Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator, Mike Yurcich, was the latest name to emerge in Tennessee’s search for an offensive coordinator last week. Yurcich was the hot name in the Vols’ search after it appeared Tennessee had moved on from Houston OC Kendal Briles, and many reports indicated that Yurcich had interviewed with Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt and that a deal might be imminent.
But as of now, Tennessee still doesn’t have an offensive coordinator officially hired, and Yurcich has been out recruiting for Oklahoma State. Add that in with the report last week that UT isn’t expected to make an offensive coordinator hire till after the early signing period, and Yurcich’s name has lost steam with Tennessee.
Yurcich’s head coach at Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy, met with the media over the weekend, and he was asked about Yurcich being tied to the Tennessee job.
“I have not heard from one person at Tennessee,” Gundy told reporters according to Tulsa World. He went on to add that the lack of communication from UT isn’t unusual, though, saying there’s “probably some truth to part of it” when referring to reports that Yurcich had interviewed for the position. He also added that sometimes those reports get “blown out of proportion” and that he generally is pretty relaxed when it comes to his assistants interviewing for other positions.
“What happens now in most cases, if guys are on the road recruiting, they don’t even show up at a place and interview,” Gundy stated. “They meet somewhere in recruiting in Dallas at night, and they’ll do it at a hotel or whatever. I’ve told guys on our staff if they want to do that, it doesn’t bother me. I’m not getting involved in that anyway. I’ve never tried to keep a coach here that wanted to leave. So I said, ‘If you guys end up taking jobs, you need to come tell me. Otherwise, you don’t need to waste my time.’
“That’s kind of the policy that we have here. So until they come and tell me that they want to take another job, I just assume they’re coaching here.”
Yurcich is still on the Cowboys’ staff and has been on the recruiting trail for Oklahoma State over the last week. He’s served as Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator since 2013 and has had a great deal of success calling plays for the Cowboys’ offense. This year, Oklahoma State’s offense ranks 14th in the country in points scored per game, 10th in yards per game, and 17th in yards per play.
The early signing period in recruiting beings this week on Wednesday, December 19th and runs through December 21st.
