What we know about Tennessee Vols coaching search from John Currie texts, emails

Tennessee reached a settlement on Thursday with former athletic director John Currie. Also that day, the university released thousands of pages of documents to USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee in response to a records request submitted in December.

Here's what we know.

– Currie and UT reached a $2.5 million settlement that ended his employment. Currie was Tennessee's AD for eight months. He was suspended with pay on Dec. 1 amid a chaotic football coaching search. The settlement includes $2.22 million on top of the salary Currie received while on paid suspension.

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– Chancellor Beverly Davenport wrote a glowing letter of recommendation for Currie as part of a settlement. The terms of the settlement were spot-on with a projection of what would occur detailed in a story by USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee, published early this month.

– Tennessee administrators lost contact with Currie for several hours on the day before he was ousted from his position. At the start of that day, Nov. 30, Currie had been in pursuit of North Carolina State coach Dave Doeren. Doeren's agent, Jordan Bazant, sent a message to Currie saying "really need to hear from you." Currie didn't reply. He was working on a backup plan and flew from North Carolina to California to meet with Washington State coach Mike Leach.

Doeren reached a new deal later that day with N.C. State. Currie wrote in an email to Davenport that day from California that part of the reason he lost touch with her was because the WiFi on his Delta flight to California wasn't working. Davenport called Currie home and scheduled a meeting for the following morning, at which he was relieved of his duties and replaced by Phillip Fulmer.

– Leach wanted the Tennessee job, documents show, but UT stopped its pursuit of Leach after Currie's ouster.

– Currie pursued Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen before offering the job to Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano. Mullen and Currie arranged to talk by phone on Black Friday, the day after the Bulldogs' regular-season finale, and scheduled to meet on that Sunday. But that day, Florida reached an agreement with Mullen, and Currie turned his sights to Schiano. Currie also had exchanged messages with Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy before offering the job to Schiano and pivoted to Gundy after the Schiano deal fell through.

– After Currie offered the job to Schiano on Nov. 26, the news leaked and was met by a wave of backlash from some fans, donors and politicians concerned about what Schiano may or may not have known about Jerry Sandusky's crimes at Penn State. Schiano worked with Sandusky in the 1990s. He has denied knowing anything about Sandusky's crimes.

"Gonna need some help on the Pr," Currie wrote amid a text message exchange with USA TODAY columnist Dan Wolken as negative reaction toward Schiano began to build. "Our people are wacko."

Currie couldn't turn the tide of public opinion, and the Schiano deal stalled.

– On Nov. 26, Currie thought he had his man, even as Florida snapped up Mullen. Just after midnight that morning, Currie had texted Davenport that he had "a tentative deal in place." Later that day, Currie drafted a letter that would be sent to fans announcing the Schiano hire, and he made plans for a news conference. The letter was never sent. The news conference never happened. Schiano remained at Ohio State.

Raja Jubran, vice chairman of UT's Board of Trustees, wrote in an email that the university vetted Schiano. Nonetheless, the public blowback killed the deal.

– Fulmer was willing to take the football job if offered, according to a donor's email to UT President Joe DiPietro. Fulmer became an active participant in the search after the Schiano deal unraveled. Currie briefed Fulmer on his pursuit of Gundy, and Fulmer flew to North Carolina to join Currie so they could meet with Doeren.

– Currie received a flood of messages of support after he was removed from his post on Dec. 1. Even Butch Jones, whom Currie fired Nov. 12 to kick off the coaching search, reached out. "Just wanted u to know I­ was thinking of u," Jones wrote on Dec. 2.

– Some Tennessee fans got their hopes up during the search that Currie would land Jon Gruden, the white whale. Even former UT quarterback Joshua Dobbs quizzed Currie about Gruden. "A lot of buzz around Coach Gruden. Wasnt sure if it legit or heresay?" Dobbs texted to Currie on Nov. 16 during the height of the Grumors. "Geez even you?" Currie responded. Documents show little connection between Gruden and the Vols' coaching job.

– Even after the Vols' coaching search under Currie had become a national punchline, some coaches or their agents reached out to Currie with interest in the job. Among the names were longtime NFL assistant Rich Bisaccia and Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.