David Cutcliffe

David Cutcliffe coached in the SEC for 25 seasons at Ole Miss and the University of Tennessee, including six seasons as head coach of the Rebels from 1999-2004. Cutcliffe began his run in the SEC as an offensive assistant at Tennessee in 1982. He worked his way through the coaching staff as the tight ends coach and then the quarterbacks coach, eventually taking over as offensive coordinator from 1993-1998. He was the offensive coordinator of the Volunteers’ 1998 national championship team, but left Tennessee following the regular season to take over as head coach at Ole Miss after then-Rebels coach Tommy Tuberville departed for Auburn. Nevertheless, Cutcliffe was still honored with the 1998 Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Cutcliffe coached the ’98 Rebels to a victory in the Independence Bowl while his former team won a national title. As Ole Miss’ head coach his teams posted five consecutive winning seasons from 1999-2003 and were twice ranked in the final Associated Press poll (in 1999 and 2003). His 2003 squad finished tied for first in the SEC West with a 7-1 conference record, and he was 4-1 in bowl games at Ole Miss including the ’98 Independence Bowl.

Cutcliffe was fired following a disappointing 4-7 season in 2004, and after one year as an assistant at Notre Dame he returned to Tennessee for the 2006 and 2007 seasons, once again serving as Phillip Fulmer’s offensive coordinator. He was hired as the head coach at Duke University beginning in 2008. While coaching in the SEC, Cutcliffe had the opportunity to coach both Manning brothers throughout their college careers. He coached Peyton at Tennessee from 1994-1997, and recruited and coached Eli at Ole Miss from 2000-2003.