By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Last week Tennessee completely botched hiring a new football coach. As you recall they announced they were hiring Greg Schiano. He’s currently Ohio State’s defensive coordinator.

He’s best known for being the head coach at Rutgers and Tampa Bay. There was massive backlash from the fan base. From comments on social media to protests on campus, Vol fans expressed that they were not happy with that move.

This led Athletic Director John Currie to be fired by the University of Tennessee. He just started his AD position April 1, 2017. Currie also courted Oklahoma State’s Mike Leach, NC State’s Dave Doeren, Duke’s David Cutcliffe and Purdue’s Jeff Brohm. They also were interested in Dan Mullen but he accepted the job at Florida.

Now they had to hit the reset button. They hired their legendary former coach Phillip Fulmer as the new AD. That was a great move. Fulmer coached at UT from 1992 – 2008, compiling a 152-52 record. He also won the inaugural BCS National Championship in 1998. It’s interesting to see how things come full circle because Fulmer was forced out of Knoxville in 2008. Since then the program has not had any stability.

Things are so bad that fans actually want Lane Kiffin back. Kiffin was hired to replace Fulmer and he went 7-6 in 2009, his lone season in Knoxville. He bolted for USC in January 2010, which obviously upset many students and fans. He’s currently trolling Tennessee about the vacant coaching position.

I’ve had to wonder with everything going on, is this considered a good job to have? The Vols are coming off a 4-8 season and they went winless (0-8) in conference play. Honestly, in the right circumstances this can be a top 25 job if the fans can have realistic expectations. That’s a stretch with any SEC fan base outside of Vanderbilt and Kentucky though.

I have a few reasons that this can be a good position. The first thing is the recruiting base. Just proximity to Georgia, Florida, Alabama and the Carolinas mean they can attract talented recruits.

Also, the SEC East is pretty weak so a quick turnaround is very possible. Other than Georgia, the rest of the division is struggling. I expect Florida to get better but they also have a new head coach so it will take a couple of years for them to get better.

Unfortunately, the opponent from the SEC West that they play each year is Alabama. They haven’t beaten the Crimson Tide since 2006.

Next year they also play Auburn. If the Tigers are as good or better in 2018 that will more than likely be a blowout loss.

I do think they should realistically win seven games next season. The wins should come against ETSU, UTEP, South Carolina, Charlotte, Vanderbilt, Mizzou and Kentucky. The two games that can go either way are West Virginia and Florida.

There are a few names that are being considered for the job. Former LSU coach Les Miles might be a good candidate. He has experience coaching in the conference and recruiting in the South.

In his twelve seasons in Baton Rouge he went 114-34, winning two SEC Championships and a BCS National Championship in 2007.

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and SMU head coach Chad Morris are also in the mix.

I think they all have obvious strengths and weaknesses but I don’t see them as bad candidates. At this point Tennessee needs to hire a coach so they can try to salvage their recruiting class.