Tennessee Vols: Updated List Of Coaches To Replace Butch Jones

Greg Schiano — Defensive coordinator at Ohio State

I was extremely anti-Schiano a few weeks ago.

But after diving a bit more into who Schiano is, and who he’s hoping to become, I feel like he would be a great option for the Volunteers.

Schiano did some great thing at Rutgers. And he turned down a lot of coaching opportunities to stay there as the head coach.

So he’s a good football coach and he’s loyal. That automatically makes him a good choice for Tennessee.

But what about the problems that led to the derailment of his head coaching career in the NFL?

Schiano didn’t connect very well with players. He was a tough disciplinarian that took things a bit too far sometimes (stories of Schiano dictating the size of meatballs at Tampa Bay and other silliness were common). But the former Tampa Bay head coach has appeared to learn a lot during his with time with Urban Meyer at Ohio State, which is something that could help him turn into an elite head coach at the collegiate level.

Has Schiano actually changed though? I think he has, based on his comments to Sports Illustrated a couple of years ago.

"Schiano’s time off has helped him realize that modern athletes need constant stimulation. He points to his kids watching Vines on short car rides and Chip Kelly’s philosophy of not having meetings last longer than a half-hour. He plans to bring “juice,” blaring music and constant motivation to his next stop. “You have to be able to live with that organized chaos to keep the energy level up there,” he says. “I am willing to do that.”"

It seems like Schiano learned from his failure in the NFL. When you combine that with some time under Urban Meyer, it makes him the perfect candidate to be college football’s next elite head coach.