Report: John Currie may receive hefty buyout from Tennessee after firing

Tennessee fired AD John Currie on Friday morning after he failed to hire a new football coach, getting turned down by several big-name coaches and facing public backlash for trying to hire Greg Schiano.

However, it’s not likely that his failure to land a new coach will result in his firing being for cause, so that means the Vols will probably be on the hook for a buyout.

According to reporter Steve Berkowitz, Currie’s contract has a $5.5 million buyout, which would be owed to him if the firing was without cause:

$5.5 million buyout that would be owed to John Currie by Tennessee for termination w/o cause IS subject Currie's duty to mitigate, with offset from future income

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) December 1, 2017

Currie’s firing is one of many for big-name schools this year, and Berkowitz compiled the buyout figures for other top ADs, too:

Assuming John Currie's termination is w/o cause, here are buyouts AD's have received this fall, pending mitigation:
–Nebraska's Shawn Eichorst: $1.7 million
–Arkansas' Jeff Long: $4.625 million
–Currie: $5.5 million

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) December 1, 2017

The Vols now owe Butch Jones a buyout and may also owe Schiano some money for the botched deal with him.

The bills are piling up on Rocky Top, and that’s before the Vols have even hired a new head coach.