Tennessee athletic director John Currie is a busy man. His life is even busier now that he backed out of a deal with Greg Schiano to be the Vols’ next head football coach after a massive amount of backlash from Vol fans, boosters, and politicians. Currie himself is receiving a great deal of backlash because of his decision to try and sign Schiano in the first place.
Now Currie is back on the hunt for a head football coach at Tennessee. And that has led him to cancel a speaking engagement in Knoxville. And it’s possible the outcry on Sunday also played into that decision.
Currie was scheduled to speak to the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Monday. But after Sunday’s events, he had to back out of the deal. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Quarterback Club sent out an email on Monday morning confirming his cancellation:
“As many might have guessed, UT Athletic Director, John Currie, will not be able to attend today due to the coaching search. We do have a speaker that will be very knowledgeable and is always interesting to hear. We look forward to seeing you there.”
Long-time Knoxville reporter Jimmy Hyams later confirmed that he would be the one filling in for Currie on Monday.
I’ll be speaking at the Knoxville QB Club today at Calhoun’s on the River at about 12:15 to 1 pm, pinch hitting for Tennessee athletic director John Currie. Probably won’t speak but about 5 minutes since nothing is going on. Boring times at Rocky Top.
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) November 27, 2017
Currie is likely back on the road on Monday searching for Tennessee’s next head coach. We have a list of candidates who we think Currie will and should pursue, but only time will tell who he ultimately hires.
