Report: Boosters at Tennessee now want John Currie out following Greg Schiano ordeal
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Knoxville just can’t seem to have a quiet 24 hours.
Following what had to have been the most intense standoff on Rocky Top between the fan base and the administration, that’s really saying something given Tennessee’s recent history, the pressure is now mounting on Athletics Director John Currie after only seven months on the job in Knoxville.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman, some big-money boosters want to force Currie out of his job after trying to replace Butch Jones with Greg Schiano. Fair or not, the current Ohio State defensive coordinator has been mentioned as having knowledge of Jerry Sandusky’s criminal activity while at Penn State. Schiano has denied this charge and Currie says all accusations against the coach have been vetted.
Here’s what Feldman had to say on Twitter:
Am told there's increasing pressure now from big-money #Vols boosters to force #Tennessee AD John Currie out in the wake of Sunday's news. UT source told me: "This is such a hot mess. Just when you think they’ve gotten out of the ditch. They’ve fallen into a much bigger one.”
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 27, 2017
Currie released a statement Monday morning explaining his thought process in pursuing Schiano. Here’s the section that involves his vetting process:
Coach Schiano worked at Penn State from 1990-1995. Consequently, we, of course, carefully reviewed the 2012 investigation report by Louis Freeh. Coach Schiano is not mentioned in the Freeh report and was not one of the more than 400 people interviewed in the investigation. We also confirmed that Coach Schiano was never deposed and never asked to testify in any criminal or civil matter. And, we conferred with our colleagues at The Ohio State University, who had conducted a similar inquiry after the 2016 release of testimony.
Where this goes from here is anyone’s guess but it appears Tennessee may be searching for a new AD as well as a coach if things continue down this path.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
