Report: Gruden “not interested” in Tennessee; New candidates mentioned

Another day, another grumor. This one isn’t so much fun, however. According to FootballScoop.com, Gruden has no interest in the Tennessee job. Here’s the full quote from Scott Roussel.

Jon Gruden has no interest in being the next head coach at Tennessee. This is not happening. No one is being contacted about potentially joining his staff. Move on Vol fans…

This is the polar opposite of what John Brice reported yesterday. The gruden-coaster races on...

So look, it depends on who you believe at this point. Most all of the national guys laugh when you bring up Jon Gruden’s name with the Tennessee job. However, several local guys still maintain that there’s at least somewhat of a chance.

We’re all just out here hanging in the balance until we get definitive word from either Gruden or Gruden’s camp. One thing Tennessee can’t afford to do here is wait too long for an answer from him.

Like I’ve said all through this, I’ll believe it when I see it with Gruden and Tennessee. Things did seem to get somewhat real yesterday, but now we’ve got conflicting reports. Grumor season won’t end until Gruden wants it to end.

The report from Football Scoop also mentions some off the wall candidates for Tennessee. Names that we haven’t heard to this point like Cutcliffe, Jimbo, Fleck and Leach were all mentioned.

Here are some thought from me on each.

Jimbo Fisher, Head Coach, Florida State Seminoles

Football Scoop reports that “Jimbo Fisher is willing to listen.” It seems like we’ve been down this road before with Fisher and I’m not buying it. We’ve also seen Fisher linked to the Texas A&M job today, for what it’s worth. It’s worth noting that he was connected to the LSU job last year, so this seems par for the course with Fisher.

PJ Fleck, Head Coach, Minnesota Golden Gophers

Football Scoop says that “Fleck is on Currie’s list.” He was one of the hot names last year, but didn’t get one of the big openings. Fleck ended up taking the Minnesota job and is currently 5-5 in his first season.

David Cutcliffe, Head Coach, Duke Blue Devils

Football Scoop says that Cutcliffe is on Currie’s list. There was a time when Cutcliffe would have made sense for Tennessee — now is not that time. Cut is 63 years old and won four games last year. He’s 4-6 right now. How are you going to sell that to the fanbase?

Mike Leach, Head Coach, Washington State Cougars

Leach is out there lurking in this cycle. He’s been connected to just about every opening or potential opening to this point. There’s no debating his ability to win football games, but some feel that his personality isn’t for everyone. I personally love the guy, but I’m not sure Currie would.

The report mentions Frost, Mullen and Brohm as well, but Roussel doesn’t believe either of the three will end up at Tennessee.