Cutcliffe to be named Tennessee head coach
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee will name David Cutcliffe as its new head football coach barring a last-minute breakdown in negotiations. A source told the newspaper that Cutcliffe is the university’s choice to replace Lane Kiffin, who bolted off to USC to replace Pete Carroll.
Cutcliffe, the current Duke head coach, was an assistant in Knoxville from 1983-98 and again from 2006-07. In between stints at UT, he served as Ole Miss head coach, where he compiled a 44-29 overall record and 25-23 mark in SEC play.
In two seasons at Duke, Cutcliffe has gone just 9-15 overall and 4-12 in the ACC.
Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton has not confirmed an agreement with the 55-year-old Cutcliffe, who has coached NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning, along with college stars Heath Shuler, Erik Ainge and Brady Quinn.
One potential sticking point to the deal could be the assembling of Cutcliffe’s staff. Cutcliffe would like to bring many of his Blue Devils coaches to Knoxville, but the Volunteers still have holdovers from Kiffin’s regime.
NationalFootballPost.com
1/14/10
