Tennessee Football: Top 3 head coaching candidates to replace Jeremy Pruitt

1. Kevin Steele, interim head coach

I contemplated putting Hugh Freeze at No. 1 on this list, but when Kevin Steele was almost hired at Auburn after serving as their defensive coordinator and then took a position at Tennessee, it makes me wonder if the Volunteers anticipated letting Jeremy Pruitt go at some point and then just promote Steele to the head coaching position.

Steele is one of the best defensive coordinators in college football and was one of Auburn’s top recruiters in the southeast.

After Gus Malzahn was fired, Steele was a popular choice among some of the top people at Auburn. The Tigers eventually hired Boise State coach Bryan Harsin and Steele was back on the market as a coach before taking a job with Tennessee last week.

Steele has head coaching experience and did play and coach at Tennessee previously and could be the easy hire for the Vols if he wants the job.