KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee is back in the market for a new basketball coach for the second year in a row.
That market is a little more crowded than the last time the Volunteers ventured into it.
It was rather late in the annual coaching carousel a year ago when Cuonzo Martin's decision to leave Tennessee and take the California job left the Vols looking for a new coach in early April, but that's not the case this time.
Since Tennessee fired Donnie Tyndall on Friday after one season, two more high-profile jobs opened up. St. John's parted ways with Steve Lavin on Friday, and multiple reports surfaced Saturday that Texas would fire Rick Barnes, who very well could be on Tennessee's radar. It's been nearly two weeks since Alabama's job came open.
Tennessee is the only one of those programs looking for a third coach in as many years.
"We have a lot to offer," Vols athletic director Dave Hart said Friday.
"The industry has changed in this regard. This is an opinion of someone who's been in the industry for 30 years or more: Coaches aren't as willing to jump. They've done the assessment. If I have resources and I have facilities and I have a good relationship and rapport with the athletic director, the president, chancellor, good fan base, do I want to uproot my family?
"I think that's at play more than the general population thinks. It is a recruitment. It's no different than our coaches recruiting. It's truly a recruitment. We think we have a lot to offer in that vein."
The biggest question, as it always is in coaching searches, is how much is Tennessee willing to offer.
The Vols have a track record of pulling coaches from the mid-major ranks. Tyndall was at Southern Mississippi after a long stint at Morehead State. Martin coached for three years at Missouri State when the Vols tabbed him to replace Bruce Pearl, who came from Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to Tennessee, Buzz Peterson's stops were Tulsa and Appalachian State.
The Tennessee hire that came from a major-conference program was Jerry Green in 1997, and he was just 72-70 with one NCAA tournament appearance, one NIT appearance and two losing seasons in five years at Oregon.
"We're not going to limit our search," Hart said, "based on whether it is somebody at a mid-major, a major (or) an up-and-comer. There's always going to be rising stars out there, and then there are those established coaches. We are going to look everywhere we can."
Hart said Tennessee, whose recent financial shortcomings have been well-documented, is "on pace" to have a record year financially, and the Vols won't owe Tyndall buyout money for firing him with cause and are completing an apparel switch to Nike this summer.
Tyndall's initial deal paid him $1.6 million annually. Martin made $1.3 million a year during his three seasons as coach. Ten years ago, Tennessee hired Pearl for $800,000 annually, but he was making $1.9 millon at the end of his successful tenure.
Coaching salaries in college sports continue to rise, though, and that's become the case in SEC basketball, too.
Auburn hired Pearl last year with a contract that paid him $2.2 million in his first season. Mississippi State, which has 13 SEC wins the past three seasons, handed Ben Howland a four-year deal that will pay the former UCLA coach an average of $2.05 million per year. Alabama reportedly plans to throw a massive offer at Wichita State's Gregg Marshall.
Is Tennessee willing to take a similar route for a more proven coach?
"The marketplace, particularly in intercollegiate athletics -- whether it's right, wrong or indifferent, or you agree or don't -- is shifting dramatically for leadership positions," Hart said. "All you have to do is look at the football marketplace and go back three years. Look at the basketball marketplace and go back three years. The marketplace is shifting.
"You have to be willing to get into the marketplace. A lot of that depends on the qualities you are looking for, the profile and the fit. You know not everyone is created equal in that regard. Some have more experience, and some demand a bigger package financially than others."
For the first time in his long career as athletic director, Hart will use a search firm to aid the process, one he hopes he can complete soon.
"The time frame is always a moving target, because you can never dictate or anticipate how quickly or what quick turns in the road might occur," he said.
"You always want to move as quickly as possible, but you also want to get in front of people who can fit the profile and do the job that needs to be done."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.