Tag: Kevin Steele Tennessee

Tennessee owes Kevin Steele up to $860K in severance after just two months

Former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele will be paid up to $860,000 by Tennessee after just two months on the job.

Kevin Steele might have tried to throw a coup on the Plains but what he is doing to Tennessee is far worse — and much funnier — than his actions on the Plains.

Let’s rewind a bit: Steele tried to get hired as Auburn’s head coach by backstabbing Gus Malzahn for a few years, didn’t get the job after a fan backlash, took a job at Tennessee under Jeremy Pruitt, Pruitt got fired, new head coach Josh Heupel doesn’t want Steele on his staff and … well, Tennessee is paying him for his “services” during the last two months.

Yeah, that’s how this has gone down.

From Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville News Sentinel:

Tennessee will pay the price for firing Kevin Steele less than two months into a two-year contract he received in January.

That price?

As much as $860,870 in severance, according to his separation agreement obtained Friday by Knox News through a public records request.

Steele’s termination letter is dated Tuesday. First-year coach Josh Heupel completed his inaugural staff this week by hiring Mike Ekeler as his 10th assistant.

Under the terms of Steele’s buyout, he’s due to receive his severance in monthly installments throughout the end of his contract, set to expire Jan. 31, 2023.

That is certainly a great buyout for what we assume was little work.

Tennessee to pay Kevin Steele $900,000 … for two weeks of work

Tennessee is paying Kevin Steele $900K for just two weeks of work as he isn’t expected to be part of Josh Heupel’s staff.

Kevin Steele is making out like a bandit right now.

The former Auburn defensive coordinator was hired by former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt just two weeks ago to a spot on the defensive staff. As we all know, Pruitt was eventually fired and Steele was set to become the interim head coach.

Now that the Volunteers have a head coach in Josh Heupel, Steele’s spot on the Tennessee staff is apparently no more and, for just two weeks of work, the university will pay him $900,000.

Let’s break that down:

Pay per day: $64,285.71

Pay per hour: $2,678.57

Pay per minute: $44.64

Pay per SECOND: $0.74

That is some kind of deal if you can get it. OH, and let’s not forget the fact that Steele is also getting paid as part of the buyout at Auburn after the school fired Gus Malzahn.

This sort of money can definitely buy some support for his next attempted coup!

Report: Kevin Steele considering adding Rodney Garner to Tennessee staff

Former Auburn assistant Rodney Garner is reportedly expected to join Kevin Steele at Tennessee.

While his future as Tennessee interim coach remains up in the air depending on whether or not the Volunteers hire a new head coach before next season, former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele is not stopping from putting together as good as a staff as possible.

One name being mentioned for his staff, per FootballScoop.com, is Rodney Garner who served as assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach for Auburn on Gus Malzahn’s staff.

Sources informed FootballScoop that Steele, officially the Vols’ interim coach following the program’s Monday firing of Jeremy Pruitt amidst both an internal and external investigation, is moving to reunite with veteran defensive assistant Rodney Garner.

Garner is expected to return to Rocky Top as the Vols’ defensive line coach, if Tennessee can finalize the deal. He also in that scenario reunites with Steele, with whom he has just finished working alongside at Auburn – Garner’s alma mater.

Among the most acclaimed defensive line coaches in college football, Garner through his work at Georgia and Auburn for nearly a quarter century. With those stops and his first tour at Tennessee, Garner is responsible for double-digit NFL Draft picks along the defensive line and also is consistently ranked as one of the SEC’s and college football’s top recruiting specialists.

Garner is one of the top recruiters in the nation, helping bring players such as Derrick Brown, Montravius Adams and Carl Lawson among others to the Plains during his tenure.

Projecting Auburn’s defensive depth chart for 2021

Tennessee fans react to possibility of Kevin Steele becoming head coach

Twitter was all over the news that Kevin Steele is now the new interim head coach at Tennessee

Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before: the head coach of a football program is fired and Kevin Steele is named interim head coach.  Déjà vu? No, just another day in the SEC.

It was only 17 days ago that we saw Kevin Steele act as interim head coach for Auburn as the Tigers took on Northwestern in the Citrus Bowl. Steele was not retained to Bryan Harsin’s staff (no surprises there) and returned home to his alma mater of Tennessee to take on the role of defensive coordinator.

Just days later head coach Jeremy Pruitt and AD Phillip Fulmer are ousted. Pruitt was fired with cause by the university Monday morning after an internal investigation resulted in the discovery of several major recruiting infractions. Fulmer announced this morning that he is stepping down as athletic director. His retirement is not directly related to the investigation of Pruitt, he just doesn’t want to be the fall-guy in this situation and I get it.

Let’s get back to the details here. Guess who was waiting in the wings to receive the nomination of interim head coach? YES, Kevin (insert middle name here) Steele! Many Volunteer fans have been paying close attention to what Auburn fans have had to say about the possibility of this man becoming a head coach, and well, there’s a mixed bag of responses here. Check them out:

I have no idea where Tennessee goes from this, honestly. In addition to firing Pruitt they also fired nine other football employees for violations. The good news is that Tennessee will have a lot of latitude in finding a new coaching staff with no buyouts attached. The bad news is that they’ll also need to locate a new athletic director and a wrecking crew, I mean football staff, that can clean this mess up.

Former Auburn DC Kevin Steele joins Jeremy Pruitt’s staff at Tennessee

Former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has joined the Tennessee coaching staff as a defensive assistant.

It didn’t take long for Kevin Steele to find a new job.

On Tuesday, the University of Tennessee athletics department officially announced that the former Auburn defensive coordinator will be joining Jeremy Pruitt’s staff in Knoxville.

“Kevin is someone I have respected and admired for a long time on and off the field,” Pruitt said, “I had the opportunity to learn and work with him during our time at Alabama and our friendship grew from there. He has outstanding knowledge of the game and understands what it takes to be successful in this conference. Having coached under the great Johnny Majors, he has a sincere appreciation for what it means to be a Tennessee Volunteer. We are thrilled to welcome Kevin and Linda back to Rocky Top.”

Serving as interim head coach after Gus Malzahn was fired following eight seasons at Auburn, Steele was once a candidate for the head coaching position at Auburn until a fan revolt occurred. It has also been reported that Steele was going behind Malzahn’s back for two seasons in an attempt to stage a coup to get the head coaching job.

“Linda and I are excited to be coming home,” Steele said. “Tennessee is a special place to me personally. I am truly grateful to Coach Pruitt and Coach Fulmer for this opportunity, and I am eager to get to work alongside them once again. I look forward to helping create an environment where our players are successful and truly embrace what it means to be a Volunteer.”

Former Auburn DC Kevin Steele joins Jeremy Pruitt’s staff at Tennessee

Former Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has joined the Tennessee coaching staff as a defensive assistant.

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It didn’t take long for Kevin Steele to find a new job.

On Tuesday, the University of Tennessee athletics department officially announced that the former Auburn defensive coordinator will be joining Jeremy Pruitt’s staff in Knoxville.

“Kevin is someone I have respected and admired for a long time on and off the field,” Pruitt said, “I had the opportunity to learn and work with him during our time at Alabama and our friendship grew from there. He has outstanding knowledge of the game and understands what it takes to be successful in this conference. Having coached under the great Johnny Majors, he has a sincere appreciation for what it means to be a Tennessee Volunteer. We are thrilled to welcome Kevin and Linda back to Rocky Top.”

Serving as interim head coach after Gus Malzahn was fired following eight seasons at Auburn, Steele was once a candidate for the head coaching position at Auburn until a fan revolt occurred. It has also been reported that Steele was going behind Malzahn’s back for two seasons in an attempt to stage a coup to get the head coaching job.

“Linda and I are excited to be coming home,” Steele said. “Tennessee is a special place to me personally. I am truly grateful to Coach Pruitt and Coach Fulmer for this opportunity, and I am eager to get to work alongside them once again. I look forward to helping create an environment where our players are successful and truly embrace what it means to be a Volunteer.”