Report: Greg Schiano a top candidate for Tennessee job

Tennessee is still searching for a new head coach after firing Butch Jones earlier in the month, and it sounds like Greg Schiano has emerged as the favorite to land the job.

Dan Wolken of USA Today Sports is reporting that Schiano, who is in his second season as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Ohio State, became the “focus” of Tennessee’s coaching search over the weekend.

Sources: As the last 24 hours have evolved, Greg Schiano has emerged as the focus of Tennessee’s search. Vols have also been engaged with Mullen, who has been trying to wait out Florida.

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) November 26, 2017

The Vols reportedly made an offer to Chip Kelly, but he ended up signing with UCLA and never really considered any programs outside of UCLA and Florida. There are a lot of big names being floated around for several open coaching jobs in the SEC, and it has always seemed like a matter of time before Schiano becomes a head coach again.

Urban Meyer said earlier in the year that Schiano has already turned down some significant coaching jobs, but it would be hard to imagine him turning down Tennessee. While Schiano made a name for himself by having success at Rutgers and was ultimately a failure at the NFL level with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he is still young by head coaching standards at age 51.