Sports Illustrated is reporting that the Tennessee Volunteers have reached out to NC State head coach Dave Doeren about their coaching vacancy and their source says he may listen.
The Vols have had a lot of drama around this coaching search. There was a lot of talk around Gruden at first, but now SI is reporting that they are primarily targeting Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy. The even have Peyton Manning making the sales pitch.
They’ve apparently also reached out to Purdue’s Jeff Brohm.
For NC State fans, this probably isn’t great news. Doeren is just starting to hit his stride at NC State, coming off an 8-4 season and following it up with a very strong recruiting class. However, Tennessee is an elite SEC job and there aren’t many coaches that wouldn’t at least listen to a pitch. Here is what SI had to say about the NC State head coach:
Doeren, a Kansas native, who is 56–34 in stints at Northern Illinois and NC State, led the Wolfpack to an 8–4 finish after entering the season on the hot seat. A source told SI that he would be very tempted by the Vols job.
Tempted by what is really the question. If it’s a money thing, NC State may at least try to hang with the Vols. The win over UNC unlocked a bunch of contract clauses that will equal a big payday and 1-year extension for Doeren.
Debbie Yow is certainly already drafting up an even bigger extension that was rumored to be in the works earlier this season. But will it be enough? Was NC State just a stepping stone for Dave? Would him interviewing for the Tennessee job change how Wolfpack fans feel about him? If he left, where would NC State turn?
There are a lot of questions right now and there likely won’t be many answers for a while. It’s likely Doeren will refute the Sports Illustrated report with his team bowl bound, but it’s also likely that winning at NC State is going to prompt a lot of calls from SEC teams looking for that up and comer.
Stay tuned, Pack fans. We’ll keep you updated.
