Greg Schiano was scheduled to be introduced today, Monday the 27th of November, as the future of University Of Tennessee football. Like many things of late at UT, the arrangement didn't work out. It has been a long time since Tee Martin, and the Volunteers won the first BCS National Championship (1998) from which sprouted a solid decade of being at or near the top of the SEC East. Surely Volunteer alumni, boosters, and fan-base opine for those times. Since the firing of Coach Phillip Fulmer, that “Rocky Top” hasn’t exactly been a sweet tune.

Consistency, if not longevity, is a beautiful thing.

From 1977 to 2008, there were only two coaches starting with the legendary Johnny Majors and ending with the previously mentioned Phillip filmer. Maybe the Lane Kiffin debacle brought about some bad sports-karma on the university during that one-year, 2009 disaster. The successors since then have had their moments but have delivered disappointment more-often-than-not. And now, there is interim head-coach Brady Hoke who was dismissed at Michigan and finds himself in a similar position all over again!

Tennessee no longer can attract A-list coaches

Football is all about talent-management and more importantly, talent-assessment via recruiting. Nothing stated herein is intended to be personal with respect to past coaches, but for whatever the dynamics there in Knoxville, they were not up to the task.

That is not a slight on any division 1 player. Players have the talent. It is up to the coaches to bring talent together with preparation and focus.

Perhaps Tennessee's expectations are still stuck in the 1990s and early 2000s. UT had its riding-high moments with Peyton Manning and then Martin, running the show. The teams consistently developed next-level playmakers especially at running back and the wide-receiving corps.

This author fondly remembers Peerless Price which isn’t easy coming from a ‘Bama booster, but a flawless name and player nonetheless.

The Tennessee of old - we’re talking only ten or so years ago - represented an SEC on a whole. All those BCS National Championships were viewed as being won by the best conference, top-to-bottom, in all of college football - USC’s 1-loss seasons notwithstanding.

However, the argument was sound since the SEC was an entire conference, a complete conference which included Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, an up-and-coming South Carolina under Steve Spurrier. Don’t forget Vanderbilt being competitive (sounds laughable but true) under James Franklin, now at Penn State, which drives to the heart of the matter.

The dichotomy of morals vs. expectations

On what was supposed to be an introductory Monday (as at other schools) the university will instead probably spend the entire week attempting to minimize any further embarrassment. The fan base via various outlets immediately voiced their discontent towards the university’s choice as the next head coach, because of Greg Schiano’s ties to Penn State.

It’s understood why - no need for further detail. The man faced some tough scrutiny before being approved to head the State University of New Jersey, Rutgers.

All that said, the running story driving the instant reaction was not exactly fact-based; that another assistant coach (also at PSU) may have said Schiano had some prior knowledge, but they’ve both rigorously denied all of the hearsay. In a place like Knoxville and conservative state on a whole, anybody associated with that Penn State of tarnished yesteryear would neither be a good fit nor received with any enthusiasm. If an out-of-state player can see this then surely it should have been a no-brainer for the university's administration!

And since he wasn’t even the first choice, it looks like they’re just fishing for a big-name – re-tread or not – to meet expectations. Jon Gruden was in the mix supposedly and is experiencing his fair-share of multiple offers, but even with all of his ties to the university, he was never a reasonable expectation.

There is a simple solution albeit, the paradigm does not have the greatest batting average: Bringing back former players to be part of a program’s future. However, in Tee Martin, there are many, attractive factors: A player of glory yesteryear, an accomplished coach with tons of offensive creativity, and a good fit who knows the area, the system, and all the great traditions. School-spirit lasts forever.

Insodoing, the entire community would be giddy with expectation and still be secure in their morality. Everywhere Tee Martin has gone, his squeaky-clean reputation arrived a day beforehand. It would behoove the administration to consider this if USC dominates in the PAC-12 championship.
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