Tag Archives: Pro

Tennessee Vols coaching candidate Bobby Petrino

As Tennessee embarks on its fourth coaching search in ten years, here’s a quick look at Vols coaching candidate Bobby Petrino.

Bobby Petrino coaching experience (56 years old)

Petrino is 73-26 (as of November 13) as the head coach at Louisville in his second stint. He’s also been a head coach at Western Kentucky and Arkansas, where he was building the Hogs into an annual contender until a scandal derailed him. He was the coach of the Atlanta Falcons for a year, and he was an NFL assistant for several years. Petrino was also a college assistant at Carroll, Weber State, Idaho, Arizona State, Utah State, Louisville, and Auburn including numerous collegiate stints as offensive coordinator.

GRT taxonomy of college football coaching: The Proven Winner, Level Three – Major Conference Contender; Guru (offense and quarterbacks); Pro

Why the Tennessee Vols might want Bobby Petrino

This hasn’t been a particularly good year for Petrino, but he is one of the foremost offensive minds in all of college football. He’s a veteran who has proven he can coach and recruit in the SEC, develop quarterbacks — pro-style and dual-threat — and is a master at tailoring his offense to match the talent on his team. He has experienced success recruiting in Florida and has won in the SEC.

Why the Tennessee Vols might not want Bobby Petrino

The Vols could probably get Petrino, but how much would he cost and how loyal would he be? He’s a job-jumper who has been at a lot of places. Also, how much of that Louisville investigation stink does he have on him? Any? When it comes to baggage, few coaches bring as much as Petrino, who lied to the Falcons before taking the job at Arkansas, was involved in the secretive Auburn Tuberville-for-Petrino swap way back when and the infamous motorcycle wreck with a woman who wasn’t his wife that ultimately led to his ouster in Fayetteville.

Tennessee Vols coaching candidate Chip Kelly

As Tennessee embarks on its fourth coaching search in ten years, here’s a quick look at Vols coaching candidate Chip Kelly.

Chip Kelly coaching experience (53years old)

He built Oregon into a powerhouse as a head coach from 2009-2012 before moving on to be the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. Prior to becoming Oregon’s head coach, he was offensive coordinator for the Ducks. Before that, he was a prolific coordinator at New Hampshire. He’s also been an assistant at Johns Hopkins, Columbia and Nevada.

GRT taxonomy of college football coaches: The Proven Winner, Level Two – Major Conference Champion; Guru (offense); Pro; On Hiatus.

Why the Tennessee Vols might want Chip Kelly

He has coached some loaded teams, recruited incredible players and developed quarterbacks like Marcus Mariota. He’s produced some of the most prolific offenses in college football history and left what looked like it could become a dynasty in Eugene before failing in the NFL. He has experience on all levels and isn’t currently coaching.

Why the Tennessee Vols might not want Chip Kelly

Tennessee probably wouldn’t have that many reservations, but how will his brash attitude fly in Knoxville? That’s really the only worry. But Kelly has never recruited in the SEC. He’s a West Coast and Northeast guy. It seems like he’d be an ideal pick for UCLA if he wanted to come back to college ball. But does he want to get another shot at the NFL? How long would he be in Knoxville if you got him to come? How much would he cost? Yes, there’s huge upside, but there are also questions.

Tennessee Vols coaching candidate Greg Schiano

As Tennessee embarks on its fourth coaching search in ten years, here’s a quick look at Vols coaching candidate Greg Schiano.

Greg Schiano’s coaching experience (51 years old)

Schiano has a great mix of NFL and college coaching experience. He’s the current defensive coordinator at Ohio State. Prior to that, he’s been a head coach for the Tampa Bay Bucs and long-time coach at Rutgers (from 2001-11). Before that, he was a defensive coordinator at Miami, a defensive assistant at Penn State and was an NFL assistant with the Bears from 1996-98.

GRT taxonomy of college football coaches: Great Coordinator, Pro

Why the Tennessee Vols might want Greg Schiano

If you’re going to hire a top assistant who can talk to kids about what it takes to get to the League, he’s the guy. He’ll bring a hard-nosed, tough mentality that quite frankly was missing with the soft Vols during the Jones era. Schiano is a dark-horse good fit if he gets the right kind of staff in place. He’s proven he’s an exceptional recruiter, and at his highest points at Rutgers, had the Scarlet Knights as a national contender. But does he know the SEC?

Why the Tennessee Vols might not want Greg Schiano

He wouldn’t say no. This is an ideal situation for him to get back into a college head coaching role, but he hasn’t been a successful college and NFL coach consistently. Can he build the staff of recruiters it would take to coach at Tennessee? This would be a dicey hire that could work out.

Tennessee Vols coaching candidate Jon Gruden

As Tennessee embarks on its fourth coaching search in ten years, here’s a quick look at Vols coaching candidate Jon Gruden, the white whale on Rocky Top.

Jon Gruden’s coaching experience (54 years old)

Vols graduate assistant, 1986-87. College assistant at Southeast Missouri State and Pacific 1988-89. NFL assistant 1990-97, including offensive coordinator at Philadelphia. NFL head coach 1998-2008 at Oakland and Tampa Bay.

GRT college football coach taxonomy: Pro, On Hiatus.

Why the Tennessee Vols might want Jon Gruden

Gruden is the Holy Gru-l of Tennessee coaching searches. His name has come up in each of the past two searches that yielded Derek Dooley and Butch Jones. He’s basically the guy who could completely unify the fan base. He is a former graduate assistant at UT under Johnny Majors, his wife is a former Tennessee cheerleader, his son is a UT student, he owns land in Jefferson County. HIS WIFE WANTS TO BE CLOSE TO FAMILY! HE LOVES THE VOLS! [By now, you’ve heard it all]. He’d give Tennessee that instant-credibility hire that could make the Vols a national story again. In a good way.

Why the Tennessee Vols might not want Jon Gruden

Of course, UT would love to have the Super Bowl winning head coach and current Monday Night Football analyst, but how serious is he about coaching? He makes a ton of money as one of ESPN’s leading analysts, and he has a cushy, stress-free job. He doesn’t know anything about coaching in college, recruiting, or compliance, so he’d have to beef up his support staff in those areas. Plus, he really loves Tennessee. Would he want to take the chance of the highs and lows of rebuilding UT to a powerhouse? That’s a major question.