UT Vols hot board (3.0): 8 names from Kevin Sumlin to Mike Leach to Tee Martin

The rejections keep coming for Tennessee as its coaching search rolls on. The search will reach the three-week mark on Saturday.

This week, the Vols have missed on Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Purdue's Jeff Brohm and North Carolina State's Dave Doeren after Sunday's fiasco with Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, when the parties had a deal in place but it unraveled after backlash from some fans, state politicians, local business owners and donors.

Here's the latest hot board.

More:Dave Doeren staying at NC State after interest from UT Vols, per report

Chad Morris

Current job: Southern Methodist coach

The skinny: Morris has been a name around this coaching search from the start, but the third-year SMU coach certainly is higher on the priority list now than he was when Butch Jones was fired.

More:How to hire the next Tennessee Vols football coach

He’s an offensive mind who helped Dabo Swinney build Clemson into what it is now. He has deep ties to good recruiting grounds in Texas. He doesn’t know the SEC but has experience as a high-profile offensive coordinator and a head coach.

The unimpressive element with Morris is his record at SMU. He’s 14-22 in three years after taking over a team that went 1-11 the year before he arrived. The Mustangs are bowl eligible now, so the track record is there. It’s not the flashy hire. But Morris could fit.

Kevin Sumlin

Current job: None

The skinny: Sumlin won more than 66 percent of his games in six seasons at Texas A&M, but was ousted Sunday after a 7-5 regular season and a fourth consecutive 4-4 SEC record.

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He came to Texas A&M after a successful stint at Houston, where he won multiple division titles. Sumlin’s first two years at A&M were his best: He went 11-2 with a Cotton Bowl win and a No. 5 finish in 2012, then went 9-4 in 2013 with a No. 18 postseason ranking.

All things considered, Sumlin has an 86-43 record as a head coach. He’s got the experience. He knows the SEC. He’s available. It wouldn’t be the most popular hire, but Tennessee could do a lot worse than Sumlin at this point.

Tee Martin

Current: Southern Cal offensive coordinator

The skinny: The former Tennessee quarterback has moved up in the coaching world since his playing days.

More:UT Vols: Former players celebrate after report Doeren turns down Tennessee

The 1998 national championship winner has been at USC for six seasons, moving into the offensive coordinator role at the end of the 2015 season. He has no head coaching experience, but his ties to Tennessee, knowledge of the program and stature for his athletic accomplishments make him an interesting candidate.

He also isn’t a bad offensive mind: The Trojans rank No. 13 in the nation in yards per game.

Kevin Steele

Current job: Auburn defensive coordinator

The skinny: Steele has a lot of momentum right now. He’s in charge of a unit that ranks ninth nationally in scoring defense and will play Georgia in the SEC Championship. Auburn has wins this season over Alabama and Georgia. With a win in the SEC Championship, the Tigers would appear headed for the College Football Playoff.

Steele is a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant.

Steele knows his way around the SEC, with prior stops at Alabama and LSU.

Steele has Tennessee ties. He played linebacker there in the 1970s before starting his coaching career there under Johnny Majors.

Steele does have head coaching experience, though it's more a stain on his résumé than a positive mark. He produced just nine wins in four seasons at Baylor from 1999-2002.

Dana Holgorsen

Current job: West Virginia coach

The skinny: Holgorsen entered the 2016 season on the hot seat after coming under fire in 2015. He survived the hot seat and landed a contract extension that runs through the 2021 season. But the figures aren’t overwhelming. He makes $3.51 million at WVU. His buyout for leaving his $3 million. Those are figures Tennessee should be able to manage.

If the Vols were willing to throw the farm at Gundy — he reportedly turned down a six-year, $42 million offer from UT on Tuesday — would Tennessee consider putting together a big package to try to entice Holgorsen?

It’d be overpaying, sure, but that’s where the Vols are right now after fielding one rejection after another.

Many fans would like to see UT go after Mike Leach. Well, Holgorsen hails from the Leach coaching tree, and both Holgorsen and Leach are from the Hal Mumme tree. That means “Air Raid.”

Holgorsen is 53-36 in seven seasons at WVU. He’s only missed a bowl game once. He’s had two 10-win seasons. Tennessee hasn’t had a 10-win season since 2007.

Mike Leach

Current job: Washington State coach

The skinny: The flashiest name on this list, Leach’s quirky personality might make it so that he’s not turned off by Sunday’s events in Knoxville. He’s become a media darling at WSU.

The Vols could top Leach’s salary at WSU, which stands at $3.08 million. A proven offensive mind and winner, Leach has a career record of 122-80. Leach’s first Division I coaching gig came within the SEC, in 1997-98 as the offensive coordinator at Kentucky.

There hasn’t been much buzz about Leach-to-Tennessee, though Footballscoop.com did report on Saturday that Leach would be interested in an overture from the Vols and that he had a good shot at the position. Leach responded to that report on Saturday night without exactly shooting down the storyline. He said he was focused on WSU’s bowl game.

Leach would come with baggage. He was fired at Texas Tech in the aftermath of an allegation for inappropriate treatment of a player, Adam James. Leach is still miffed by the way things ended at Texas Tech.

Jeremy Pruitt

Current job: Alabama defensive coordinator

The skinny: Pruitt looks primed to move into a head coaching role after stints as a defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama. He was the Seminoles’ defensive coordinator during their national championship season in 2013.

College football power agent Jimmy Sexton represents Pruitt.

Pruitt has never been a head coach. Neither had Kirby Smart, who was Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator prior to Pruitt, until Georgia hired him before the 2016 season. That hire is looking good for Georgia.

The Clarion-Ledger reported Monday that Pruitt emerged as a candidate for the opening at Mississippi State, but that ship has sailed, with MSU hiring Joe Moorhead.

Brady Hoke

Current job: Tennessee interim coach

The skinny: Giving Hoke the job seemed preposterous a week ago. But is UT close to that stage? Will it reach a point where the Vols must consider waiving the white flag, stripping the interim label off Hoke and letting him assemble his own staff?

The Vols lost their two games with Hoke as the interim.

Hoke’s career record as coach is 78-72, including a 31-20 mark at Michigan.