Before hiring Lane Kiffin in late 2008, the Tennessee Vols nearly hired a Super Bowl-winning head coach to replace Phillip Fulmer as the program’s head coach.

And no, we’re not talking about Jon Gruden (RIP Grumors).

According to longtime SEC insider Mike Griffith, who covered Tennessee football for years before covering Georgia, the Volunteers nearly hired former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher to replace Fulmer.

Cowher, who led the Steelers to a win in Super Bowl XL, hasn’t coached since stepping down as Pittsburgh’s head coach after the 2006 season.

“Part of the reason why they felt so comfortable that they could move forward without Phillip Fulmer was that there was a handshake deal with a former NFL coach who had a daughter who played college basketball,” said Griffith on That SEC Podcast. “And the thought was that that daughter was going to go play for Pat Summitt. Do you know what NFL Super Bowl-winning coach Tennessee thought they were going to hire? I’ll give you a hint: The Haslam family was involved in that team (the Steelers). Bill Cowher. They thought Bill Cowher was going to be the next Tennessee head coach, but then all of a sudden he wasn’t.”

The Vols ended up hiring Lane Kiffin to replace Fulmer, which obviously didn’t work out (Kiffin famously bolted for his dream job at USC after just one season on Rocky Top).

Cowher’s youngest daughter, Lindsay, ended up playing college basketball at Wofford and Elon while the family resided in Raleigh, NC.