Tennessee working on finalizing deal with Greg Schiano as next coach

Dan Wolken | USA TODAY

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Tennessee is working to finalize a deal with former Rutgers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano to become the Vols' next coach, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

That person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicy. Tennessee officials were hoping to be in position to announce the hire on Sunday afternoon.

As Tennessee’s search evolved, Schiano became the focus of a process that has also heavily involved Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, who had been stalling with the Vols in an attempt to wait and see what happens with the opening at Florida. He is now the front-runner for that position, Yahoo! Sports reported on Sunday.

Schiano, who is currently Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, has a longstanding relationship with athletics director John Currie.

Schiano went 68-67 over 11 seasons at Rutgers, but the record is deceiving as he inherited one of the nation’s worst programs and brought it to prominence in the Big East with six bowl appearances in his final seven seasons.

After spurning interest from several high-profile college programs, including Michigan at one point, Schiano went to the NFL following the 2011 season. He was fired after two seasons and subsequently returned to the college game in 2016 with the Ohio State staff.

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