SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 2018 THE DAILY TIMES SPORTS | 5B

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EMAILS: Coaching fiasco led to Currie exit, Fulmer hire Documents show
FROM 1B

all of us, he has been specif-

ically helpful to me, provid-
ing much needed guidance
and advice.”
Schiano, 51, had a success-
ful stint as Rutgers head
coach before taking a job
in the NFL with the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers, but what
had fans unsettled was his
connection to Penn State
during his time as an assis-
tant from 1990-95. In 2016,
Schiano was implicated
as a possible witness in
the Penn State child rape
scandal involving Jerry San-
dusky.
As the situation played
out on social media and
the deal became shaky the
night of Nov. 26, Board of
Trustees members looked
for answers.
George Cates asked,
“Done deal? Bad odor,” and
that he received an “out-
rage call” from “‘a booster
of over 25 years and top 900
donor’ who says no more.”
Jubran responded, “No
contract signed yet.”
“Regarding the bad odor,
it is so disappointing that
our fan base and our media
are wiling to condemn a
man of being a criminal
even though he might be
totally innocent,” Jubran
added. “Check out the
investigation report. Greg
is not mentioned, he was
never interviewed by Louis
free, not a single lawsuit
from all the real victims
mentioned him nor did
any lawyer for the victims
request his deposition on
any of the issues.
“The only place you can
find his name is in one tes-
timony by McQueary who
said that another assistant
coach Bradley told him that
Greg came into his office
white faced, but then we
found another testimony
from bradley saying that he
never told such a story to
McQueary,” Jubran wrote.
“I just have that we are
ruining someone reputa-
tion unfairly. we (sic) are
THEN TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS head coach Greg Schiano watches during a game against the San
Francisco 49ers Dec. 15, 2013, in Tampa, Fla.
supposed to be Christians
who forgive and live in a
country that believes that
people are innocent until
proven guilty.”
According to texts and
direct messages also part of
the released documents, the
same day of Jubran’s email
exchange, Currie appeared
to know that hiring Schiano
might not go over well with
the Tennessee fan base.
“Gonna need some help on
the Pr,” Currie wrote Nov.
26 during a text-message
exchange with USA TODAY
columnist Dan Wolken.
“Our people are wacko.”
“I’ll help,” Wolken replied.
“Not sure they’ll listen. LOL.
I know he’s a very good
coach and is about the right
stuff.”
On Nov. 27, the univer-
sity released a statement
addressing the Schiano
debacle and said that the
coaching search would con-
tinue under the direction
of Currie.
Later that day, Board of
Trustee member John Foy
expressed his concern with
how the search was being
handled.
“What is troubling to
me is that this is such an
incredibly high profile and
that to not have a search
firm or others involved
is troublesome,” Foy said
in a 6:06 p.m. email. “It is
even more troubling to
me that the athletic com-
mittee members have not
been involved. Why have
a committee if they are not
involved? It is troubling also
that our Athletic Director
has been on the job a short
period of time and for him
not to involved the commit-
tee is not understandable.
The UT Football Coach is
a state wide position that
is watched and the politics
of this is so sensitive and
should be something that
folks who have been around
the state for years and know
some of the politics should
have been involved.
“Joe please share this with
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Raj. Thanks for what you
do and hopefully all will
be more cognizant of the
importance of this and the
best way to hand situations
like this.”
Once the Schiano deal was
dead, Currie’s search transi-
tioned to Oklahoma State’s
Mike Gundy to North Caro-
lina State’s Dave Doeren to
Washington State’s Mike
Leach before the athletic
director was suspended
from his duties during a
meeting with Chancellor
Beverly Davenport.
Currie and Tennessee
reached an “amicable res-
olution” settlement of $2.5
million Thursday.
Phillip Fulmer then was
handed the search and ath-
letic director duties on Dec.
1. Jeremy Pruitt was hired as
Tennessee’s football coach
on Dec. 7.
FOLLOW @ABORNHEIM on
Twitter for more from sports
editor Austin Bornheim. Write
to him at austinb@thedaily
Fulmer was willing
to be Vols coach
BY AUSTIN BORNHEIM
austinb@thedailytimes.com
KNOXVILLE — The
search for Tennessee’s
football coach was long
and winding, full of well-
known candidates and up-
and-comers.
One surprising name to
surface, however, is former
football coach and current
athletic director Phillip
Fulmer. Two days before
he was introduced at Ten-
nessee’s athletic director
replacing John Currie, Ful-
mer expressed interest in
being the Vols coach again.
According to Tennessee
President Joe DiPietro’s
phone records as part of
documents obtained by
The Daily Times, Fulmer
told prominent Tennes-
see donor John “Thunder”
Thornton “all they would
have to do is ask” for him
to become the Vols head
coach once again.
Thornton told DiPietro
in a text message on Nov.
29 about a “long talk” he
had with former Alabama
athletic director Bill Battle
the day before.
Thornton said that talk
involved whether or not
Fulmer would return to
coaching. Thornton’s mes-
sage said he “doubted it.”
But, Thornton’s talk with
Battle prompted him to ask
Fulmer, and his message
to DiPietro references for-
mer athletic director John
Currie and booster Jimmy
Haslam.
“Bill, Phillip and I hunt
and fish a good bit togeth-
er,” Thornton wrote to DiP-
ietro. “We talked about
Bama’s loss Saturday and
our search. Bill asked me
if Phillip would consider
coaching UT. I told him I
doubted it because I didn’t
think he’d work for Cur-
rie. This morning I asked
Phillip that question and
he replied ‘all they would
have to do is ask.’ So,
there’s another option for
you but probably not one
Jim would go along with.
Thunder”
DiPietro replied that he
was, “surprised by Phillip’s
interest in coaching again.”
Thornton then told DiPi-
etro that Fulmer, “was feel-
ing bad for the university
that he loves,” and would
only return to coaching if
it was at Tennessee.
“I understand. He’s a
great and special man,”
DiPietro responded.
Fulmer was 152-52 as Ten-
nessee’s coach from 1992-
2008. He won two SEC
titles and the 1998 nation-
al championship. He’s the
last coach to get Tennessee
to the SEC championship
game.
Fulmer had been involved
in the Tennessee coaching
search for at least 24 hours
at that point, according to
records.
Over the final days of
Currie’s tenure, Fulmer was
briefed about his predeces-
sor’s movements and dis-
cussions with candidates.
Fulmer even traveled to
Raleigh to meet Currie
and Doeren for a meeting
on Nov. 29, the same day
Thornton sent the mes-
sage to DiPietro.
Talks with Doeren broke
down, and Currie traveled
to Los Angeles to meet
with Washington State
coach Mike Leach.
Davenport summoned
Currie back to Knoxville
on Nov. 30. Currie was
suspended with pay the
next day and Fulmer was
installed as athletic direc-
tor.

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