Tennessee Coaching Search: Who Are The Vols Going To Hire?

We should know who the Tennessee Vols’ next coach will be within the next 7-10 days.

I suppose I should preface this with the fact that I, nor anyone else, have any clue right now who the Tennessee Vols will hire as their next head coach.

John Currie has managed to keep everything very close to the vest through this search, but that might change in the coming days as the regular seasons comes to an end.

It appears the leading candidate to be the Vols’ next head coach is Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen. But appearances can often be deceiving.

There are rumblings that Mullen and Tennessee will meet on Friday to discuss the vacancy, but I can’t imagine Tennessee will be making a decision before talking with some other coaches first.

Honestly, I don’t think Mullen leaves Mississippi State. I think he’s priced himself out of a better job. He currently makes just south of $5 million, which means it would take at least $6-7 million to land him. I’m not sure Tennessee, or anyone else, is going to pay that type of money for a coach that’s never beat Alabama, despite having a team that was once ranked number one in the nation (not saying he wouldn’t be worth it, I think he’s a good coach, I just don’t think it happens).

So what are the Vols’ other options?

Well, there’s Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, but I don’t think he’s a good fit in the SEC. And his unusually high buyout ($9 million) makes him an unlikely option.

There are rumors that Chris Petersen’s reps have reached out to Tennessee. I know Tennessee is interested in the Washington head coach as well. I think he’d be the best hire that the Vols could make, and he currently only makes $4 million a year. Tennessee could reasonably double his salary to convince him to come to Rocky Top.

The big holdup here, obviously, is that Petersen has spent basically his entire life on the west coast. I know folks move across the country for jobs all the time, but this would all really depend on what Petersen wants for his family. I’m not sure he would want to make that move.

Another great option is UCF’s Scott Frost. I like him a lot and I think he’d absolutely kill it at Tennessee, but Florida and Nebraska are probably ahead of UT on his list. However, maybe the Vols could offer Frost a large amount of money (he currently makes less than $2 million, maybe offer $5 million?) to convince him to come to Knoxville. I’m just not sure if everyone would be on board with offering that much money to a guy that’s only been a head coach for two years (I think he’s worth it, for what it’s worth).

Once you get past those options, it doesn’t look inspiring. Perhaps Tennessee calls Mike Leach, or maybe they give Jeff Brohm or Chad Morris a call. Those are all options that don’t offer a lot of hope for Tennessee.

Next: Dan Mullen Speaks About His Future

This next hire is extremely important for Currie and the future of UT football. They can’t afford to go the cheap route and end up back in the same place three years from now.