Getty Image / Ken Murray
It seems well in the past now, but Tennessee Volunteers football is not far removed from a decade-plus of mediocrity. The historical powerhouse was seemingly stuck in quicksand following legend Phil Fulmer’s departure following the 2008 season. The revolving door of head coaches included Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt before they finally settled on current coach Josh Heupel.
It seemed like for years that nothing could go right for the program when it came to head coaches. Lane Kiffin left after just one year for the USC job. Derek Dooley was quite clearly incompetent. Butch Jones had some winning seasons, but is more famous for calling his players “champions of life”, and the Pruitt years resulted in him being fired for cause and the program receiving sanctions this week.
When Pruitt was fired following the 2020 season, Tennessee knew that their hire was truly make-or-break. Each year that passed with the program not being competitive was another year back where it faded in the minds of recruits. So, then-athletic director Phil Fulmer submitted his list of options. Here’s the Leaf Chronicle with more details.
“Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer considered some eye-opening candidates to replace Jeremy Pruitt as Vols football coach before Pruitt was fired and Fulmer retired in January 2021, an internal university email shows.
Former UT quarterback Tee Martin, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, Florida coach Billy Napier and South Carolina coach Shane Beamer were on his list of 16 potential candidates.
And so was a coach Fulmer called Alex French, whoever that is.
Knox News obtained the email through an open records request.
It contains additional revelations about Fulmer’s state of mind during the early stages of an investigation into NCAA major recruiting violations under Pruitt.”
You can look down the list of candidates in the article, but the big names aside from Heupel included current Florida coach Billy Napier, current Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, South Carolina coach Shane Beamer, current Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, and current Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell.
But, after last year’s 11-2 season, it seems like they made the right choice.