There’s nothing like college football. The off-field drama is enough to fuel an entire year of headlines that are often too crazy to even make up. From a perspective of Tennessee football, fans know this experience firsthand.
As we get into bowl season, ESPN’s David Hale compiled a top 25 list of ‘college football moments’ from the 21st century. These aren’t the best plays, wins or teams. It’s the moments that make college football so unique.
For the Vols, the program’s ridiculous coaching search in 2017 easily made the cut. It came in at No. 13 on the list.
To quickly recap, Tennessee fired Butch Jones after a 4-6 start to the 2017 season. Afterward, a coaching search began that featured some of the top names across the country being floated around. Ultimately, the school landed on Greg Schiano. That didn’t go over well with fans, though, who protested to the point of athletic director John Currie being fired and the Schiano hiring being blocked.
Legendary Vols coach Phillip Fulmer stepped in to replace Currie as athletic director and make the next hire. More top names were rumored, including a healthy amount of ‘Grumors’, before UT hired Jeremy Pruitt. His tenure was a nightmare that lasted just three seasons before he was fired with cause.
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“There have been many coaching searches that have run aground in the most embarrassing of ways,” Hale wrote. “But of all the wild attempts to hire a coach, it’d be nearly impossible to top Tennessee’s efforts after firing Butch Jones in 2017.”
While that was the only moment on the list that is unique to Tennessee, it was heavily involved with the No. 3 choice, as well. That one was simply titled ‘The Lane Kiffin Experience’.
Of course, there may be no better example of the Kiffin experience than his one year in Knoxville before leaving in the middle of the night and holding a strange press conference before mayhem unleashed on the streets.
For an in-depth, exclusive recap of that night, you can read more here.
