Tennessee football: Top 5 remaining potential OC candidates for Vols

The Atlanta Falcons just canned Steve Sarkisian, and quite honestly, he’d be the smoothest transition for Tennessee football. Sarkisian’s NFL connections and experience in the Pac-12 are all rooted in the pro-style offense, so he’d likely be the easiest fit following Tyson Helton. He’d also be a bit of a surprise hire as somebody who wasn’t even on the board a month ago.

That may not be what Vols fans want, but you have to assume Sarkisian would do a better job than Helton, even if he was just fired. Don’t forget that he was once the hottest coaching commodity out there after turning around the Washington Huskies. And Atlanta had a Top 10 offense in the NFL this year.

Now, to be fair, there are some concerns. You wonder if the game has passed him by a bit as it did with the Bobby Petrino offense. And despite dropping over 40 points, his last college outing was the loss to Deshaun Watson and the Clemson Tigers. That was a game the Alabama Crimson Tide should’ve won, but Sarkisian made some critical errors. So this is all worth bringing up.

However, given the state of the search right now, Sarkisian would be an amazing hire. If not for his demons, he would have undoubtedly turned around the USC Trojans, who had gone 9-4 his first year and were recruiting at a very high level. He and Pruitt have a connection as well from their time at Alabama, so there’s a chance that this move is made.