Worthy of a call
Penn State head coach James Franklin
Franklin would be an amusing hire, given his time as head coach at Vanderbilt where he had an unprecedented amount of success and picked at Tennessee relentlessly. The Pennsylvania native would be a hard pull for the Vols, but they should at least kick the tires with him. It’s already been speculated that Tennessee will reach out and gauge his interest.
In seven seasons at Penn State, Franklin has gone 60-28. That includes three 11-win seasons and three different New Year’s Day Six bowl game appearances. Franklin went 24-15 in three seasons at Vanderbilt thanks to back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2012 and 2013. It was the first time in program history that the Commodores finished with nine wins in back-to-back seasons.
Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal
Cristobal is in the same boat as Franklin. He may be a hard pull for the Vols, but they should at least kick the tires on the Ducks’ head football coach, and there’s been speculation they will in fact gauge his interest. Cristobal was a candidate for the Auburn job and it would make sense for him to be interested in Tennessee as he looks to get back into the SEC, where he was one of Nick Saban’s top assistants from 2013-2016.
Cristobal is 25-9 after three seasons as Oregon’s head coach. 2019 has been his best season in Eugene, guiding the Ducks to a 12-2 record and a Rose Bowl victory. Oregon is Cristobal’s second career head coaching gig. He went 27-47 as FIU’s head coach from 2007-2012.
Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck
Fleck is an intriguing name to monitor. As is the case with Tony Elliott and Sonny Dykes, FootballScoop reported Saturday morning that Fleck was being vetted by Tennessee. Fleck has been a common name during coaching searches across the country. He has had a tremendous amount of success in his only two head coaching jobs at Western Michigan and currently at Minnesota.
At Western Michigan, he was 30-22 in four seasons as head coach, capping his time there with a 13-1 season in 2016. He has gone 26-19 at Minnesota in four seasons since taking the job following that ’16 season. Fleck led the Golden Gophers to an 11-2 record in 2019 that ended with an Outback Bowl win over Auburn.
Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien
O’Brien fits the mold of what White is going to want in a head coach given that he is an offensive coach and has head coaching experience. O’Brien could view the OC job in Tuscaloosa more attractive than Tennessee’s head coaching job, but UT should still kick the tires with the former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach.
The Massachusetts native struggled during his most recent coaching stint in Houston. It’s important to remember, however, that Tennessee would be hiring O’Brien the head coach and not O’Brien the general manager. O’Brien has proven to be a good coach over the course of his career dating back to his time with the New England Patriots and his time at Penn State while navigating the nasty scandal involving Jerry Sandusky.
Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel
Heupel is a name to monitor simply because White hired him at UCF after Scott Frost left to take the job at Nebraska. The former Missouri offensive coordinator has picked up where Frost left off, leading UCF to a 28-8 record in three seasons. Heupel went 12-2 in his first season as a head coach in 2018, and then 10-3 in 2019.
Former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn
Malzahn is an intriguing candidate for many reasons. He’s one of the few coaches who have had success against Nick Saban over the last decade and he’s competed for multiple national championships during that time period. But Malzahn does have serious red flags within his offense, specifically with his lack of development at the quarterback position. Tennessee isn’t in a spot where it can be too picky, but it is something to consider.
He came up through the high school ranks before accepting the offensive coordinator job at Arkansas in 2006. Malzahn parlayed his success with Darren McFadden into the head coaching job at Tulsa before becoming the OC at Auburn where he won a National Championship with Cam Newton at quarterback. Malzahn then took the Arkansas State job before returning to Auburn to be head coach. He was 68-35 over the course of eight seasons on the Plains with two seasons of at least 10-wins.
Former Texas head coach Tom Herman
Herman is as interesting of a candidate as Malzahn. He is a supposed offensive guru, and that showed during his time at Houston, but his time as Texas’ head coach did not go well at all. Questions surrounding Herman’s personality have come up recently meaning Tennessee would have to decide whether or not it’s willing to take on a coach with potential baggage.
The Cincinatti native went 22-4 during his two seasons at Houston before going 32-18 over four seasons at Texas. He won more than eight games once at Texas, going 10-4 in 2018.
Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield
Satterfield is another offensive mind to keep an eye on moving forward. His time at Louisville hasn’t gone according to plan just yet, but he had a great deal of success at Appalachian State where he played quarterback from 1991-1995. Satterfield went 51-24 in six seasons with the Mountaineers before parlaying his success into the Louisville job. He’s gone 12-12 in two seasons as the Cardinals’ head coach.
SMU head coach Sonny Dykes
‘Possible option’ is probably a better description than ‘worthy of a call’ when it comes to Dykes. FootballScoop reported that Dykes was being vetted by Tennessee, but that could simply be to see who is interested in the job. Dykes is an option because he’s the type of offensive-minded head coach White spoke about pursuing during his introductory press conference.
Even with his success as an offensive mind in college football, Dykes has turned in a mixed bag of results as head coach. He has been successful as a head coach outside of the power five, going 22-15 at Louisiana Tech as he replaced Derek Dooley. He parlayed his success there into the California job before being fired four years later with a record of 19-30. Dykes has bounced back well at SMU, as he is 22-14 following three seasons on the job.
Go to the next page to see which candidates are long shots to get the job.
