This past summer, after Jeremy Pruitt had his first full season as Tennessee’s head coach under his belt, we looked back on the long list of Vols’ coaching candidates to see how they did in 2018 relative to Pruitt. Now that Pruitt has turned a 1-4 beginning in 2019 into a 4-1 hot streak, we thought we’d use the second bye week of the season to take another peek.

This is a long post. The details of each candidate’s updates are below, but I’ve included my own re-ranking both here at the top and at the bottom for the sake of convenience and in the interest of fighting back against carpal tunnel.

Here’s my re-ranking as of right now:

Good bets

1. Dan Mullen
2. Jeremy Pruitt
3. Jimbo Fisher
4. Gary Patterson
5. Matt Campbell
6. Justin Fuente
7. Mike Norvell
8. Mike Leach
9. Les Miles
10. P.J. Fleck
11. Joe Moorhead
12. Jeff Brohm

Calculated risks

1. Lane Kiffin
2. Chip Kelly
3. Jon Gruden
4. Charlie Strong
5. Scott Frost
6. Mel Tucker
7. Mike Bobo

Unknowns (as head coach)

1. Brent Venables
2. Kevin Steele
3. Tee Martin

Goodness, what did we almost do?

1. Chad Morris
2. Willie Taggart
3. Greg Schiano
4. Bobby Petrino
5. D.J. Durkin

Head coaches hired as head coaches

1. Dan Mullen

2018

• Hired as head coach at Florida
• Went 10-3 (5-3), tied for 2^nd in the SEC East
• Beat No. 23 Mississippi State, No. 5 LSU, and No. 7 Michigan
• Only losses were to Kentucky, Missouri, and No. 7 Georgia

2019 so far

• Currently 8-2 (5-2), 2nd in the SEC East
• Beat then No. 7 Auburn, 24-13
• Lost to then No. 5 LSU 42-28 and No. 8 Georgia 24-17
• Team is currently No. 11 in the CFP rankings
• On pace to exceed GRT 2019 expectations

2. Jimbo Fisher

2018

• Hired as head coach at Texas A&M
• Went 9-4 (5-3), tied for 2^nd in the SEC West, No. 16 in both polls
• Beat No. 13 Kentucky, No. 7 LSU, a bunch of others; lost by only 2 to No. 2 Clemson

2019 so far

• Currently 6-3 (3-2), 4th in the SEC West
• No wins over ranked teams
• Lost to No. 1 Clemson 24-10, No. 8 Auburn 28-20, and No. 1 Alabama 47-28
• Not ranked in the CFP rankings
• On pace to meet or exceed GRT 2019 expectations

3. Willie Taggart

2018

• Hired as head coach at Florida State
• Went 5-7 (3-5), tied for 5^th in the ACC Atlantic
• Beat No. 20 Boston College, but lost to No. 20 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Miami, No. 2 Clemson, No. 21 NC State, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 11, and unranked Syracuse.

2019

• Fired mid-season after a 4-5 (3-4) start capped by a 27-10 loss to rival Miami

4. Jon Gruden

2018

• Hired as head coach at the NFL’s Oakland Raiders
• Went 4-12, beating only Cleveland (in OT), Arizona (by 2), Pittsburgh (by 3), and Denver

2019 so far

• Currently 5-4, 2nd in the AFC West

5. Scott Frost

2018

• Hired as head coach at Nebraska
• Went 4-8 (3-6); Beat only Minnesota, Bethune-Cookman, Illinois, and Michigan State, all unranked

2019 so far

• Currently 4-5 (2-4), 6th in the Big Ten West
• Only wins over South Alabama, Northern Illinois, Illinois, Northwestern
• Currently on a three-game losing streak to then-unranked teams

Coordinators hired as head coaches

1A. Joe Moorhead

2018

• Hired as head coach at Mississippi State
• Went 8-5 (4-4), 4^th in SEC West
• Beat No. 8 Auburn, No. 16 Texas A&M, and others; finished No. 25 in the Coaches Poll

2019 so far

• Currently 4-5 (2-4), 5th in the SEC West
• Lost four of the past five games, with the lone win coming against an Arkansas team that just fired its Year 2 coach
• Will fail to meet GRT 2019 expectations by at least two games

1B. Jeremy Pruitt

2018

• Hired as head coach at Tennessee
• Went 5-7 (2-6), last in the SEC East
• Beat No. 21 Auburn and No. 11 Kentucky, but lost to No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 17 West Virginia, and unranked Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, and Vanderbilt

2019 so far

• Currently 5-5 (3-3), 3rd in the SEC East
• Won four of the last five games, with the one loss coming to No. 1 Alabama
• Two bad losses to unranked teams to begin the season
• Other three losses all to Top 10 teams
• On pace to meet GRT 2019 expectations overall, to exceed expectations for the SEC

3. Chip Kelly

2018

• Hired as head coach at UCLA
• Went 3-9 (3-6), 5^th in the Pac-12 South
• Only wins were against California, Arizona, and USC, all unranked

2019 so far

• Currently 4-5 (4-2), 3rd in the Pac 12 South
• Started the season 1-5 (1-2)
• Currently on a three-game win streak, which includes a win over No. 24 Arizona State

4. Chad Morris

2018

• Hired as head coach at Arkansas
• Went 2-10 (0-8), last in the SEC West
• Only beat Eastern Illinois and Tulsa

2019 so far

• Fired mid-season after a 2-8 (0-6) start, on the heels of a non-competitive seven-game losing streak

Candidates who got fired shortly after we were talking about hiring them

The next three guys not only didn’t get any offer compelling enough to move somewhere, they couldn’t even keep their existing jobs for one more season.

Greg Schiano

2018

• Remained as defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2018.
• When Urban Meyer was suspended for three games, he handed the reins not to Schiano but to offensive coordinator Ryan Day.
• The Buckeyes defense was not as good in 2018, and when Meyer retired at the end of the season, Day was made head coach. He did not retain Schiano after the season.
• Schiano was hired as defensive coordinator for New England in February, 2019, but left after only a month.

2019 so far

• Likely to return to Rutgers to take the open head coaching job

Bobby Petrino

2018

• Remained at Louisville as head coach until he was fired in November
• Team went 2-10 (0-8), last in ACC Atlantic
• Only wins were against Indiana State and Western Kentucky

2019 so far

• Back on the coaching carousel this November

D.J. Durkin

2018

In fall camp last year, a player died, and allegations of toxic culture under Durkin led to his suspension. He was later reinstated for a day and then fired.

2019 so far

Currently a consultant for the Atlanta Falcons.

Head coaches who stayed put

1. Mike Leach

2018

• Basically hired by John Currie, who apparently did not have the authority to do so
• Stayed at Washington State
• Went 11-2 (7-2) and tied for first in the Pac-12 North
• Beat No. 12 Oregon, No. 24 Stanford, but lost to No. 16 Washington. Beat No. 24 Iowa State in the Valero Alamo Bowl
• Finished No. 10 in the AP and Coaches polls

2019 so far

• Currently 4-5 (1-5), 6th in the Pac 12 North
• No wins over ranked teams
• Lost five of the last six games

2. Les Miles (former head coach, unemployed in both 2017 and 2018)

2018

• Not hired by anyone until after the season.
• Now head coach at Kansas for 2019

2019 so far

• Currently 3-6 (1-5), 9th in the Big 12
• No wins over ranked teams
• Lost five of the last six games, although this stretch includes a two-point loss to No. 15 Texas
• Has Kansas much more competitive than in the past

3. Matt Campbell

2018

• Remained at Iowa State as head coach
• Went 8-5 (6-3), tied for 3^rd in the Big 12
• Beat No. 25 Oklahoma State, No. 6 West Virginia, and several others

2019 so far

• Currently 5-4 (3-3), 4th in the Big 12
• No wins over ranked teams
• Two one-point losses to No. 19 Iowa and No. 9 Oklahoma

4. Mike Norvell

2018

• Remained at Memphis as head coach
• Went 8-6 (5-3), tied for 1^st in the American West
• No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

• Currently 8-1 (4-1), 3rd in the American Athletic West
• One win over a ranked team: 54-48 over No. 15 SMU
• Currently No. 18 in the CFP rankings

5. Gary Patterson

2018

• Stayed at TCU as head coach
• Went 7-6 (4-5), tied for 5^th in the Big 12
• No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

• Currently 4-5 (2-4), 7th in the Big 12
• Beat No. 15 Texas, 37-27
• Lost to No. 12 Baylor, 29-23 in 3OT
• All losses but one (to Iowa State) were one-possession games

6. Charlie Strong

2018

• Stayed at South Florida as head coach
• Went 7-6 (3-5), 4^th in American East
• No wins against ranked teams, and lost last six games

2019 so far

• Currently 4-5 (2-3), 4th in the American Athletic East
• No wins over ranked teams
• Only game against a ranked opponent resulted in a 49-0 loss to No. 19 Wisconsin
• Two opportunities against No. 17 Cincinnati and No. 18 Memphis up next

7. P.J. Fleck

2018

• Remained as head coach at Minnesota
• Went 7-6 (3-6), tied for 5^th in the Big 10 West
• No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

• Currently 9-0 (6-0), 1st in the Big Ten West
• One win over a ranked opponent, but it was a good one: 31-26 over No. 4 Penn State
• Two more opportunities against ranked opponents to close out the season (No. 20 Iowa tomorrow and No. 14 Wisconsin on 11/30)

8. Justin Fuente

2018

• Remained at Virginia Tech as head coach
• Went 6-7 (4-4), tied for 3^rd in ACC Coastal
• Beat No. 19 Florida State, No. 22 Duke

2019 so far

• Currently 6-3 (3-2), 3rd in the ACC Coastal
• One win over a ranked team: 36-17 over No. 19 Wake Forest
• One-point loss to No. 16 Notre Dame
• Two other losses were one-possession to Boston College and a blowout loss to Duke

9. Jeff Brohm

2018

• Remained at Purdue for his second season
• Went 6-7 (5-4) and tied for second in the Big 10 West
• Beat No. 2 Ohio State, No. 16 Iowa, and No. 23 Boston College, but lost to Northwestern, Eastern Michigan, Missouri, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Auburn, all unranked

2019 so far

• Currently 4-6 (3-4), 5th in the Big Ten West
• No wins over ranked teams
• One-possession loss to No. 23 Iowa

10. Lane Kiffin

2018

• Remained at Florida Atlantic as head coach
• Went 5-7 (3-5), 5^th in C-USA East
• No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

• Currently 7-3 (5-1), 1st in Conference USA East
• Two losses against No. 5 Ohio State and No. 18 UCF to start the season, then 7-1 the rest of the way

11. Mike Bobo

2018

• Remained as head coach at Colorado State
• Sidelined by health issues early, and team went 3-9 (2-6), 5^th in MWC Mountain
• Only wins were Arkansas, San Jose State, and New Mexico

2019 so far

• Currently 4-5 (3-2), 4th in Mountain West Mountain
• No wins over (or losses to) ranked teams

Coordinators who stayed put (at the time)

1. Brent Venables

2018

• Remained at Clemson as DC
• 5^th nationally, 2^nd in the ACC in total defense last year

2019 so far

• Still at Clemson as DC
• 4^th nationally, 1st in the ACC in total defense

2. Mel Tucker

2018

• Remained at Georgia as DC. Hired as head coach at Colorado for 2019.
• 13^th nationally and 2^nd in the SEC in total defense last year

2019 so far

• First year as head coach at Colorado
• Currently 4-6 (2-5), 6th in the Pac 12 South
• Two wins over then-ranked teams: 34-31 OT over No. 25 Nebraska, 34-31 over then No. 24 Arizona State
• 1-5 over the last six games
• Colorado was 5-7 each of the past two seasons before Tucker arrived

3. Kevin Steele

2018

• Remained at Auburn as defensive coordinator
• 38^th nationally and 8^th in the SEC in total defense

2019 so far

• Still at Auburn as DC
• 28th nationally and 4th in the SEC in total defense

4. Tee Martin

2018

• Remained at USC as OC; was released along with most of the staff in late November
• 83^rd nationally and 10^th in the Pac-12 in total offense last season
• Hired as a wide receivers coach at Tennessee

2019 so far

• Still coaching wide receivers at Tennessee

Re-ranking the 2017 Tennessee coaching candidates

Based on all of that, here’s how I’d rank them as of right now:

Good bets

1. Dan Mullen
2. Jeremy Pruitt
3. Jimbo Fisher
4. Gary Patterson
5. Matt Campbell
6. Justin Fuente
7. Mike Norvell
8. Mike Leach
9. Les Miles
10. P.J. Fleck
11. Joe Moorhead
12. Jeff Brohm

Calculated risks

1. Lane Kiffin
2. Chip Kelly
3. Jon Gruden
4. Charlie Strong
5. Scott Frost
6. Mel Tucker
7. Mike Bobo

Unknowns (as head coach)

1. Brent Venables
2. Kevin Steele
3. Tee Martin

Goodness, what did we almost do?

1. Chad Morris
2. Willie Taggart
3. Greg Schiano
4. Bobby Petrino
5. D.J. Durkin

Your turn

What about you? How would you rank those guys now?

Jeremy Pruitt has now served an entire season as head football coach at the University of Tennessee. This, of course, means that it’s about the time that bored Vols fans start talking about firing him just so they can feel alive again.

Yes, those were good times back in November, 2017 when we were almost hiring everybody and the national media was utterly clueless as to what actually happened on Schiano Sunday. You know, back when we analyzed the blueprint for how to properly conduct a successful coaching search and then got to work perfecting our uncanny knack to do exactly the opposite.

But while it was the most awkward in-air maneuver in recorded history, we somehow stuck the landing and gave a cordial bow as if that was exactly how we meant to do it. Ladies and gentlemen, Phillip Fulmer and Jeremy Pruitt. You’re welcome.

Yes, we know that Pruitt went 5-7 and finished last in the SEC East last season, but if you take a look at where the other candidates ended up last year and how they did, you’ll probably feel a bit better about that. A couple of schools made excellent hires, but considering everything below, I think we did quite nicely, all things considered.

Head coaches hired as head coaches

1. Dan Mullen

• Hired as head coach at Florida
• Went 10-3 (5-3), tied for 2^nd in the SEC East
• Beat No. 23 Mississippi State, No. 5 LSU, and No. 7 Michigan
• Only losses were to Kentucky, Missouri, and No. 7 Georgia

Based on only one year of evidence, this was probably the best hire last year. I hate these guys.

2. Jimbo Fisher

• Hired as head coach at Texas A&M
• Went 9-4 (5-3), tied for 2^nd in the SEC West, No. 16 in both polls
• Beat No. 13 Kentucky, No. 7 LSU, a bunch of others; lost by only 2 to No. 2 Clemson

This may end up being the best hire in the long term.

3. Willie Taggart

• Hired as head coach at Florida State
• Went 5-7 (3-5), tied for 5^th in the ACC Atlantic
• Beat No. 20 Boston College, but lost to No. 20 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Miami, No. 2 Clemson, No. 21 NC State, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 11, and unranked Syracuse.

Same overall record, but I don’t think Taggart’s first season at FSU was even as good as Pruitt’s first at Tennessee.

4. Jon Gruden

• Hired as head coach at the NFL’s Oakland Raiders
• Went 4-12, beating only Cleveland (in OT), Arizona (by 2), Pittsburgh (by 3), and Denver

It’s hard to compare NFL to college, but this result doesn’t line up with the hype, right?

5. Scott Frost

• Hired as head coach at Nebraska
• Went 4-8 (3-6); Beat only Minnesota, Bethune-Cookman, Illinois, and Michigan State, all unranked

Frost was one of the most coveted candidates, and . . . well, the jury’s out but this was worse than Pruitt.

Coordinators hired as head coaches

1A. Joe Moorhead

• Hired as head coach at Mississippi State
• Went 8-5 (4-4), 4^th in SEC West
• Beat No. 8 Auburn, No. 16 Texas A&M, and others; finished No. 25 in the Coaches Poll

Of the coordinators-turned-head-coach, Moorhead may lead the field, although it’s a close contest between him and Pruitt.

1B. Jeremy Pruitt

• Hired as head coach at Tennessee
• Went 5-7 (2-6), last in the SEC East
• Beat No. 21 Auburn and No. 11 Kentucky, but lost to No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 17 West Virginia, and unranked Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, and Vanderbilt

Pruitt’s right on the heels of Moorhead, and an argument can be made that they’re neck-and-neck. Also, when compared to the former head coaches, I think he is clearly third or fourth, behind Mullen and Fisher and close to Moorhead.

3. Chip Kelly

• Hired as head coach at UCLA
• Went 3-9 (3-6), 5^th in the Pac-12 South
• Only wins were against California, Arizona, and USC, all unranked

Disaster.

4. Chad Morris

• Hired as head coach at Arkansas
• Went 2-10 (0-8), last in the SEC West
• Only beat Eastern Illinois and Tulsa

Catastophe.

Hey, we almost hired a former head coach who instead got fired

Above are the candidates that were hired into new head coaching positions. The rest of the candidates stayed put, either because they chose to or because they didn’t get any offers decent enough to move.

The next three guys not only didn’t get any offer compelling enough to move somewhere, they couldn’t even keep their existing jobs for one more season.

Greg Schiano

• Remained as defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2018.
• When Urban Meyer was suspended for three games, he handed the reins not to Schiano but to offensive coordinator Ryan Day.
• The Buckeyes defense was not as good in 2018, and when Meyer retired at the end of the season, Day was made head coach. He did not retain Schiano after the season.
• Schiano was hired as defensive coordinator for New England in February, 2019, but left after only a month.

Bobby Petrino

• Remained at Louisville as head coach until he was fired in November
• Team went 2-10 (0-8), last in ACC Atlantic
• Only wins were against Indiana State and Western Kentucky

D.J. Durkin

In fall camp last year, a player died, and allegations of toxic culture under Durkin led to his suspension. He was later reinstated for a day and then fired.

Head coaches who stayed put

With the exception of Les Miles, the following guys all stayed as head coaches at other programs and had varying degrees of success. Former head coach Miles was not employed as a coach in any capacity in either 2017 or 2018.

1. Mike Leach

• Basically hired by John Currie, who apparently did not have the authority to do so
• Stayed at Washington State
• Went 11-2 (7-2) and tied for first in the Pac-12 North
• Beat No. 12 Oregon, No. 24 Stanford, but lost to No. 16 Washington. Beat No. 24 Iowa State in the Valero Alamo Bowl
• Finished No. 10 in the AP and Coaches polls

Best candidate who stayed put.

2. Les Miles (former head coach, unemployed in both 2017 and 2018)

• Not hired by anyone until after the season.
• Now head coach at Kansas for 2019

We’ll see.

3. Matt Campbell

• Remained at Iowa State as head coach
• Went 8-5 (6-3), tied for 3^rd in the Big 12
• Beat No. 25 Oklahoma State, No. 6 West Virginia, and several others

4. Mike Norvell

• Remained at Memphis as head coach
• Went 8-6 (5-3), tied for 1^st in the American West
• No wins against ranked teams

5. Gary Patterson

• Stayed at TCU as head coach
• Went 7-6 (4-5), tied for 5^th in the Big 12
• No wins against ranked teams

6. Charlie Strong

• Stayed at South Florida as head coach
• Went 7-6 (3-5), 4^th in American East
• No wins against ranked teams, and lost last six games

7. P.J. Fleck

• Remained as head coach at Minnesota
• Went 7-6 (3-6), tied for 5^th in the Big 10 West
• No wins against ranked teams

8. Justin Fuente

• Remained at Virginia Tech as head coach
• Went 6-7 (4-4), tied for 3^rd in ACC Coastal
• Beat No. 19 Florida State, No. 22 Duke

9. Jeff Brohm

• Remained at Purdue for his second season
• Went 6-7 (5-4) and tied for second in the Big 10 West
• Beat No. 2 Ohio State, No. 16 Iowa, and No. 23 Boston College, but lost to Northwestern, Eastern Michigan, Missouri, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Auburn, all unranked

10. Lane Kiffin

• Remained at Florida Atlantic as head coach
• Went 5-7 (3-5), 5^th in C-USA East
• No wins against ranked teams

11. Mike Bobo

• Remained as head coach at Colorado State
• Sidelined by health issues early, and team went 3-9 (2-6), 5^th in MWC Mountain
• Only wins were Arkansas, San Jose State, and New Mexico

Coordinators who stayed put

The following guys returned to their positions as coordinators last year.

1. Brent Venables

• Remained at Clemson as DC
• 5^th nationally, 2^nd in the ACC in total defense last year

2. Mel Tucker

• Remained at Georgia as DC. Hired as head coach at Colorado for 2019.
• 13^th nationally and 2^nd in the SEC in total defense last year

3. Kevin Steele

• Remained at Auburn as defensive coordinator
• 38^th nationally and 8^th in the SEC in total defense

4. Tee Martin

• Remained at USC as OC; was released along with most of the staff in late November
• 83^rd nationally and 10^th in the Pac-12 in total offense last season
• Hired as a wide receivers coach at Tennessee

Alright. Time to fess up. Who did you want? How did they do?

As new Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt stood in front of an orange-clad contingent to be introduced Thursday, he told an anecdote about starting his career as an elementary school P.E. teacher in Fort Payne, Alabama.

Pruitt joked that, from a stretch between 2001-04, he taught every kid in that community how to tie their shoes.

Through the past 15 years, Pruitt has experienced a meteoric rise to make it to the top of his own college football program, but his job in Knoxville won’t be too dissimilar to that first one long ago.

It may be more difficult, but Pruitt is going to be charged with teaching the Vols on campus and the ones coming how to win. For a woebegone program, that may sound a lot tougher than tying shoes, but the reason why it may not be for Pruitt is simple:

The man has won football games everywhere he’s ever been, and he’s surged to where he is because of what he’s done.

Yes, to say he “won the press conference” would be the biggest cliche imaginable. After all, they all do, don’t they? But, for Tennessee fans sick of hearing about life championships, five-star hearts and other canned comments from a coach as robotic as Butch Jones, Pruitt is a breath of fresh air.

It’s almost like you expect the man in the bent-billed cap to slip a fishing hook on the bill, slide in a dip, sit there and shoot the breeze with you about a little ‘ball. That’s exactly what he did on Thursday, and he connected with us all.

From the story about his Daddy slipping off his belt and whipping him when he was young and suggested how his dad’s high school team could have won to when he stopped what he was doing to thank his wife because he’d forgotten to do that the last time he spoke in public, Pruitt came off as genuine. It’s because he is. He’s one of us, no matter what color cap he wore growing up or how many “script A’s” he has in his wardrobe.

Growing up on the Tennessee-Alabama line, I’ve got just as many buddies who pull for the Crimson Tide as the Vols. They may be a little misguided, but it doesn’t make them bad people. They’re just a bunch of good ol’ boys like me who want to sit around and talk ball, fuss at each other about it and hold bragging rights. I’m on an e-mail thread with a bunch of them right now, and we argue all day, every day, mostly about UT and UA.

Pruitt would fit right in.

So, when he says: “I’m charging everybody associated with this university to get our hands out of our pockets, let’s roll our sleeves up and get ready to go out in the streets with everybody else in the SEC,” you find yourself believing it, wanting to do it, feeling that’s what it takes to get out there and work hard enough to make what you want to happen, happen.

Of course, for Pruitt and the Vols, that is winning championships. It may seem so far away, but Pruitt didn’t give any time limits on Thursday. There was no, “It’ll take seven years to build a program,” malarky. A man who has been a part of four national championships answered as clearly and honestly as he could when asked what it would take for UT to get back to winning championships and how to get there.

“You’re saying, ‘Can we get there?'” he said to Nathanael Rutherford of Rocky Top Insider, who asked the question. “I wouldn’t be here if I thought we couldn’t get there; I’ll tell you that right now.”

So, how does it happen? If you are a Tennessee fan and listened to Pruitt’s press conference, you know two things: No. 1, MOTHER OF THOR HE SOUNDS LIKE NICK SABAN. How many “aight’s” can you fit into a soundbite? Now, swallow hard and take a deep breath, maybe go wash the taste out of your mouth because No. 2 (and most important is) he works like Nick Saban, too. He learned under Saban in three defensive capacities, and he played for Gene Stallings. He also coached for Mark Richt and Jimbo Fisher. Phillip Fulmer, as Pruitt noted, is just down the hall.

That’s a lot of great minds around him for Pruitt to just sit down and talk ball. You know he has, and you know he will. It’s obvious Pruitt is driven to win, and having been around Saban — no matter what you say about him — there’s no way you can’t be around the greatest college coach of all time and not have some of it rub off.

Sure, that fell through with Derek Dooley, but Pruitt is a laser-focused recruiting machine, intense on the field and off it, and the coaches lining up to coach on his first staff at Tennessee and the top-shelf, elite players he’s recruited in his time as an assistant are clear indicators that this isn’t the same.

“Make no bones about it,” UT chancellor Beverly Davenport said, “he told me he wanted to win championships. And I told him, ‘Make no bones about it, Tennessee expects you to.'”

He expects championships, and that’s what he’s going to try to do at Alabama before he starts full-time in Knoxville. He noted that he’ll coach and recruit for UT until the dead period starts, head back to Tuscaloosa to coach the Tide in the playoffs and then come back to Knoxville after the College Football Playoffs are over.

“I work for the University of Tennessee, I’m all in for the University of Tennessee until the dead period,” he said. “We’re going to recruit, I’m going to work as the head football coach at the University of Tennessee, and we’re going to do what we can do to start going in the right direction.

“Now, I also have a commitment to the kids I sat in their home with their parents and recruited them to go to the University of Alabama. Coach Saban has been wonderful to me; I wouldn’t be here today without his help, so I’m going to go back when the dead period starts, and I’m going to coach those kids.”

In between Pruitt talking about his intensity, we got some glimmers of what he wants to do from a schematic standpoint. He didn’t talk much about it besides being balanced on offense, letting the run dictate the pass, and being aggressive on defense. He also wouldn’t commit to running a 3-4, only saying he’d play to the team’s and players’ strengths.

We all know he’ll run a 3-4 when he gets his players in, but Thursday wasn’t the day to talk about all that. Pruitt said his vision is for Tennessee to be “big, fast, dominating, aggressive, and relentless football team that nobody in the SEC wants to play.” Obviously, that wasn’t the case during the Jones era where players seemed to be made of chipped glass and missed games for the tiniest ailments. The strength-and-conditioning failures under the previous regime ultimately doomed it, and Pruitt seems to understand just how vital that aspect is to winning. Coming from Tuscaloosa where Scott Cochran has the Crimson Tide players looking like cyborgs, would you think otherwise?

We know Pruitt bled crimson his whole life, but he also has Tennessee roots, too. He played briefly at Middle Tennessee State. His father coached for Marion County High School for a span, and though he grew up on Sand Mountain, he mentioned running through the T, Smokey and the coaching tenures of Coach Robert Neyland, Coach Doug Dickey, Coach Johnny Majors and Coach Fulmer. None of that was rehearsed. When you grow up in a football family, you know football.

Pruitt knows football, and while he may have been dyed in the wool Alabama, Tennessee is now “his” program.

“My name will be on this program,” Pruitt said. “If my name’s on it, I’m all in. I’m going to be involved in everything.”

A good, ol’ Southern boy talking about the importance of his name? If that ain’t something we can get behind, what is?

The bottom line is Pruitt can’t win anything on Thursday. It’s crazy to think that he can win the biggest prize for Tennessee’s most hated rival while he’s Tennessee’s head football coach, but that’s the nature of the beast right now. Whether you want the Crimson Tide to win or not in the next month, it’s more “leadership reps” — check that — CHAMPIONSHIP reps for a man charged to lead the Vols out of the doldrums and back into the spotlight.

We can sit here and discuss what all needs to happen, who we need to get, what we have to do and everything that stands in our way of winning big again in the SEC, but that’s not Pruitt’s style. He’s going to get out there and get his hands dirty, go out into those streets and work for it. He’s going to sit down with Tennessee’s players who just endured the worst season in program history, and he’s going to get back to basics.

He’s gonna go tie some shoes.

“Instead of talking about what we want,” Pruitt said, “let’s figure out how to get there.”

Fulmer stood in front of the congregation at the beginning of the press conference talking about how he needed to find the “right person,” the perfect fit for Tennessee.

“My charge from the chancellor, my obligation to our alumni and our great fans and especially to our former and future players who have or will pour their hearts into the program was to go find the best coach to get our proud football program back to the level of its championship tradition,” he said.

That search looked past Pruitt’s crimson and into the core of what makes him a leader, a winner and a builder. He doesn’t need any cliched bricks. Pruitt uses real talk, and he’s backed it up with real results.

It’s UT’s hope that continues as he puts his own fingerprints on a once-proud program.

I’ve already been wrong about Jeremy Pruitt once. Fourteen months ago, #9 Tennessee and #1 Alabama played the highest-ranked Third Saturday in October ever. The Vols had just dropped 684 yards on Texas A&M, and touched up Georgia’s defenses for 920 yards and 70 points in their last two meetings with Pruitt. Despite a number of injuries against the Aggies, I thought the Vols would beat Alabama and continue their magical season, based largely on what I thought Tennessee’s offense would do against Alabama’s defense.

Instead, most of those injured players didn’t return, and Alabama held Tennessee to 163 yards and 2.59 yards per play. It was the worst yards per play performance by a Tennessee offense in the last ten years…until we played Alabama this year, and got 2.35.

 

The magic ran out for Tennessee on that October day in 2016, and indeed for Butch Jones too. It peaked between the hedges two weeks earlier and at least a dozen narratives ago. After starting 5-0 last year, the Vols are 8-12 in their last 20 games. And the team on the other end of that hail mary looks mighty fine today.

What’s behind the emphasis on defense and discipline?

I’m sure Kirby Smart’s success made all three of Tennessee’s finalists more appealing; Georgia’s head coach would have no doubt been mentioned in the press conference as an example of what could be had the Vols hired Kevin Steele or Mel Tucker, and you can expect to hear it when they’re introducing Jeremy Pruitt. But I wonder if something else was in Tennessee’s motivation to lean in that direction – it was John Currie’s first choice too with Greg Schiano – and not, we know now, because Tee Martin was guaranteed to come in on the offensive side of the ball.

Coaching hires are indeed pendulum swings, so it makes sense to hire a defensive coach after five years of the Butch Jones offense. But the more pressing need (and the more apparent one to those behind the scenes, perhaps) may have been discipline and roster management. How many talented players in significant roles failed to finish their careers at Tennessee under the previous administration? It wasn’t just the weirdness of Jalen Hurd’s story. There’s a long list from Marquez North to Jauan Jennings.

Butch Jones knew how to recruit elite talent, but coaching it and keeping it were not his strong suits. This was an unchecked box for some candidates as well, but having spent the last five years as the defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia, and Alabama, it does not appear to be an issue for Jeremy Pruitt.

Are we better off?

The default position for Tennessee fans will be, “Yes.” And I might agree even if I wasn’t one.

Moving on from an athletic director who was so out of touch with both football and the fan base that Greg Schiano was his go-to choice, then replacing him with Phillip Fulmer? That still feels like a win on its own. Is Tennessee better off with Fulmer and Jeremy Pruitt than they would have been with Currie and Mike Leach? I don’t know how that answer will play itself out on fall Saturdays in the near future. But considering Leach was the emergency option for Currie only after missing on Dave Doeren? I would still take Pruitt and Fulmer’s leadership.

I remain hopeful Tennessee’s revolt against the Schiano pick and the resulting power shift will be a good thing long-term. In the short-term, Pruitt is as good as Tennessee and Fulmer had any right to do after this crazy set of days.

A ceiling hire

There are no sure things in this business, and throwing money at the problem is no guarantee. Florida State, one of the few jobs clearly better than ours even when we are at our best, just hired a coach who was in the third tier of many of our initial hot boards. And they hired him in a hurry. Some Tennessee fans better hope they were right about Dan Mullen.

However, even unable to lure a proven winner, even after a fan uprising and a change in athletic director, and even after the worst season in program history…Tennessee still made a ceiling hire. And I’m very impressed with this.

The Vols could have taken the safe option and hired Les Miles, or the easy option and hired Tee Martin. Both would have been very well received initially and sold their fair share of tickets. But the Vols, despite everything, still made a hire with their eyes on the biggest prize. Credit Fulmer, who would know about such things.

To be clear, there are risks. It might be that Jeremy Pruitt is an excellent defensive coordinator and a lousy head coach. We don’t know. Butch Jones had a higher floor (or so we all thought at the time). But Pruitt has a higher ceiling than both Jones and Derek Dooley on the day they took this job. And he probably has a higher ceiling than Les Miles in 2017.

This search was a mess. It will take time to fully digest, and it will stay in the news, and not just because of lawyers. If Pruitt struggles early or often, Tennessee fans will get some of the blame. That narrative is already alive and well and will be convenient for some in the national media to return to. The same unity that sparked all of this will be necessary in the months ahead.

But at the search’s end, Tennessee still hired a coach it believes can win the biggest prize here. I’m not sure they could say that with a straight face at the last two press conferences. And since it will be Fulmer’s face this time, there’s all the more reason to believe it.

After a coaching search that felt like it spanned generations, took years off lives, ended jobs, tarnished reputations, caused power struggles between a major university’s boosters and administrators — as well as power struggles between most orange-clad men and the wives angry that they’d become married to their F5 buttons — the Tennessee Volunteers finally maybe, probably, hopefully have their man.

We think.

Possibly.

According to multiple reports from ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, Chris Low and Brett McMurphy to GoVols247’s Patrick Brown to VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs to everyone else in the free world with a Twitter account and a source, the Vols will name Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as head coach on Thursday.

Barring any snags.

Vols are expected to name Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt as their new coach tomorrow, barring an unexpected setback https://t.co/zvuSfR8Kxm

— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) December 7, 2017

Schlabach also reported this hiring likely means the end of any chances USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin returns home to Knoxville at this time.

USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin, a former Tennessee quarterback, who guided the Volunteers to the 1998 national championship, is not expected to return to his alma mater as offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN. Martin was contacted by UT… https://t.co/bmACWGrkyd

— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) December 7, 2017

It’s important to note the caveat that nothing is COMPLETELY finalized yet, considering the “snag” Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano encountered two Sundays ago, the “snag” that made Purdue coach Jeff Brohm’s name magically disappear and the “snag” that obliterated a verbal agreement for Mike Leach to come to UT.

If none of the snags occur that have basically turned this Tennessee search into a minefield over the course of three weeks, Pruitt will be the new head man in orange. He’s the culmination of a five-day search since Phillip Fulmer took over as athletic director following John Currie’s firing.

Fulmer dipped his toe in the water on Gary Patterson, Chris Petersen and Justin Fuente reportedly, but didn’t get much reception. Once that happened, his search mostly focused on three SEC defensive gurus and SMU offensive-minded head coach Chad Morris, the former Clemson offensive coordinator.

The Morris flirtation didn’t progress as far as the other three, and he took the Arkansas job on Wednesday. Fulmer, meanwhile, conducted multiple interviews with old friend, former Tennessee linebacker and Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker and Alabama DC Pruitt.

If the search ultimately yields Pruitt, it’s a win for the Vols when it looked like there was no way this search could finish with one. Without question, no matter how great it was that #VolTwitter, fans and students banded together to stop the Schiano hire, it helped perpetuate the idea of a difficult environment in Knoxville.

The toxicity continued as Currie went rogue following failed attempts to hire Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, perhaps Brohm and definitely N.C. State coach Dave Doeren. He reportedly took a former Kansas State booster’s plane to the West Coast to interview Leach, was ordered home by UT chancellor Beverly Davenport and fired on the spot last Friday morning.

Fulmer’s search began, and he took some big swings before settling on a trio of tough, defensive-minded coaches with SEC roots and strong recruiting resumes. Perhaps the strongest was Pruitt’s, who knocked his interviews out of the park and ended up the main focus.

Now, if his name actually somehow finds paper in the morning and this thing is official, the focus will be on the coaching staff and recruiting. Can Pruitt bring with him any of Alabama’s marquee commitments he was recruiting? Can he somehow convince Tosh Lupoi to join him in Knoxville rather than being the next in line to be ‘Bama’s defensive coordinator? If not, will the focus zero in on Georgia’s linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer?

Is there any truth to the rumors that Pruitt could bring with him old buddy Chip Lindsay to be Tennessee’s offensive coordinator after just one (successful) season as Gus Malzahn’s coordinator at Auburn? Will former Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos get a look in Knoxville?

If Pruitt deal is finalized: Names to keep an eye on for Vols staff include CSU’s Will Friend, ASU’s Billy Napier, UGA’s Kevin Sherrer, UAB’s Brian Williams and Tracy Rocker. Robert Gillespie a possibility to stick around, too. Rush Probst is a wildcard to watch.

— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) December 7, 2017

There is still a lot of intrigue remaining in all this, but it looks [at least right now] like Tennessee got its head man after a long, national embarrassment.

Finally.

Now, just don’t go screw it up, Vols.

When Phillip Fulmer took over as Tennessee’s athletic director last Friday, the Vols didn’t just hit the reset button on their coaching search, they mashed it a good one. Suddenly, we went from lists that included scores and scores of names and media outlets that all said something different to most media members reporting the same smaller handful of names. Maybe the chef has assumed sole command the kitchen so he could cook up something palatable to the starving masses.

Word is that Fulmer is wanting to make a decision by the end of the day today. If that’s true, we should know something soon after that, perhaps by Thursday. For now, though, let’s compare the short resumes of the guys that appear to be in the running and see how everything looks when you’re not focusing on their names.

 

Coach 1

• Head coach, second-level program for three years
• Coordinator, top-level program for four years before that

S&P+ as head coach

• 2017: 60 (8/93)
• 2016: 90 (72/126)
• 2015: 103 (63/74)

S&P+ as coordinator

• 2014: 76
• 2013: 12
• 2012: 14
• 2011: 25

Recruiter Rankings

• 2017 (head coach, second-level): Not in the Top 500
• 2016 (head coach, second-level): Not in the Top 500
• 2015 (head coach, second-level): 427
• 2014 (coordinator, top-level): 75
• 2013 (coordinator, top-level): 76

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Coach 2

• Head coach, top-level program for 11 years

S&P+ as head coach

• 2016: 4 (22/3)
• 2015: 11 (14/28)
• 2014: 20 (58/9)
• 2013: 13 (14/28)
• 2012: 11 (36/7)
• 2011: 1 (13/2)
• 2010: 15 (42/3)
• 2009: 12 (37/9)
• 2008: 24 (28/34)
• 2007: 2 (13/3)
• 2006: 5 (12/6)
• 2005: 9 (29/10)

Recruiter Rankings

• Not in the Top 500 for any year on record

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Coach 3

• Coordinator, two top-level programs for three years

S&P+ as coordinator

• 2017: 5
• 2016: 9
• 2015: 28

Recruiter Rankings

• 2017: 453
• 2016: 267
• 2015: N/A

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Coach 4

• Coordinator, two top-level programs for three years

S&P+ as coordinator

• 2017: 8
• 2016: 35
• 2015: 1

Recruiter Rankings

• 2017: 20
• 2016: 18
• 2015: N/A

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Coach 5

• Coordinator, three top-level programs for five years

S&P+ as coordinator

• 2017: 3
• 2016: 1
• 2015: 11
• 2014: 16
• 2015: 7

Recruiter Rankings

• 2017: 149
• 2016: 71
• 2015: 37
• 2014: 36
• 2013: 1

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Coach 6

• Coordinator, one top-level program for six years

S&P+ as coordinator

• 2017: 2
• 2016: 6
• 2015: 6
• 2014: 1
• 2015: 41
• 2014: 62

Recruiter Rankings

• 2017: 40
• 2016: 6
• 2015: 35
• 2014: 227
• 2013: 44

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Coach 7

• Coordinator, one top-level program for two years

S&P+ as coordinator

• 2017: 15
• 2016: 12

Recruiter Rankings as coordinator

• 2017: 11
• 2016: 1

Recruiter Rankings as position coach

• 2015: 2
• 2014: 2
• 2013: 92

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My Results

Just going off these numbers, as much as I can do so blindly after having done the research, here’s the way I think I’d rank them:

1. Coach 2 — Head coaching experience at a major program over an extended period with excellent overall results. Not listed as a recruiter anywhere, but presumably his staff could recruit.
2. Coach 5 – Five years as a coordinator, and excelled all five years. Did it at three different programs, so it’s not a fluke. Also a solid recruiter.
3. Coach 6 – This guy is basically the same as Coach 5, except he’s only done it at one place.
4. Coach 4 – A coordinator at two major programs with excellent numbers and elite recruiting to boot.
5. Coach 7 – Basically Coach 4 with one year less experience, but arguably with even more promise, both in stats and recruiting ability.
6. Coach 3 – This guy is Coach 4, but with worse recruiting.
7. Coach 1 – Head coaching experience at a second-tier program after four years as a major program coordinator. As a coordinator, he looked much like the other coordinators on the list, but recruiting wasn’t elite. As a head coach, he has decent numbers on one side of the ball in his third year, but not on the other.

That’s how I’d rank them at this time. What do y’all think?

 

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Here’s the key:

• Coach 1: SMU head coach Chad Morris (formerly OC of Clemson)
• Coach 2: Former LSU head coach Les Miles
• Coach 3: Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele (formerly DC of LSU)
• Coach 4: Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker (formerly DC of Alabama)
• Coach 5: Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt (formerly DC of Georgia and FSU)
• Coach 6: Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables
• Coach 7: USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin

When Tennessee’s search came up empty in Raleigh on Thursday morning, it seemed like two options were available. The Vols could press pause, take a breath after the events of an unprecedented week, and reset the board. Or the Vols could press on, try to make a hire as quickly as possible to change the narrative, and “settle” for a down-the-board unproven.

Thursday afternoon, John Currie instead went for door number three: let’s get Mike Leach, and let’s get weird. In their desperation, they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand. And what a grand experiment this would have been.

Then on Friday morning, weird and unprecedented collided head-on. And on Friday afternoon, at the end of our most insane week at the end of our most insane decade…on Friday afternoon, Tennessee found its way home.

To be clear, the house needs a lot of work. The brick-by-brick renovations looked good for a moment, but ultimately had to be torn down. But today, Phillip Fulmer is the athletic director, and Tennessee feels like home.

This has to be the culmination of the insanity.

We throw “rock bottom” around too often; at the end of the program’s first 4-8 season it’s easy to do. The Vols may continue to struggle on the field in the short-term, and no athletic program of this size and stature runs without drama. But if Tennessee is going to move forward in a meaningful way, Friday has to be the end of the madness.

Tennessee forced Fulmer out at the tail end of the 2008 season, one year after he won 10 games and his fifth division title. They replaced him with Lane Kiffin. Since then:

• Kiffin left in the middle of the night to take the Southern Cal job after just one season in January 2010.
• The Vols hired Derek Dooley fresh off a 4-8 season at Louisiana Tech.
• Bruce Pearl took the basketball program to its first Elite Eight in March 2010, then lost his job one year later, in part for lying about a photograph taken at a BBQ, for which he received a three-year show cause.
• Derek Dooley was fired after three years by Dave Hart, who replaced Mike Hamilton as athletic director. The Vols had Charlie Strong, then didn’t, and ended up hiring Butch Jones.
• Cuonzo Martin took the Vols to the Sweet 16 in 2014, then left for California after a low-ball offer from Dave Hart, who chose not to denounce an in-season petition for Bruce Pearl’s return.
• Hart hired Donnie Tyndall in April 2014. In November, the NCAA announced an investigation into his time at Southern Miss. He was fired after one season in Knoxville.
• Hart retired, in part due to the university’s involvement in a Title IX lawsuit alleging a culture of rape at Tennessee, as did chancellor Jimmy Cheek. Beverly Davenport replaced Cheek, then hired John Currie to replace Dave Hart.
• Butch Jones signed a pair of Top 10 recruiting classes in 2014 and 2015, but coached that talent to only a pair of 9-4 seasons in 2015 and 2016. Tennessee lost to Florida in inexplicable fashion in 2014, 2015, and 2017, failed to win the SEC East despite beating Florida and Georgia in 2016, and missed a chance to make a New Year’s Six bowl by losing to Vanderbilt. In 2017 the Vols fell apart and finished 4-8 for the first time in program history. Jones was fired.

And then, this week.

People smarter than me, including Phillip Fulmer, will tell you Tennessee has suffered on the field and court in large part because they suffered in the board room:  the administration, the athletic department, and influential boosters playing too much tug-of-war. With Fulmer at the helm in the AD, Tennessee must start exerting the majority of its might toward the same goals. And Fulmer at the helm gives Tennessee a better chance to do so than we’ve seen in the last decade.

The long-term became more important this week.

When Tennessee lost to South Carolina and change was moving from possible to probable, this still seemed like a short-term fix. Tennessee’s senior class is small and there are still plenty of recruiting stars on the roster, unlike the turnover we saw from Kiffin-to-Dooley and Dooley-to-Butch. The Vols won nine games in 2015 and 2016, and were ranked for the first three weeks of this season. Hire the right coach and they might come in and sustain the level Butch Jones enjoyed, then hopefully level up.

Since then the Vols lost to Kentucky and were non-competitive in the second half with Missouri, LSU, and Vanderbilt. Two offensive linemen who would have been starters next year will no longer be on the team in 2018, plus a five-star legacy lineman opened up his recruitment. A legitimate conversation about whether to keep Butch Jones if he went 8-4 quickly turned into a 4-8 season, and an understanding that whoever was next would have multi-year work to do to get Tennessee back.

But as this week spiraled out of control, it became clear Tennessee’s long-term future was at stake. And it became clear this wasn’t a problem to be solved simply by making the right hire for the football team.

Friday morning, it felt like Tennessee football was more vulnerable than at any point in my lifetime. Even when the Vols hired Derek Dooley and you knew things would be bad for a couple of years, Tennessee was still just two seasons removed from an SEC East title and eight years removed from the doorstep of the BCS Championship Game. The program was relevant in a way that could (and did) survive Dooley, and survive a three-year recruiting failure from 2007-09.

But now, on the heels of 4-8 and with such instability in the athletic department, Tennessee’s long-term future was in jeopardy. At the end of a difficult decade, the perception quickly became that continuing to march to the beat of the same drum – one that thought Greg Schiano was the best option – would prevent Tennessee from getting healthy. And thus Currie is out, Fulmer is in, and the Haslams’ power seems diminished, with fan voices singing their approval.

An underrated variable in this whole equation is timing, something which finally worked in Tennessee’s favor in basketball when Rick Barnes became available as Donnie Tyndall was fired. What if Jim McElwain squeaks out those games against LSU and Texas A&M in October, and Florida doesn’t decide to make a change? Is Dan Mullen the coach in Knoxville on Sunday, and all of this mess is simply avoided?

This is the biggest question:  is what happened this week a good thing for Tennessee long-term? If the problems on The Hill were indeed systemic, changing the balance of power at the top could be a win for Tennessee even as they take a loss in the short-term. That loss has already come in the national media, though their news cycles get continually shorter. That loss may also come on the field for a season or two. But is Tennessee better off today, with Phillip Fulmer at the helm, the fan voice registering, and everyone given a new chance to pull in the same direction? The answer could be yes even if the alternatives were Jeff Brohm, Mike Leach, or another coach we liked working under the previous system.

Faith returns, hope awaits, love abides

This week I have been more grateful than ever for the teams I love (the Celtics and, for a very long time, the Braves) that are well-run organizations. Growing up with the 80’s Celtics, the 90’s Braves, and the Majors/Fulmer Vols, it was easy to have faith in your team and assume they would make good decisions, giving them the very best chance to win.

At Tennessee, I think much of this faith endured among the fan base even when the first half of the last decade could be blamed on circumstance. When the Vols ended up with Butch Jones instead of Charlie Strong five years ago, faith wavered but love remained. Tennessee fans showed up for Teams 117-121.

But it became clear on Sunday fans did not believe in those with decision making power. This could have been a helpless feeling, and perhaps is in other situations it would be; what do you do if you’re, say, a Cleveland Browns fan?

But after a week of raised voices and real threats to stop showing up – in person and in the university’s bank account – a change sparked by a unified fan voice has given us a leader we can believe in. And once more, faith stirs.

We will see about hope. We noted in the middle of last week that despite a lack of faith in this administration, they still might land a coach to provide some degree of hope. Tennessee tried to rebound with Mike Gundy, then Jeff Brohm, then went to a coach who would have struggled in this department in Dave Doeren. Some of the names from previous hot boards might get a second call, others could move up the ladder, and perhaps Fulmer has a surprise or two up his sleeve. Hiring hope can still make a real difference in ticket sales and patience.

But at the end of a remarkable week and the start of a new chapter in Tennessee athletics, love remains. Love for Tennessee was behind the voices lifted in protest on Sunday, and love for Tennessee brought Fulmer to the big chair. The house needs work, and the family may still bicker about the best way to do it, as only family can. But love for Tennessee remains our unifying factor. We will need it, and we will need to continue to pull together in the same direction before we can make room for another trophy case.

But for now, it feels good to be home. On Friday night, there was finally a chance to rest in this search. My wife and I went out to dinner, and I grabbed an orange hat on my way out the door. It felt better on my head than it had in a long time.

Go Vols.