Dan Patrick.Tennessee showed Jeremy Pruitt the exit on Monday, meaning the Volunteers will now begin another head coaching search.
Tennessee’s head coaching opening isn’t an attractive position at the moment. The program is about to get hit with punishments from the NCAA because of its recruiting malpractices. Any qualified candidate is probably going to stay far away from Knoxville for now.
The Volunteers’ best path moving forward may be to target an alumnus. Dan Patrick has one in mind: Jason Witten.
Patrick said during his show on Tuesday he’d like to see the Volunteers hire Witten, the former Tennessee and current NFL tight end. This would be a fascinating move.
“How about Jason Witten,” Patrick said on Tuesday, via Saturday Down South. “Just a what if Jason Witten as the next head coach. Throw that out there, whether it sticks or not, no idea.”
What do you think, Tennessee fans? Witten doesn’t have head coaching experience, but his passion for the program could be a difference-maker.
Source: Tennessee #Vols got sloppy with recruiting. They were handing recruits cash in McDonald's bags when they visited campus.
Also a name to look out for to fill the Head Coaching vacancy: Jason Witten pic.twitter.com/HKDd02rldz
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 19, 2021
This would be a wild move, to say the least. But Tennessee can’t get much lower than it already is at the moment. That isn’t taking anything away from Jason Witten, it’s just he doesn’t have any experience as a head coach.
Maybe a passionate former player is exactly what Tennessee needs, though. Learning on the job might not be a bad thing, given the Volunteers’ current circumstances.
Still, it’d probably be wise for the Volunteers to hire someone with plenty of experience within the SEC. A lack of experience could further damage the program.
