Who Wants To Lead The Volunteers?

Ten years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that an SEC program, loaded with the type of tradition that few others can boast, would have a hard time finding a head football coach. But that is the situation at Tennessee and now the Volunteers must dive deep into their pool of candidates before they find someone willing to take the once revered position.

After parting ways with Phillip Fulmer in 2008, Tennessee hired Lane Kiffin, freshly fired and run through the gamut by Al Davis in Oakland, as their new head coach and put faith in him to restore the fading program. Fourteen months later Kiffin is back on his old turf at Southern Cal and the Volunteer faithful are once again looking for the right man to fit the job description, this time without much luck.

There definitely isn’t a lack of qualified candidates or knowledgeable young assistants who want a chance to run their own program. Frankly, there has never have been a bigger group of successful coaches on the market but each is talented enough to wait for the ‘perfect fit’ to come along before they make their move. Tennessee doesn’t seem to be anybody’s ‘perfect fit’.

Former Tennessee assistant David Cutcliffe, who is best known for developing both Manning brothers into NFL stars, turned down the position to stay at Duke. It speaks volumes when a former Vols assistant would rather stay at Duke instead of taking the reins at the former SEC powerhouse.

Will Muschamp had much better reasons for not taking the job. As the head-coach-in-waiting at Texas, Muschamp will be given every opportunity to take over the winningest program of the last decade once Mack Brown decides to step down. With that honor in his near future it’s not a surprise that Muschamp didn’t take Tennessee up on their offer but the lack of other big name coaches with interest in the program is.

Jon Gruden put talks of coming out of retirement to take over the Vols to rest very quickly. Utah coach Kyle Wittingham also decided to stay at a non-BCS school instead of pursuing his trade in Tennessee. The denials aren’t the only problematic sign revolving around the vacancy though. The overall lack of passion for the job has to be troubling for Volunteer fans and - to a point - the SEC.

There are a couple main issues surrounding this job that make it less desirable than it was, say, five years ago.

First of all, you won’t be handed a program that is ready to win immediately but you also won’t be taking over a program whose fan base is willing to patiently wait for a winner to come along. Tennessee fans are like the ugly rich guy that expects beautiful women to like him even before he shows them his wallet. Just like the women will eventually like the guy for his money, Tennessee’s football program will eventually start winning because the school and state are committed to its program.

The one thing Kiffin did during his short stint in Knoxville was convince fans that his team would win, and win soon. He made an immediate impact on the SEC’s recruiting landscape and did not allow anyone else’s expectations for his team to be bigger than his own. Now, the new coach at UT has to live up to them.

Secondly, there are so many good coaches in the SEC right now with programs so far ahead of Tennessee that it wouldn’t make sense for a proven coach to take their offer. The reality at Tennessee is that they have to be willing to take the rising, small name assistant coach who has nothing to lose by taking over their program.

Fourteen months ago a spark hit the Tennessee campus and started a fire whose affects were felt from Knoxville to Gainesville to Starkville. Now that the ignition has left it is the athletic department’s responsibility to keep that fire burning and the momentum moving in the right direction. So far, the Volunteers don’t seem up to the task.