All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football reportedly hiring Kevin Steele is suspicious: Five possibilities

By Caleb Calhoun

Jan 1, 2021; Orlando, FL, USA; Auburn Tigers interim head coach Kevin Steele walks on the field before the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2021; Orlando, FL, USA; Auburn Tigers interim head coach Kevin Steele walks on the field before the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; General view before the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 5, 2020; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; General view before the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /

Possibility No. 4: Somebody is violating the rules.

Don’t put it past Tennessee football to do something like this. It wouldn’t be the first time somebody involved with the program didn’t listen to a superior, and it wouldn’t surprise anybody who has followed this program for the last decade-plus.

Remember back in 2017, during the fiasco of a coaching search, when John Currie didn’t listen to his superiors and went rogue trying to hire Mike Leach and save face? That’s what landed Phillip Fulmer as athletic director in the first place.

It’s possible that Jeremy Pruitt or somebody on staff has decided to go rogue and not listen to the administration due imposing the hiring freeze. Maybe Pruitt wasn’t even the one who did it. What if somebody else on staff did it and leaked it to the news?

Or what if the administration simply ignored its own rules to bring Steele onto the staff? After all, Steele was an assistant with Fulmer back in the 1980s. Maybe there’s a sense of loyalty that led to them making an exception for him.

Simply put, this school has a history of nobody being on the same page, and that seems like a possibility here. Still, it seems pretty unlikely. If somebody did go rogue, it would lead to our next, more plausible explanation.

Home/Vols Football