Locksley was named one of the Top 10 recruiters in the country by Rivals.com in 2006. His playing calling isn’t too shabby either, leading Illinois to a victory over Ohio State in Columbus and into the Rose Bowl this year.
Those are the obvious candidates, and the ones getting the most buzz in Knoxville. However, there are a few dark horses getting their names thrown around. You would have to believe Fulmer will take a look at these candidates as well—albeit probably further down the list.
Gus Malzahan
Malzahan resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma, coaching the Tulsa Hurricanes' offense. In 2006, he led a potent Arkansas attack to the SEC Championship Game. In 2005, he led Springdale (AR) High School to a 5A State Title and a Top 10 ranking nationally.
Malzahan is considered an offensive guru. Tulsa scored 39.5 points a game this year and over 500 yards of total offense a game. If you want to see his offense in action, check out the GMAC Bowl, which airs January 6th on ESPN.
Chris Hatcher
Coach Hatcher just finished his first season as head coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles. His offenses have been potent everywhere he has been, and in 2004 he captured the National Title at Valdosta State. Oh, by the way—his Georgia Southern squad also beat Appalachian State this year.
So there’s an unofficial list of candidates. Two things are sure with this list. One, it will definitely change if Fulmer plans to be as thorough as he claims, and two, Tennessee will not be implementing a spread option offense.
Tennessee has been fairly successful in keeping their quarterbacks healthy, and as we’ve seen across the country with Oregon and Florida, a quarterback’s health is vital to a team’s success and losing one can ruin a season.
Expect Fulmer to name a new offensive coordinator in mid-January. I’ll go ahead and predict that Kippy Brown will be sitting in the box on Saturdays for Tennessee.
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