Tennessee Football: 3 coaches to take over as head coach
Group of 5 Coaches that Tennessee could hire
Tennessee has a few options at the Group of 5 level. It’s unclear if any of these coaches would be willing to leave their current school for Tennessee, given the university’s state right now as well as the timing. That combination could scare away these coaches, but if it doesn’t, the Vols have a couple of really good options.
Louisiana head coach Billy Napier
The first option Tennessee has is Louisiana head coach Billy Napier. He has turned down head coaching jobs at South Carolina and Auburn already, so it’s hard to say he’s willing to leave Louisiana for Tennessee, but it is possible if the Vols can give him what he’s looking for.
Napier has been very successful at Louisiana. In three years, he’s led the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 28-11 record with an impressive 21-4 record over the past two seasons.
For Tennessee fans looking for a “Tennessee guy,” Napier was born in Tennessee. He grew up in Georgia, played at South Carolina, and has spent time coaching for the Gamecocks as well as Alabama under Nick Saban.
Tennessee has hired two coaches that had previous experience under Saban (Jeremy Pruitt and Derek Dooley), which both ended as failures, so I don’t think that experience matters anymore, at least to Tennessee fans. Have they shown they can be a successful head coach without using Saban is the question we should be asking, and I think Napier fits that bill.
His SEC ties make him a real possibility for any SEC job, but if he were looking for an SEC job, you’d think he would take the South Carolina job. Napier might be holding out for an even bigger SEC job, maybe in the state of Louisiana if things don’t work out for an SEC school in the state.
Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell
Jamey Chadwell led the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers to the national spotlight this year, and that has automatically landed him on shortlists for many universities looking for a new head coach to lead its program to prominence as well.
Chadwell has some Tennessee ties as well. He was born in Caryville, Tennessee, played football at East Tennessee State University, and began his coaching career with the Buccaneers as well. Returning to East Tennessee could be what Chadwell is looking for to jump from the Group of 5 to the Power 5 level.
With Tennessee being in this awkward position, they could lean on a coach like Chadwell to work over the next four or five years to get Tennessee back to its winning ways. It’s a tough sell, but Chadwell’s recent success and being from Tennessee could be enough to sell the fanbase.
Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell
Tennessee fans might still have some PTSD from the last time Tennessee hired a coach from Cincinnati, but even Butch Jones didn’t reach the level of success that Luke Fickell has reached as the head coach at Cincinnati.
Of the three Group of 5 coaches, Fickell is probably the least likely head coach on this list to accept a job offer from the University of Tennessee. Fickell is an Ohio native and will likely be looking for a job somewhere in the Big Ten or maybe even Ohio State over a job in the SEC so he can remain in the area he’s originally from.
Although Cincinnati lost its bowl game to Georgia 24-21, the Bearcats went 9-1, with its lone loss being in that bowl game. Over the past three seasons, Fickell has lead the Bearcats to a 31-6 record, so his success over the past three seasons has led to two 11-win seasons, and it could’ve been three straight if Cincinnati played a normal 12-game season.
Those are probably Tennessee’s best options in terms of Group of 5 coaches that might be available right now. I don’t think any of them will be willing to leave their current post for Tennessee right now, and I don’t really blame them.
There are a couple of coaches that have some experience coaching a Power 5 program, and they might be willing to come to Knoxville to lead the Volunteers for the 2021 season.