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:
Watch Tennessee ride this year out with Kevin Steele 😣
— Mike McGraw (@MikeMcGraw15) January 18, 2021
They gonna make Steele HC. So Tennessee
— GuyOnRockyTop🍊🇺🇸 (@GuyOnRockyTop) January 18, 2021
I just have a bad feeling that Tennessee is gonna be Tennessee and will hire Kevin Steele. I really hope that is not the case but it’s probably going to happen.
— Matthew Parsons (@mrparsons15) January 18, 2021
I’m not sure I could ever stop being a Tennessee football fan. But if we fired Pruitt to make Kevin Steele the interim coach…I might try.
— Ron Laffitte (@RonLaffitte) January 18, 2021
Tennessee at the end of the day gonna do the most easiest thing, hire Steele
— G R A H A M K. (@54gkennedy) January 18, 2021
You know, I’m not gonna throw a fit if Tennessee hires Kevin Steele. I’d rather lose with a Tennessee guy at the helm. Take our chances. Dude might just be great 🤷🏻♂️
— Josh Peterson 📻 🎧🎙 (@joshpeterson29) January 18, 2021
Tennessee definitely shouldn't hire Steele as the head coach for the future.. at this point you've gotta hire someone who is closer to being a "sure thing" than taking a chance on another up and comer or lifetime assistant
— CJ Stout (@CJ_Stout7) January 18, 2021
Kevin Steele. Active head coach. HahahahahahahhahahabahahahahahHhHbHbBbH
— daydayvol (@daydayvol) January 18, 2021
Kevin Steele announced active head coach. JFC.
— Josh Claiborne (@jclaiborne311) January 18, 2021
Kevin Steele active head coach. If you need me I'll be at the Kingston bridge.
— Chase (@TweetChase_25) January 18, 2021
Oh, no. Kevin Steele is going to be the head coach, isn’t he?
— Scott Erland (@scott_erland) January 18, 2021
Kevin. Steele. pic.twitter.com/BY3SfpHKGp
— Ben McMurry (@BennyMac1114) January 18, 2021
So is Kevin Steele the interim head coach or is he like permanent? I’m confused…….and panicking a little.
— Tennessee Williams (@TN_Williams) January 18, 2021
Tennessee is not coming back anytime soon, Kevin Steele isn't the answer and if Tennessee is not careful they could turn into what Kentucky was several years ago #TennesseeFootball
— Shon (@ShonnyDman) January 18, 2021
Kevin Steele's head coaching record is 9-37
go vols
— Acting Vols fan (@Crass_S) January 18, 2021
Chris low says Kevin Steele will get a serious look 🤦🏾♂️
— J DIX🍊 (@jndiixon) January 18, 2021
The University of Tennessee just nuked its own fball program & knew it was going it do so by the hiring of Kevin Steele a week earlier. This is the biggest "hold my beer" moment in the history of the program.
— Chris Sullens (@sullenschris) January 18, 2021
I DO NOT WANT KEVIN STEELE AS OUR HEAD COACH!
— Tennessee (@bizak24) January 18, 2021
9-37 career head coaching record for Kevin Steele. Why would the NCAA waste their time punishing us? We just named a guy w quiet possibly the worst record of any coach to lead the vols. That’s punishment enough.
— matt curtis (@curtisjmlc) January 18, 2021
I think Kevin Steele makes a lot of sense as a guy who you could get to take over now and at least see us through these sanctions. I hate that this is where we are at but it's reality.
— Ｓｅｑｕｅｎｔｉａｌ Ｏｎｇｏｉｎｇ Ｓｔｒａｔｅｇｉｅｓ (@RandomUTFan) January 18, 2021
If Kevin Steele is made permanent HC, every square centimeter of the city of Knoxville will burn
— Nathan #HireAWinner (@AsparagusVol) January 18, 2021
Kevin Steele should be thanked for falling on this dagger for Tennessee Football. They knew this was coming and his hire was not by mistake. There needs to be more of that around UT athletics. The type that might turn this thing around.
— Nick durbin (@Nickydeezer12) January 18, 2021
Kevin Steele. Interim head coach at UT. 9-36 overall as head, 1-31 in Conference. That is SO UT!!…/S University of Tennessee Athletic Dept…..(Perpetual ATM machine)…
— Jeff Williamson (@mechanix) January 18, 2021
If it takes one year of Kevin Steele to get Hugh Freeze in 2022, screw it. I can wait a year. Freeze will have one more year to build his credibility at a Christian University
— Nashville Vol Who Wants To Dump The Gump (@HughFreezeToUT) January 18, 2021
LMAO – I'm floored this needed it's own tweet. This entire move was set in motion the second @Vol_Football hired Kevin Steele. https://t.co/UiUZVCeRbp
— Truth_Be_Told (@TruthBe78854031) January 18, 2021
If Kevin Steele is the Head Football Coach next season, that might be the final nail in the coffin for me…. I was good with him being a defensive assistant, but not head coach. I understand and am good with the interim tag, but surely we can find a new HC by spring ball.
— Noah2mey (@nbtwomey) January 18, 2021
Bout to have that Kevin Steele top notch coaching. Look at that Baylor record my goodness 🤦🏾♂️
— JL (@JLBlackLabel) January 18, 2021
If Kevin Steele is going to be our coach for this year and maybe the foreseeable future, I don’t think that could necessarily be a bad thing. He’s also a DC, similar to Pruitt, and a UT guy. It could work out fine depending on our NCAA punishment
— Matthew Keisling (@KeislingMatthew) January 18, 2021
Kevin Steele. Another mediocre has been.
— anthony (@S1ckSigma) January 19, 2021
Vol Fans If Tennessee promotes Kevin Steele after all of this: pic.twitter.com/SfwpWBljrj
— Joe Manchin Fan 🐶🇺🇸 (@ATypicalVolFan) January 19, 2021
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.