Kevin Steele has really got this buyout thing figured out.

Unfortunately for Tennessee, they are still having significant issues trying to solve that same issue.

It remains to be seen how effective Tennessee will be in its attempts to avoid paying Jeremy Pruitt his massive buyout on Rocky Top, chancellor Donde Plowman made it quite clear Pruitt was fired for cause, meaning the former Volunteer coach won’t be receiving his buyout unless the courts decide otherwise or Tennessee settles with Pruitt out of court before things go down that route.

Either way, Tennessee managed to needlessly burden itself with a buyout of nearly $1 million after signing Kevin Steele to a contract just over two weeks ago.

Following the hire of head coach Josh Heupel, a source has indicated to SDS that Steele will not be retained by the new Tennessee coach.

Steele’s contract at Tennessee calls for him to make $550,000 in base pay and $350,000 in supplemental pay (which comes via the school’s broadcast, endorsement, and/or consultation contracts as worded by the coach’s contract).

According to his contract with Tennessee, if Steele is let go without cause — which would be the case here unless he managed to commit some recruiting violations in the two weeks he’s been on campus — Tennessee would owe him $900,000 in monthly installments for the next two years.

Keep in mind, Steele was set to make $5 million from Auburn after the coach was dismissed following the hire of Bryan Harsin.

Unfortunately for Steele, he will not be adding Tennessee’s $900,000 to the $5 million Auburn owes him. Instead, Auburn now owes Steele $4.1 million with Tennessee footing the other $900,000.

This is all you need to know about how poorly Tennessee mismanages its athletic department.

Once again, Tennessee can’t help but become the butt of the joke.

Here are some reactions around the SEC from John Brice’s report on FootballScoop.com regarding Steele not being on staff at Tennessee under Heupel.