Report: Tennessee looking to hire defensive coordinator soon, NFL assistant interested
With National Signing Day complete, Josh Heupel appears to be focused on finding his defensive coordinator.
John Brice of FootballScoop shared a lengthy update on the search Thursday, detailing that the Vols have looked at multiple Power 5 coordinators, an NFL assistant has expressed interest and UT “is believed to be eyeing a hiring timeline before the end of the weekend.”
Brice’s report says Louisville defensive coordinator Bryan Brown was “potentially the focus of the search.” Brown, however, is “highly likely” to remain at Louisville as of Thursday morning, Brice reports.
Heupel reportedly also showed interest in USC defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. Similar to Brown’s situation, as of Wednesday Brown was “widely expected” to remain at Southern Cal, according to Brice’s sources.
The NFL assistant who showed interest is not named, but Brice offers a notable detail:
An NFL assistant coach from a playoff team also has expressed interest in the position, sources confirmed to FootballScoop.
As has been previously reported, Kevin Steele is not expected to remain at Tennessee. Heupel inherited the former Auburn defensive coordinator who signed a contract with UT ahead of Jeremy Pruitt’s firing. Brice described Steeles as “a bit of an odd-man-out in Knoxville since Heupel’s formal hiring.”
The report says that UCF’s search for a new athletic director, who will hire the new Knights head coach, has been a factor in delaying the defensive coordinator search. It’s uncertain if any UCF staffers will be following Heupel to Rocky Top.
Still, Heupel hopes to have a defensive coordinator in the coming days.
“So Heupel’s search continues, but per sources, Tennessee is believed to be eyeing a hiring timeline ‘before the end of the weekend,'”Brice writes.
The full report, with more on Steele’s situation, can be read here.
I guess Kevin Steele’s tenure in Knoxville is an example of Heupel’s policy ‘love you long time’ when compared to the three star who lasted about a minute after coach found out about his scholarship. Both tossed out like a living room tabby cat with no kitty litter and stomach cramps.
Well guess saying who isnt expected to take the job is better than nothing at all but how about who he may be considering. This DC hire has been frustrating to me. Its good to at least hear someone say something about the process and that its actually taking place.
Who is Heupel going to find better than Kevin Steele, or that will cost them exactly nothing more than UT is already obligated to pay Steele? It seems like for the kind of salaries that these guys are under contract for, they could play nice together.
I don’t think you find anyone better with a resume like Steele has. It has to be that Heupel/Steele are just not comfortable working with each other. I don’t get it.
There are questions concerning whether steele is trustworthy or not. One of the rumors coming out of aub is that steele was a preferred option by a collection of boosters and there were thoughts that steele may not have been operating under malzahn’s best interests. it was widely reported that steele in fact might get the job. whatever ultimately happened, the AD chose harsin.
whether steele in fact had anything to do with malzahn’s dismissal remains to be confirmed or rejected, but nevertheless, there are open questions whether he’s fully trustworthy or not. with it not being rejected, can’t fault a guy if he has a hesitation in bringing in a coach that may have played a part in his previous boss’ termination….even if it may make economic sense.
Jeff Fisher
It’s not going to be Jeff Fisher. He’s been an NFL coach since 1985 and a head coach from 1995-2016. Ain’t no way he’d be willing to hit the recruiting trail or say “yes sir” to a newbie head coach.
Someone that will not have a butcher knife aimed at his back?
I really like Kevin Steele as the DC and think he’s a great hire, but understand that Heupel likely doesn’t want a proven backstabber working under him in this mess of a program. Steele teamed up with the boosters in a risky coup attempt and lost. He’s going to find a lot of doors closed there next few years as a result.
Kevin Steele is a good defensive coordinator. He was with Spurrier during his run at South Carolina. But any coordinator is only as good as the talent level he has to work with.
i’m surprised our friend the georgia inbred (corch) hasnt chimed in with his usual rhetoric
Don’t worry. He will be here once Kirby allows him to get off his knees.
Heupel will hire Jeff Fisher if he doesn’t get the Montana St job and he won’t get it. So, it’s Fisher as DC. He’s a defensive genius.
Earlier they were reporting that Steele was gone and UT owed him $1 million for 2 weeks work. Which is it? Instead of being firs, try being riht for a change.
Oh Lord, will they come after ANOTHER of our Gamecock Coaches?
BLS do you have us confused with auburn?
I love this! All speculation with no leaks. The good O’l Boys club has been garbage dumped. You sports writers must be totally frustrated. Too funny!
I know I have posted this before, but, with everything that is going on at Tennessee, how in the world did they manage to out-recruit the likes of Ole Miss, Arkansas, Miss ST, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina? According to the experts, they hauled in the 6th best class in the SEC! Also according to the experts, Auburn came in at number 11! Now, before all of you Auburn folks blame it on the coaching change, hell, Tennesse don’t even know who most of their staff is gonna be, in addition to the sanctions that await! You can excuse it anyway you choose, but, if Tennessee out-recruited you this year, your school is in trouble!
The class was signed in December before Pruitt was fired. Top 2 signees want out of their LOI’s so the class may take a hit.
Many are looking past the fact that our defense was on the field about 75% of the time because our offense was very badly coached. The D just got worn out. We have some elite players on both sides of the ball. If properly coached, we will surprise a few teams (and all you negative Normans) this year.
That wouldnt surprise a lot of us. The Vols have had several good recruiting classes and even a top 20 class for a new coach to start out with. The cupboard is far, far from empty. If you got the right coaching staff, I really dont see any reason why Tennessee wont be in the top three in the east.
Being odd man out is someone’s take on this, but what we dont know is whether Steele was wanting to be DC or if some personalities and hard feelings popped up. At Steele’s age, it would have appeared that being a highly paid DC as you wind down your career would have been his goal. He’s obviously better as a DC than most that will be available I would have thought. Sure looked like it could happen if they were both interested. An SEC DC with years of experience and a good record are hard to come by.
Got the best man for the job on the payroll already and still looking to pay more money. Can’t see the forest for the trees. The more things change, the more they remain the same.