How the Tennessee Vols narrowly avoided a major disaster
The Tennessee Vols narrowly avoided a major disaster in early 2021. When the Vols were looking for a new head coach — after Jeremy Pruitt was fired due to recruiting violations — Tennessee came dangerously close to hiring then Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. That would've been disastrous for the program. Not only would Elliott […]
The Tennessee Vols narrowly avoided a major disaster in early 2021.
When the Vols were looking for a new head coach — after Jeremy Pruitt was fired due to recruiting violations — Tennessee came dangerously close to hiring then Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott.
That would've been disastrous for the program.
Not only would Elliott have been another first-time head coach at Tennessee, but he wouldn't have been able to reproduce what the Vols did offensively under Josh Heupel last season.
Elliott, who was hired as the head coach at Virginia this offseason, was the benefactor of some elite offensive players at Clemson. Once those players were gone — especially quarterback Trevor Lawrence — Elliott was exposed as a less-than-stellar play-caller.
Clemson finished the 2021 season with the No. 82 scoring offense in the nation (despite still having some elite talent).
Tennessee, on the other hand, finished with the No. 7 scoring offense in the nation last season (with a roster that severely lacked depth).
If the Vols would've hired Elliott to lead the program (instead of Heupel), it's likely that Tennessee would've finished 4-8 last season. The 2022 season wouldn't have been much better and then the Vols would've been hitting reset on the program once again in 2023.
All it takes is one bad hire to send a program to the cellar. But at the same time, all it takes is one good hire to revive a program.
In early 2021, Elliott and Heupel weren't viewed that differently. Heupel had head coaching experience at UCF, but Elliott, for some reason, was viewed as an up-and-coming star in the coaching world.
Tennessee made the right call to pass on Elliott (or maybe Elliott passed on UT…the story differs a bit depending on who you ask).
The Vols haven't done a good job of avoiding disaster over the last 15 years. Not hiring Tony Elliott, though, was an instance where Tennessee definitely avoided the worst-case scenario.
Featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
