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We answer your best questions about Tennessee athletics and anything else in our weekly mailbag, Insider Mailing.
“Who do you think is the most realistic candidate for the HC job? Frost? Mullen? Other?” – @volunteer_27
Nathanael: I think Dan Mullen is a very realistic choice. He’s the name I’ve heard the most tied to Tennessee (aside from Gruden), and I think it makes sense. I think he’s a much more reasonable choice than Gruden, and I think Mullen’s ceiling at Tennessee will be very high as long as the administration allows him to bring in the staff he wants and needs to be successful. As long as he (or whomever gets the job) gets the support, they will have success at Tennessee.
Will: Dan Mullen. He has the SEC pedigree. He has also reached his ceiling in Starkville. I am under the impression that he would be willing to leave for Knoxville. He interviewed for the Oregon job last offseason, and it’s no secret that he’s open to a step up. I think he’s the guy.
“What is the floor on the next hire?” – Scott
Nathanael: I think the floor is, or at least should be, pretty high for the Vols this time. They shouldn’t have to settle for someone like a Derek Dooley or a Butch Jones. Someone like Scott Frost, Willie Taggart, or Jeff Brohm is the floor in my opinion. I think Tennessee values head coaching experience too much to go after someone like Jeremy Pruitt. I think coaches with little to no Power Five experience are the absolute floor, but I think Tennessee goes much higher this time.
Will: I think the floor is taking a risk on an up and coming guy to be the next head coach. That would mean Tennessee would be looking at Jeff Brohm, Brent Venables or Jeremy Pruitt. And I think all three of those guys would still be good options. But UT needs to hit this one out of the park to keep pace with other SEC teams also making changes. After ten years of being irrelevant, John Currie has to get this one right and grab a winner who can make some noise in year one or two.
“What tweaks should we expect from Coach Hoke?” – Torrey
Nathanael: Probably not much in my opinion. Maybe some more creativity on offense because it’s no longer Butch Jones’ system, but that’s going to be limited by Tennessee’s offensive line. I don’t expect any drastic differences.
Will: Maybe more pro style looks. He ran a multiple offense at Michigan since he was transitioning from a spread scheme there under Rich Rodriguez. So he knows how to run multiple kinds of offenses. You’re also not going to be getting any kind of practice coverage. He’s an old fashioned guy.
“Whats a realistic date of the hire? (Before early signing day not acceptable)” – Landon
Nathanael: As Will and I discussed on our live show this weekend, I think a hire gets made after the Vanderbilt game or after the SEC Championship game at latest. I don’t expect the search to take too long at all. Two or three weeks tops.
Will: This hire needs to be made the Monday following the Vanderbilt game. And I think at the latest, an announcement could come the day after the SEC Championship. But everything I’m told points to a move being made in the next two weeks.
“With all this bad stuff coming out about Butch are we a bunch of fools or was it swept under the Checkered board rug?” – Chris
Nathanael: Nobody is perfect. I think the more time passes, the more stories come out. Almost every coach has some sort of bad story here or there, but it does seem like Jones has more than most. Nothing too terrible yet, but they all add up and don’t look great. I fully expect to hear more stories in the coming weeks and months.
Will: There are a lot of different opinions out there about Butch. And you only look behind the curtain when a guy is losing. I think most coaches have a lot of skeletons in their closets, because it’s impossible to please everyone and make every single player and administrator happy in this age of college football. That being said, I do think Butch had more than his fair share of interesting conflicts and bad stories. It’s hard to say for sure.
