John Currie's final days as the athletic director at Tennessee were anything but orderly.
According to documents released as part of a public records request from USA TODAY, Currie's communication with Tennessee administrators, national media and prospective coaches ranged from disorderly to nonexistent. Currie, who was put on paid leave and replaced by former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer on Dec. 1, reached a $2.5 million settlement with the university this week.
MORE: Tennessee search timeline: A series of wild events
Fulmer hired Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt a week later to lead the Volunteers program, ending a very public coach search that repeatedly embarrassed the university. While that discord has been well-documented, it's nonetheless fascinating to see it in close detail.
Here are some of the more interesting dialogues revealed from the records:
Former players buy Jon Gruden hype
One of the biggest storylines of the Tennessee coaching search — before it turned into a full-scale debacle — was the possibility of Super Bowl-winning coach Jon Gruden taking over the Volunteers. The news was so widespread that even former players contacted Currie about the possibility.
One such player was former quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who on Nov. 16 sent Currie a message that read, "Good evening Mr. Currie, Sooo are the rumors true?"
"Which rumors?" Currie responded, via the Times Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.).
"A lot of buzz around Coach Gruden," Dobbs wrote. "Wasn't sure if it is legit or heresay."
"Geez even you?" Currie responded back.
That would only be the start of Currie's trouble in his coaching search.
Currie calls Tennessee fans "wacko"
News of Tennessee agreeing to terms with Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano was met with immediate, widespread outrage among Tennessee fans and elevated the public sentiment that Tennessee's athletic department was in disarray.
But it seems Currie at some point reached out to national football columnist Dan Wolken of USA TODAY to broach his opinion of the hire. In a series of messages between the two, Currie said he'd have to defend the hire while calling Tennessee's fan base "wacko."
Have reached the "wacko" portion of these documents, where Currie and a national reporter shared a nice little moment. pic.twitter.com/6PU1jEDRXm
— David Cobb (@DavidWCobb) March 23, 2018
That's certainly not the sort of message an athletic director would want to send about his own team's fans.
MORE: Tennessee 2018 lookahead
Currie ghosts "fired up" Dave Doeren
Shortly after Tennessee flopped on Schiano (and failed to sink backup options in Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy and Missouri OC Jeff Brohm), Currie reached out to N.C. State coach Dave Doeren, flying to North Carolina to meet with the Wolfpack coach.
Doeren ended up signing an extension with the Wolfpack, but public records show, via the News Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.), that he was "fired up" about potentially taking the job. But Currie apparently had second thoughts and ghosted Doeren's agent, Jordan Bazant. Currie reportedly exchanged messages with Bazant, but didn't follow up on any of their communications.
"Let's get this done," Bazant wrote to Currie on Nov. 28. On Nov. 30, Bazant wrote, "Really need to hear from you."
Doeren received a new deal from N.C. State later that day. Two days later, Currie was suspended.
Brady Hoke says he's interested in job
As Tennessee's coaching search became more drawn out, interim Volunteers coach Brady Hoke (who replaced Butch Jones after his firing in early November) offered to take the job.
According to a Nov. 29 text between the two, Hoke made sure Currie knew of his interest in the position.
"JOHN I HOPE YOU DO KNOW I WOULD LIKE TO BE YOUR HEAD FOOTBALL COACH I DO KNOW THE ENVIRONMENT WE LIVE IN AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AT TENNESSEE!" Hoke texted in all capital letters.
Hoke sent Currie another text when he was placed on paid leave, saying, "JOHN VERY SORRY TO HEAR WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS IS THE BULL CRAP THAT COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAS BECOME. IF I CAN BE OF ANY HELP PLEASE LET ME KNOW."
Tennessee loses all contact with Currie
After Currie left North Carolina, he flew straight to California, where he met with Washington State coach Mike Leach in Los Angeles — apparently without the knowledge of his bosses at Tennessee.
According to another report from the News Sentinel, Tennessee administrators lost all contact with Currie on Nov. 30, the day before he was suspended. He resurfaced later that day with an email to Tennessee chancellor Beverly Davenport, president Joe DiPietro and general counsel Matthew Scoggins, saying he was flying to a meeting with Leach.
"Although I have not offered the job or discussed terms with him, he told me he would take the job if offered," Currie wrote in the email.
That apparently was not good enough for Davenport, who told Currie to fly back to Knoxville for a meeting the next day.
"I trust you are on your way back to Knoxville as I requested in my text message this afternoon," Davenport wrote to Currie (via the Sentinel). "This morning, we tried for six hours to contact you about the state of the search. After finally connecting, you informed me that you were in California heading into a meeting with Mike Leach. This was the first I had heard of this meeting. Because of the confusion from earlier in the day with the other candidate (Doeren), I asked you not to pursue any discussions about employment with any additional candidates."
The next message on Currie's phone came from Leach, who said, "I hope you come out of this OK and we can work together."
They did not: Their meeting was the last straw for Currie, who was gone from Tennessee the next day.
