Tennessee announced Friday that it has fired head coach Donnie Tyndall after just one year in charge of the program. Tyndall was accused of NCAA violations while at his previous job, Southern Miss. These violations include providing improper benefits. Tennessee reportedly interviewed Tyndall twice, and the NCAA called Tennessee with a report of what Tyndall would be charged with. Tennessee fired Tyndall after going 16-16 and 7-11 in SEC play.
While Tyndall is no saint here, ultimately this has to fall on Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart. He’s now looking for his third coach in three years, and he obviously failed to properly investigate Tyndall before hiring him. Everyone makes fun of schools using search committees as a waste of money (and for good reason), but using one here certainly would have uncovered rumors of what Tyndall was accused of. Now, if Hart even gets to make this next hire, he has to do so under pressure, as Tennessee ran off Cuonzo Martin after a Sweet 16 appearance.
As for the favorites to replace Tyndall, outside the obvious ones who certainly are not coming (Shaka Smart, Gregg Marshall, etc.), I’m not sure where you go if you’re Tennessee.
This certainly is not an attractive job at the moment, although it can be. Outside of name-your-Kentucky-assistant-here, I personally think Tennessee should hire Anthony Grant. He ended poorly at Alabama, but won 20 games three times at Alabama, and Tennessee is certainly an easier place to win at. If nothing else, he would be a sensible hire to right the ship for a couple years to make the job more attractive for one of the true up and comers.
Regardless of where you stand on where Tennessee should go in its pursuit of another head coach, one thing has to be set straight right now: Do not expect a big name to wear an orange jacket on the sideline in Thompson-Boling Arena next season.
If the heat surrounding Tyndall was enough to push him out, no elite coach with designs on succeeding at the highest level would take the job in 2015. In the future, perhaps three or four seasons from now, Tennessee might once again become a promising landing spot. At the present time, though, too much about the Vols’ program is unstable and generally unappealing.
The Grant angle makes sense in this respect, too: Grant struggled at Alabama, such that it’s unrealistic to expect him to make an upward move in the industry. Tennessee would be the closest thing to an upward move without actually representing one. If Tennessee doesn’t go after a particularly young coach who is willing to spend a few years learning how to polish his skills while the Vols deal with this NCAA mess, Grant might represent the next most available — and most reasonable — option. Grant might not achieve much, but after having to fire a coach for reasons unrelated to on-court achievement, Tennessee is not in a position to be overly aspirational right now.
The Vols made their bed with Donnie Tyndall, and they’re going to have to lie in it for a few years, despite their decision to seek a new head coach.
