By: Sporting News
Tennessee's recent moves in its athletic department are coming at a big cost to the university.
Between the recent firing of athletic director John Currie and coach Butch Jones, Tennessee will owe the two, plus assistant football coaches, roughly $18.1 million in buyouts essentially to not work for the school anymore.
Currie, who was fired Friday, is still owed $5.1 million for the remaining time on his contract, according to the Times Free Press. The caveat to that cost is if the school fired him with cause.
Jones and his staff are expected to receive a $13 million buyout and $8.3 million of that $13 million is Jones' buyout, according to SEC Country. That number could be offset if Jones and his staff get a comparable job, but at this point, Jones' name has not been publicly associated to any other vacancies.
To recap, that's roughly $18.1 million coming out of Tennessee's pocket and the university doesn't even have a coach yet.
After nearly a week of questionable moves from UT's athletic department during their highly dramatic coaching search, the Volunteers went from nearly closing a deal with Greg Schiano to being turned down by many high-profile coaches to replacing their athletic director.
There also could be an even bigger cost with the possibility that Schiano could pursue litigation against the university after Currie reportedly signed a memorandum to close the deal, which eventually went up in smoke.
Tennessee's recent moves in its athletic department are coming at a big cost to the university.
Between the recent firing of athletic director John Currie and coach Butch Jones, Tennessee will owe the two, plus assistant football coaches, roughly $18.1 million in buyouts essentially to not work for the school anymore.
Currie, who was fired Friday, is still owed $5.1 million for the remaining time on his contract, according to the Times Free Press. The caveat to that cost is if the school fired him with cause.
Jones and his staff are expected to receive a $13 million buyout and $8.3 million of that $13 million is Jones' buyout, according to SEC Country. That number could be offset if Jones and his staff get a comparable job, but at this point, Jones' name has not been publicly associated to any other vacancies.
To recap, that's roughly $18.1 million coming out of Tennessee's pocket and the university doesn't even have a coach yet.
After nearly a week of questionable moves from UT's athletic department during their highly dramatic coaching search, the Volunteers went from nearly closing a deal with Greg Schiano to being turned down by many high-profile coaches to replacing their athletic director.
There also could be an even bigger cost with the possibility that Schiano could pursue litigation against the university after Currie reportedly signed a memorandum to close the deal, which eventually went up in smoke.
