Keith Strudler: Almost Hired

So long Greg Schiano. Tennessee barely knew you.

To be clear, Tennessee, more specifically the University of Tennessee, really didn’t get to know you at all. They almost did, as the still current defensive coordinator for the Ohio State football team nearly became the head football coach for the University of Tennessee. But that seeming fait accompli fell apart with remarkable speed and venom somewhere between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning in a twitter fueled campaign of angst and moral outrage.

For those not engrossed in college football culture, Tennessee is a major football school in the Southeastern Conference. Or at least they think they are, or maybe used to be. After several tough seasons, they’ve again fired their head football coach in search of the next messiah, or at least someone that can beat Georgia. Both are equally unlikely. After losing their top prospect Dan Mullen to the open University of Florida job – another school in search of its own personal Jesus – Tennessee athletic director John Currie zeroed in on Schiano, a former head coach for both Rutgers and the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He fared well in the former position, less so in the latter, where the word was that Schiano was both abrasive and coached dirty. That, and he lost a whole lot of games.

But given the run on deep resume coaches and a bunch of openings, Currie planned to get this done quickly. That was the appearance of flying up to Columbus, Ohio, on a Sunday, with the plan of not flying back without either a contract or coach sitting in the seat next to you. Yet oddly, neither happened.

It almost did. In fact, it seems a memorandum of understanding was signed. But as the news leaked Sunday afternoon of Schiano’s imminent migration to Knoxville, a furious social media campaign changed the narrative – if not the entire process. Without belaboring the details, fans began to react to a 2015 deposition from former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary, a central figure in the Jerry Sandusky case. According to the deposition, McQueary said that another coach said that Schiano had witnessed Sandusky abusing a child in the shower. None of this has been confirmed, and Schiano has denied any knowledge of these crimes while he was in Happy Valley. So, to be fair, this is all unverified and a second hand account, at best. Nonetheless, it’s a link to one of the most sordid moments in college sports history – and certainly not one any program wants to be a part of.

So, people started tweeting and posting, and within seemingly minutes, legions of Tennessee faithful had condemned the University for even considering Schiano. Even White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned Tennessee on her Facebook page for hiring someone with his background. And yes, there is remarkable irony here.

By Sunday night, the deal was off. Schiano stays at Ohio State – at this point, probably for long, long time, since he’s borderline unhireable now. Tennessee looks foolish and still doesn’t have a coach. And Tennessee fans feel a new sense of moral superiority. And I say this knowing that this same Tennessee fan base crucified a female employee that accused Tennessee football legend Peyton Manning of sexual misconduct while a student there. So with all due respect to Tennessee fans, there seems to be selective indignation.

There’s a lot to unpackage here. Starting with the obvious fact that a whole lot of people didn’t want Schiano at Tennessee for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with Penn State, but more with the fact that he’s perceived as a weak hire at a place that fancies themselves a top tier program, even if they aren’t. So a lot of people are wondering if the outrage would have been as pronounced if it were a coach with stronger pedigree. Remember, a whole lot of Penn State fans want Coach Paterno’s statue reinstalled on campus. And none of these Tennessee fans seem to mind that their unpaid athletes might end up forgetting their own names at 50 because of CTE. So let’s not give anyone too much credit.

Second, it’s clear that college athletic directors are in an almost untenable situation. Fans – all fans at all schools – demand winning. Which is just not possible. But AD’s will do nearly anything to make that happen. Which means coaches with less than pristine backgrounds might get the call. You think Tennessee doesn’t like Greg Schiano? Just wait until they see who they do hire. Or when the team goes 2-10 next year, which is almost assured to happen.

Perhaps it all comes down to this. We should not have college football coaches earning millions of dollars in a role that rivals military generals in stress and expectation. Because this is what happens – AD’s having to hire in the dark of night to try and outdo their opponent, all so they can win a few games and avoid the ire of their oppressive public. Yeah, Tennessee fans may not like Greg Schiano. But they’re the same group that ran the last two coaches out of town because they didn’t win enough. So there’s that.

We’ll never know if Greg Schiano would win more than the last guy at Tennessee. In fact, Tennessee barely knew him at all.

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