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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 /
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Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele watches warmups before the Tennessee game Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.Jb Auburntenn 1257
Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele watches warmups before the Tennessee game Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.Jb Auburntenn 1257 /

Possibility No. 1: Kevin Steele’s role doesn’t conflict with hiring freeze.

As we were writing this piece up about the suspicion of Tennessee football hiring Kevin Steele, Grant Ramey of GoVols247 wrote that Patrick Brown of GoVols247Sports reports Steele has been hired as a non-coordinator assistant. It’s confirmed that he’s now a defensive assistant. That could mean lots of different things.

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For starters, this is another official source confirming what Low reported, making it even less likely this report is untrue, which we all pretty much knew anyway. It also isn’t surprising that Steele, despite being a defensive coordinator last year, wouldn’t hold that title this year with Derrick Ansley still on the staff in that role.

However, Jeremy Pruitt’s two vacancies are defensive line and offensive line coaches. Steele, as a guy whose entire experience is coaching defense, is not likely to take on the role of offensive line coach, and he’s also never coached defensive line. As a result, it would be hard to see what role Steele would be in.

Well, what if he’s in an off-field role? Did Pruitt find a workaround on the hiring freeze when it came to filling vacancies? Maybe Steele isn’t filling a vacancy at all but coming on as an advisor. Pruitt was an off-field assistant with the Alabama Crimson Tide when Steele was the defensive coordinator there in 2007 and 2008. Maybe this is a similar move but the reverse.

Next. Five coaches for Vols to consider as Pruitt's replacement. dark

Unless Pruitt has moved around Brian Niedermeyer, Ansley or Shelton Felton, Tennessee football will either have Steele in a role he’s never coached before or in an off-field role. We’ll have to wait and see, but an off-field role could avoid the restrictions put on Pruitt during this investigation.

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