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Tennessee Football: 5 candidates to replace Butch Jones as head coach

By Dana Becker

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones leaves the field after a game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Georgia won 41-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 30: Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones leaves the field after a game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on September 30, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Georgia won 41-0. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

3. The rumor mill leader: Jon Gruden

Ever since he left, NFL teams have been trying to get Jon Gruden to return to coaching.

Gruden, who currently works for ESPN, was actually in Knoxville this weekend to watch Tennessee fall to South Carolina, sparking several rumors on social media.

The 54-year-old from Ohio held the role of graduate assistant at Tennessee as his first coaching job way back in 1986-87 before moving to Southeast Missouri State, Pacific and the NFL after.

Gruden has coached San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Philadelphia, Oakland and Tampa Bay, winning a Super Bowl and going 100-85 overall. His roles in college, though, were limited to the aforementioned grad assistant, passing game coordinator and tight ends coach.

Would it be possible for someone who hasn’t coached in college since 1989 and overall since 2008 to step back into the ever-changing landscape and have success against the likes of Alabama, Georgia and Auburn?

If one thing is true, Gruden would become the second-biggest name in the league behind only Nick Saban in an instant.

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