield

This guy came into Neyland Stadium last year and took us to overtime where we barely squeaked out a win. He’s obviously a good coach and his 28-10 record the past three seasons says so. He led the Appalachian State Mountaineers to a Sun Belt title last year. He’s 44 and only has four years experience as a head coach. The guy is nowhere near his ceiling in his coaching career and has plenty of room to grow. He’s built the App State program into a solid one since entering the FBS. App State is not a team that anyone can walk over and I think this guy could be a decent fit in Knoxville.

3) Mike Norvell

Could Memphis become a potential coaching powerhouse with a jump like this? I think so. After Justin Fuente left for Virgina Tech, he led the Tigers to an 8-4 record last season. This was a Memphis record for a head coach in his first season.This season, he started off with a bang by beating No.25 UCLA in week 2. He seems to know what he’s doing. This would be an extremely young hire since Norvell is only 35 and would only have two seasons experience at the end of this season. He’s on fire though and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this Memphis team could go undefeated this season after getting past their hardest matchup with UCLA. This hire would be a little bit of a gamble, but sometimes you hit the jackpot.

2) Brent Venables

Winner of the 2016 Broyles award, Venables is considered the top assistant in the country. His defense led Clemson to a National Championship over the Crimson Tide last season. Before becoming defensive coordinator at Clemson, Venables was Defensive Coordinator and assistant head coach at Oklahoma. He’s been an assistant at a major program since he was Linebackers coach at Kansas State in 1993. He has a very nice coaching resume’ and has seen almost everything. The Clemson defense has consistently been one of the best in the country under his leadership. Last year, Clemson finished number 10 in total defense and currently stands at number 3. If UT doesn’t hire him, someone else is going to. He’s ready for a head coaching job and there is no reason to think he won’t succeed wherever he decides to go.

1) Tee Martin

Has anyone else noticed how rapidly Tee Martin has progressed in his coaching career? Since entering the college coaching ranks in 2009 as wide receivers coach for New Mexico, Tee has moved up to offensive coordinator for USC in only 7 years.

He’s consistently one of the greatest recruiters in college football and he has USC’s offense firing on all cylinders with potential first overall pick, Sam Darnold under center. Sure, there was some bad blood between him and the UT administration, but time heals all wounds and UT has a lot of staff changes since then. What would UT get with Tee Martin? Someone who could give us a bigger presence in recruiting on the West Coast and someone who knows the UT fanbase better than any other candidate.

He knows what this fanbase does when you win games. He led us to our last natty in 1998, and I think this could be the guy who could do it again. Would it be a risk to promote a coordinator who has never coached in the SEC? Sure, but any hire is a risk. For me, this would be my number one candidate for the job. Let’s throw the bank at Tee and bring him home to lead us to a National Championship again.

Smokey covers the Tennessee Volunteers for the SoBros Network. He loves a good backpacking trip, but hates taking a shit in the woods. Follow on Twitter: @SoBroSmokey

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