Tennessee football: How did Vols coaching candidates in 2017 fare in 2018?

EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Mike Leach of the Washington State Cougars looks up at the video screen during the third quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Mike Leach of the Washington State Cougars looks up at the video screen during the third quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
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Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images
Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

He was the favorite for two months before the Greg Schiano disaster, just as he was in 2012. It seemed that Jon Gruden loved to play the Vols for attention to feed his ego, and both times he left the program in shambles by doing that.

But karma appears to be hitting early, and it looks like Tennessee football dodged a bullet. Under Gruden, the Oakland Raiders have gotten inexplicably worse. At 2-10, they are tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the worst record, and unlike San Fran, they didn’t lose their starting quarterback.

Speaking of quarterbacks, Gruden was highly touted despite being out of coaching for 10 years specifically due to his quarterback development. Well, Derek Carr is having his worst season in three years.

Simply put, the X’s and O’s genius we all thought of Gruden is fading. Considering he had no background of being a proven recruiter, it literally means he would’ve brought nothing to the table as the Vols’ head coach. So, yeah, Rocky Top is lucky to not have him there. To be fair, Gruden is the one guy on this list who still has some regular season left. But it’s not likely anything will get better.