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Another day, another name.
According to John Brice, Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee are interested in Todd Monken, who was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the last three seasons. Monken is now looking for a new gig after Dirk Koetter was fired.
Brice also notes that Pruitt is interesting in adding Tee Martin to the staff in some capacity. Jim Chaney, the hot name in this search over the past week, is expect to get a raise from Georgia, according to Brice.
Have spoken to # of coaches/admins in San Antonio @ AFCA Convention. Am told #Vols have interest in Todd Monken, the NFL OC interviewing for several NFL jobs. Monken has been a college OC & HC. Pruitt still has interest in adding Tee Martin. Am told UGA to give Chaney a big raise
— John Brice (@JohnDBrice1) January 8, 2019
Before landing with the Buccaneers, Monken was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, then the head coach at Southern Miss. He’s also served as a receivers coach at both the NFL and college levels.
His units at Oklahoma State ranked 3rd and 4th in total offense in 2011 and 2012, respectively. His offense in Tampa this year finished third in total yardage, despite the Buccaneers’ 5-11 record.
To summarize, this would be a homerun hire for Tennessee. The only problem is, Monken is a pretty hot name in the NFL world. Would he return to the college world and leave the NFL behind? Monken interviewed with the Jets and Packers for their head coaching positions this month. At worst, it seems like Monken will have an NFL coordinator gig available to him if he wants it.
Tennessee can throw plenty of money at Monken, as they reportedly did with Mike Yurcich. As we’ve seen, that doesn’t always work. We’ll see if this interest gets anymore traction in the coming days.