Tennessee athletic director defends coaching search
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee athletic director John Currie is defending his coaching search and vouching for the character of Greg Schiano a day after negotiations between the two parties broke down amid a public backlash.
Currie issued a statement Monday acknowledging the Ohio State defensive coordinator had been a leading candidate for the Volunteers’ coaching vacancy without explaining why the two sides parted ways.
“Among the most respected professional and college football coaches, he is widely regarded as an outstanding leader who develops tough, competitive teams and cares deeply about his student-athletes,” Currie said.
Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport issued a statement saying, “I deeply regret the events of yesterday for everyone involved.” Davenport added that “the university remains steadfast in its commitment to excellence, and I look forward to John Currie continuing the search” for a new coach.
The school and Schiano were close to an agreement Sunday before the deal fell apart after heavy criticism from fans, state lawmakers and gubernatorial candidates. Their complaints stemmed from Schiano’s background as an assistant at Penn State during Jerry Sandusky’s tenure as the Nittany Lions’ defensive coordinator. Sandusky is serving 30 to 60 years in prison for his conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse.
Court documents released last year of a deposition in a case related to the Sandusky scandal suggested Schiano might have been aware of Sandusky’s sexual abuse against children, though Schiano has said he never saw abuse or had any reason to suspect it while working at Penn State.
Currie said Tennessee “carefully interviewed and vetted” Schiano and that the former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach “received the highest recommendations.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said he wasn’t involved in the search but added that he doesn’t “think anybody looks at the way everything came down yesterday and says that’s the way it should happen.”
Haslam also said his brother, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, wasn’t playing an instrumental role in the search. Jimmy Haslam was part of the search committee that assisted in the hiring of Currie this year.
“I do think we should all be concerned about a rush to judgment,” Bill Haslam said.
Currie said Schiano wasn’t mentioned in the 2012 report on the Sandusky scandal led by former FBI director Louis Freeh and “was not one of the more than 400 people interviewed in the investigation.” Currie also said Schiano was never asked to testify in any criminal or civil matter.
Currie said Tennessee officials conferred with Ohio State officials who conducted their own investigation after the 2016 document release.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher remains mum when it comes to his coaching future.
While Fisher was happy to discuss Florida’s hiring of Dan Mullen during his weekly news conference on Monday, he said he would not discuss speculation that he is the top candidate at Texas A&M after Kevin Sumlin was fired on Sunday. “I’m just not going to talk about it,” Fisher said. Fisher has not given Florida State any indication that he is leaning toward leaving the school, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because neither Texas A&M nor Florida State has publicly discussed Fisher.
He did speak generally on Monday about the pressures of coaching and the number of high-profile jobs that are open nationally.
“Everything in our profession is unstable because of the dollars that are in it, the people that are in it, the insecurity that’s in it and the instant gratification that everyone wants,” Fisher said.
Fisher said he told his players that he will be on the sidelines Saturday coaching the Seminoles against LouisianaMonroe. Florida State (5-6) needs to win in order to become bowl-eligible for the 36th consecutive season.
Fisher is 83-23 in eight seasons at Florida State and led the Seminoles to the national championship in 2013.