David Cutcliffe expected to become next Duke head coach

by Joel on Dec 13, 2007 11:25 PM EST in Tennessee Volunteer Football Comment 19 comments

Update [2007-12-14 12:2:9 by Joel]: Well, so much for the GVX source they cited late last night saying the job had been offered. Cutcliffe just met with the media and said it had not. From GVX:

David Cutcliffe said Friday morning he has not been offered the head coaching job at Duke. Cutcliffe declined to comment further on his possibilities at Duke, saying he would prefer not to speculate on whether or not he expects to be offered the job.

Not much meat on that bone, but plenty to gnaw on.

Update [2007-12-14 7:45:31 by Joel]: Keep in mind that as of right now, nothing's official. Curiously, GoVolsXtra is down right now. The story linked below did in fact cite a source in reporting that Cutcliffe had been offered by Duke and that he would likely accept. But still . . . nothing official. Stay tuned. Keep your eye on ESPN's Chris Low, the best-sourced guy on these matters.

GoVolsXtra cites a source within the Tennessee football program expecting offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe to accept an offer to become the head coach for the Duke Blue Devils.

Yikes that happened fast. As of right now, Cutcliffe's not talking, Fulmer's not talking, and athletic director Mike Hamilton is "declining comment."

The unidentified source knows not whether Cutcliffe will continue to coach Tennessee's offense through the Outback Bowl.

Okay, fine. Good luck to you, coach Cut. Seriously. Vol fans, fret not for this year. Remember, Cutcliffe left early for Ole Miss and didn't coach in the 1998 National Championship game and that turned out just fine. There's power in unknown tendencies.

But what about next year? Who's available? Did anybody even think this was a possibility or has Hamilton been caught completely off guard?

And how does Jonathan Crompton -- who's patiently waited his turn for the Manning-Maker's undivided attention -- feel about the whole thing? Hey, he's from North Carolina, isn't he? Hmm.

More tomorrow, no doubt.

Update [2007-12-14 6:54:59 by Joel]: Still nothing official yet this morning. I'll be tied up at work most of the day, so if you see an official announcement, be sure to post it in the comments below. Also, let's talk replacements. A plan: (1) brainstorm a few names of available candidates; (2) look at the schools with the best offenses to see who we might be able to swipe from someone else; and (3) do some preliminary research on those guys. It's almost 7:00 a.m. now, and I'll get as far as I can and post what I have at 7:30. All y'all take it from there.

Update [2007-12-14 7:38:25 by Joel]: Okay, so this is all I have for now.

Trooper Taylor. Initial gut reactions. I love this guy, and make no mistake, he's more than just a chest bumper. He's got the right work ethic, and he's a fantastic, principled guy to have around. He can certainly recruit and motivate. In his first two years, he redirected first the underachieving stable of running backs and then an underachieving corps of receivers. Best of luck, Troop.

Al Borges. Offensive darling of the SEC for a couple of ears. I'm sorry, years. I meant to say years. Last couple of years, his production dropped off. Have SEC defensive coordinators figured him out? Still, he might be the "safest" hire, and we all know that The Papa likes safe. He's a "west coast" offense guy, not one of those spread guys.

How about Norm Chow? Yeah, right, but this brings up an interesting question. The only way you could attract somebody like that is to hint that upward mobility into the head coaching position is imminent. What does that do to the guys already there? Would any of them be miffed that their long-term loyalty to the program has suddenly been snuffed?

High-powered offenses:

TOTAL OFFENSE
Rank	Name	Games	Plays	Yds	Avg	TDs	Ydspgm	Wins	Losses	Ties
1	Tulsa	13	1040	7053	6.78	70	542.54	9	4	0
2	Texas Tech	12	920	6444	7.00	66	537.00	8	4	0
3	Hawaii	12	867	6351	7.33	75	529.25	12	0	0
4	Houston	12	968	6158	6.36	58	513.17	8	4	0
5	Missouri	13	1040	6405	6.16	65	492.69	11	2	0
6	Kansas	12	914	5893	6.45	69	491.08	11	1	0
7	Nevada	12	892	5867	6.58	56	488.92	6	6	0
8	Louisville	12	909	5856	6.44	55	488.00	6	6	0
9	Oklahoma St.	12	895	5809	6.49	53	484.08	6	6	0
10	Boise St.	12	910	5708	6.27	67	475.67	10	2	0
11	Nebraska	12	898	5619	6.26	53	468.25	5	7	0
12	Oregon	12	955	5545	5.81	55	462.08	8	4	0
13	Florida	12	782	5544	7.09	70	462.00	9	3	0
13	Texas	12	889	5544	6.24	55	462.00	9	3	0
15	BYU	12	933	5491	5.89	50	457.58	10	2	0
16	Arkansas	12	855	5489	6.42	61	457.42	8	4	0
17	Troy	12	979	5434	5.55	52	452.83	8	4	0
18	Oklahoma	13	899	5866	6.53	77	451.23	11	2	0
19	West Virginia	12	835	5406	6.47	62	450.50	10	2	0
20	Toledo	12	916	5381	5.87	52	448.42	5	7	0

SCORING OFFENSE
Rank	Name	Games	Points	Avg	TDs	Kxp	Oxp	Dkxp	Doxp	FG	Sf	Wins	Losses	Ties
1	Hawaii	12	554	46.17	75	69	0	0	0	11	1	12	0	0
2	Kansas	12	532	44.33	69	63	0	0	0	17	2	11	1	0
3	Oklahoma	13	564	43.38	77	70	0	0	0	10	1	11	2	0
4	Florida	12	517	43.08	70	67	0	0	0	10	0	9	3	0
5	Boise St.	12	513	42.75	67	64	1	0	0	15	0	10	2	0
6	Texas Tech	12	501	41.75	66	63	2	0	0	12	1	8	4	0
7	Missouri	13	520	40.00	65	62	2	0	0	20	2	11	2	0
8	Navy	12	479	39.92	61	55	4	0	0	16	1	8	4	0
9	Arkansas	12	478	39.83	61	57	1	0	0	17	1	8	4	0
10	Tulsa	13	513	39.46	70	64	2	0	1	7	1	9	4	0
11	West Virginia	12	467	38.92	62	60	0	0	0	11	1	10	2	0
12	LSU	13	503	38.69	61	58	2	0	0	25	0	11	2	0
13	UCF	13	499	38.38	62	58	1	0	0	21	2	10	3	0
14	Cincinnati	12	441	36.75	59	53	0	0	0	10	2	9	3	0
15	Kentucky	12	440	36.67	57	48	1	0	0	16	0	7	5	0
15	Oregon	12	440	36.67	55	53	2	0	0	17	1	8	4	0
17	Houston	12	436	36.33	58	53	1	0	0	11	0	8	4	0
18	Nevada	12	435	36.25	56	51	0	0	0	16	0	6	6	0
19	Texas	12	432	36.00	55	51	0	0	0	17	0	9	3	0
20	South Fla.	12	430	35.83	54	51	0	0	0	17	2	9	3	0

What do you think? Any chance Tennessee could get a head coach from a offensively-successful smaller school? Somebody like Tulsa's Todd Graham? Or Hawaii's June Jones? Tulsa doesn't disclose its coaching salaries, but Jones makes only a bit over $800k. Would somebody like that take half the salary for a shot at the The Papa's job in a few years?

Okay, so probably no. So what about coordinators? It appears that because Jones runs his own offense at Hawaii, there's no very good candidate there. Gus Malzahn is at Tulsa, but he's still only two years removed from high school. Question: what did Tulsa's offense look like last year? Is this year's success due to Graham or Malzahn? What about Texas Tech's Dana Holgorsen?

Time's up for me for now. See what y'all can come up with.

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Comments

hahahahaha

fultanic is about to go under

by OneNationUnderVols on Dec 13, 2007 11:36 PM EST reply actions

Perhaps...

...but, with your well documented distaste for Coach Fulmer, I'm going to go ahead and carry your "creative" analogy out a bit further and liken you to one of those in the life-boats who refused to scoot over a seat due to arrogance; only to laugh at those who were relegated to drown/freeze instead of helping out for the betterment of all.

Rather than being a downer on this fantastic site, your time would probably be better spent (and certainly more appreciated) by trolling around over at firecoachfulmer.com. If you have beef with the coaches, then lay it out in a diary entry and let's discuss the facts of the matter like grown-ups. (Unless of course, you are a 12 year old -- which your last several posts have been indicative of.)

by Aerobab on Dec 14, 2007 12:12 AM EST up reply actions

Seriously,

let it go. Phil's gonna be here for the forseeable future, so let's discuss real issues, like, I dunno, football games, the promising basketball season, or something; just not Phil going down and being happy with it, unless, you want a coaching carousel, like half of college football.

I was Anti-Phil after the Bama game, but I quickly retracted my sentiments and let the season play out. This season proved a lot to me. The team and his staff were backed into a corner and he came out swinging and got us a division title, pretty impressive to me.

Proud member of the EBMCC (Eric Berry Man Crush Club) and Josh McNeil's Videographer

by Volorado on Dec 14, 2007 12:20 AM EST up reply actions

Okay, that's just about enough...

ONUV - git outta here man. Seriously, take your poisonous drivel and just go. We're here to have real discussion, not just blast the team and/or coaches. How you call yourself One Nation Under Vols when all you seem to want to do is clown on Fulmer, is beyond me. Your loyalty is BEYOND questionable.

Whew. Sorry, I had to say something. Now that that little rant is over, is it just me or does anybody else think this could very well be absolutely disastrous to what I percieve to be a very promising 2008 season.

I'm with Joel on the what does this do to Jonathan Crompton concern. I mean, instead of becoming the leader of an offense that he's been studying for the last two years and being groomed by the quarterback guru that installed it, now he may have to learn a whole new offense from an entirely new guy? That could well have a cataclysmic effect on our season.

I can't believe this. Just when we're getting a promising look at a very successful season, we could have the carpet pulled out.

Don't get me wrong. I hope like heck that he stays. I mean, really, Duke? Coach Cut, what could you possibly hope to accomplish at Duke any time soon? It'd probably be two or three years before you could even get a winning season not to mention that if you stay here you could very well become the next head coach. Hmmm, Duke or Tennessee? Shouldn't be much of a decision, right?

Then again, if he leaves we have to wish him the best of luck, except that he'd be going to a school that I despise. Talk about your internal emotional conflicts. It has to do with my cousin, long story...

Aarrgh. I hope this doesn't play out the way it's looking. I'll tell you one thing though. The fact that we hang on as tightly as we do through all these ups and downs is a real testament to the heart and soul of a Vol fan. NOBODY out-fans a Vol fan. That sounds right, right?

All hail Jim Bob Cooter!

by XRayVol on Dec 14, 2007 1:46 PM EST up reply actions

Always a possiblity

If I recall correctly, teams were coming after Coach Cut immediately following his 1st year back here in Knoxville in '06. I think Hamilton would have to be a naieve fool to think that similar offers wouln't follow after the success in '07. As I stated in my earlier post on this topic, it's no secret that Cut wants to be a HBC again, so I'm nearly certain that Hamilton already has Plan B in order.

by Aerobab on Dec 14, 2007 12:21 AM EST reply actions

what about......

Appie State offenseive coordinator ? I don't know who he is but they knocked off Michigan this year and are defending National Champs playing in the Championship game again this year. could get him cheap $$$.

OLD SMOKEY

by old smokey on Dec 14, 2007 8:24 AM EST reply actions

I don't think

that App runs much of a different offense than anyone else, they just have a 6 foot 175 quarterback that no one can tackle.

Watch him tonight on ESPN2 at 8 and wonder--why did no one in FBS give him a shot?

Volorado's Cinematographer

by gramsey712 on Dec 14, 2007 9:25 AM EST up reply actions

NOT June Jones

The run-and-shoot is the polar opposite of Tennessee's traditional I-Form and Ace Sets with occasional spread sets thrown in. It makes Urban Meyer's offense look conventional. It also makes the run game an afterthought. Tennessee fans are not going to be happy with 60 yards rushing per game, and tailback recruits would look elsewhere.

Visit the Georgia Podcast Network to find Georgia's best podcasts in one place.

by rustytanton on Dec 14, 2007 10:09 AM EST reply actions

Run-And-Shoot

Yeah, but what is the point of having running backs if you aren't going to use them? Sure, a few hard-liners will complain, but if it works, they'll be seen as silly relics of a bygone age.

It'll never happen of course. But if it did.

by Maynard on Dec 15, 2007 9:14 AM EST up reply actions

Replacements

Word on the street is that Taylor and Adkins become co-coordinators. Taylor takes over passing game and works with QB's and WR. Adkins will do running game and work with RB and some OL. We move the RB coach to special teams and let the TE coach do TE and some OL.

by Smitty on Dec 14, 2007 10:36 AM EST reply actions

Stay, Cut, stay!

I hope he turns Duke down. If it's ego drawing him, then he's gone for sure. If it's money, then give him a raise and keep him at Tennessee. With his experience, track record, and loyalty, he should be the highest paid coordinator in the college game. Let's hope he's using Duke for $$$ leverage as we saw Tuberville do with Arkansas. Cutcliffe is valuable and he knows it. Let's hope the powers that be in the UT Athl. dept. recognize his value and do what it takes to keep him.

Vinnie Testaverde is always remembered for Tennessee kicking his ass.

by RevOrange on Dec 14, 2007 11:08 AM EST reply actions

False alarm?

Now there's a report that says the job hasn't been offered.

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by rustytanton on Dec 14, 2007 1:37 PM EST reply actions

I have no idea

But Hooker sure sounded sure of himself this morning on the radio. (I listened to the 10:00 hour during lunch at 12:00, so this was before the announcement, I guess.)

Cutcliffe's "denial" was artfully phrased, though, wasn't it?

Go Vols!

by Joel on Dec 14, 2007 2:02 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah but....

Crap! He declined to comment on his possibilities. Dangit!

Woe is we. Woe I say!

I hope this is a false alarm. I don't have much hair left to pull out.

All hail Jim Bob Cooter!

by XRayVol on Dec 14, 2007 1:53 PM EST reply actions

Well...

If you read the article a little more closely, it says that he interviewed for the job already and that Duke is planning meetings for the next coach with the alumni next week.

A point of comfort however, is that they've interviewed five other candidates as well, including Karl Dorrell and Bobby Johnson.

Doubt Bobby Johnson's going anywhere though.

Fulmer did say that should Cut go to Duke, he'll probably still coach in the Outback Bowl.

Guess we'll know something soon. Where's those Rolaids?

All hail Jim Bob Cooter!

by XRayVol on Dec 14, 2007 2:01 PM EST reply actions

Trooper interviewing with Baylor

Trooper Taylor interviewing with Baylor.

I think it's safe to say that if Cutcliffe leaves and Taylor wasn't offered the OC position that it'd be within his best interests to take an OC job at Baylor, much as it pains me.

Visit the Georgia Podcast Network to find Georgia's best podcasts in one place.

by rustytanton on Dec 14, 2007 3:30 PM EST reply actions