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

By Caleb Calhoun

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 Michael Chang/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images /

Unlike Greg Schiano, Kevin Steele is a very good defensive coordinator. And he is a Tennessee football alumnus, so he actually could have been a great fit for the Vols. Phillip Fulmer interviewed him multiple times last year.

However, Steele had too many negatives on his resume. His tenure with the Baylor Bears was horrible, and he has had random mental lapses throughout his career. This year, those negatives showed up a bit more.

Steele’s Auburn Tigers had the No. 45 ranked total defense in the nation. That’s significantly better than what Greg Schiano did, but it wasn’t enough for Auburn to win the games it needed to win. His late-game defenses cost this team against both the LSU Tigers, and ironically, the Vols.

Sure, he didn’t have a lot of help from the offense this year. But there were too many struggles to put him on the level of other coaching candidates from last season. The difference between Steele and Schiano and Jon Gruden, however, is that this is not a full indictment of Steele as a coach. Auburn’s offense’s inability to always stay on the field was a big reason for the defensive struggles. Steele just had a mediocre season, and that puts him at No. 8 on this list.

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