John Currie out as AD, Phillip Fulmer takes charge

John Currie’s first football coaching search ended with the football job still vacant and with Currie removed from his post as Tennessee's athletic director.

Chancellor Beverly Davenport announced Friday afternoon that former Vols coach Phillip Fulmer was appointed as the new athletic director. Currie is suspended with pay, pending an investigation or decision relating to termination of his employment agreement for cause, according to a letter from Davenport to Fulmer on Friday.

“When there are high expectations about a great place," Davenport said Friday, "those high expectations come with challenges. And challenges require tough decisions. Today required one of those decisions.”

Currie was uprooted on the eight-month anniversary of his first day on the job.

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“It has indeed been a difficult week," Davenport said. "It has been a difficult road to get to where we are. This has not been an easy process for any of us, and I want you to know that I regret deeply any hurt that has been caused.”

If it is determined Currie was fired without cause, he would be owed $5.5 million in buyout, according to his contract. If Currie is fired with cause, he is not due a buyout.

Attempts to reach Currie were unsuccessful.

Davenport hired Currie out a candidate pool that included former UT administrator David Blackburn and Fulmer. Currie previously was an administrator at Tennessee before serving eight years as Kansas State’s athletic director.

Fulmer was hired in June as a special adviser to UT President Joe DiPietro.

Currie fired coach Butch Jones on Nov. 12. That evening, he vowed to spearhead “an exhaustive search” that would produce a coach who would “propel Tennessee to championships.”

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Currie said he didn’t plan to use a search firm to aid him in the process.

Currie had never hired a football coach before. He still hasn’t.

"Several weeks ago, I asked him to lead the search for our next football search. He was given full authority to find the best coach for Tennessee," Davenport said. "But we are here today to begin a new era and a new opportunity to move the University of Tennessee forward.”

Tennessee’s coaching search became a national punchline.

The Vols were close to finalizing a deal with Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano on Sunday. News of the pending hire leaked, and it was met by a wave of backlash from some fans, state politicians, local business owners and donors. The deal unraveled.

The blowback centered, in part, around testimony released in 2016 regarding Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State defensive coordinator who was convicted in 2012 of 45 counts of sexual abuse of boys.

Schiano was on staff at Penn State from 1990-95. Former Penn State staffer Mike McQueary testified that fellow assistant Tom Bradley told McQueary that Schiano was aware of a child sexual abuse incident by Sandusky.

Schiano and Bradley denied having knowledge or witnessing any of Sandusky's abuse. McQueary's hearsay claim remains unsubstantiated.

Currie said in a statement Monday that Tennessee "carefully interviewed and vetted" Schiano, including his Penn State background, and that Schiano "received the highest recommendations." 

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Also that day, Davenport released a statement saying she deeply regretted "the events of (Sunday) for everyone involved.” She added that Currie would continue the search.

Sunday’s fiasco with Schiano put the heat on Currie. There were chants of “Fire Currie!” at Tennessee’s men’s basketball game on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Tennessee’s coaching search limped along.

After Tennessee backed away from its deal with Schiano, the Vols were spurned by Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy, Purdue's Jeff Brohm and North Carolina State's Dave Doeren in consecutive days. There was also an ESPN.com report that Duke’s David Cutcliffe turned away an overture from UT.

Fulmer became involved in the search this week, at Currie's request, and was part of the interview of one candidate, Doeren, a source with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Network – Tennessee. Fulmer was not present for Currie's interview Thursday with Washington State coach Mike Leach, the source said.

Davenport said she asked Currie to return to Knoxville "early Thursday afternoon." Shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday, news broke that Doeren was staying at North Carolina State, turning down the Vols.

"I wanted to talk with John yesterday," Davenport said, "but as I said, I don’t want to talk about coaches. I don’t want to talk about the process. It’s been a long and arduous week. I talked with Phillip Fulmer this morning and asked him to step in, and he agreed to do that.”

As the search sank to new depths, news broke late Thursday night that Currie had met with Leach that day in Los Angeles.

Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports and SI.com, citing a source, reported late Thursday that Currie's meeting with Leach on Thursday "went very well." Feldman wrote a book with Leach, "Swing Your Sword," which published in 2011.

Leach has posted 13 winning seasons in 16 years as a head coach. Nabbing a coach of his caliber would have been viewed by some as a Hail Mary save of the search.

Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples reported Friday that Currie and Leach agreed to terms Thursday that would have made Leach the Vols’ next coach, but no paperwork was signed.

Currie returned to Knoxville and was removed from his post Friday.

Another deal stalled, and now Tennessee enters the weekend still without a football coach and with a former coach in the AD chair.