UPDATE: KNOXVILLE – Firing athletic director John Currie could add to the University of Tennessee’s growing tab to execute a football coaching search.
Currie, fired Friday, is owed $100,000 per month for the remaining time on his contract.
There are roughly 51 months remaining on Currie’s contract, which means Tennessee would owe Currie $5.1 million, unless the school fired him with cause. University of Tennessee-Knoxville chancellor Beverly Davenport, who hired Currie less than a year ago, is scheduled to meet with media on the UT campus at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon.
A potential Currie buyout comes as fired football coach Butch Jones and his staff is owed a buyout of around $13 million. The amount owed to Jones and his staff will reduced by the salaries they receive at their next jobs. But to this point, Jones’ name has not publicly surfaced in connection with other college football coaching vacancies.
Then there is the possibly that Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano could pursue litigation against the university after he nearly became Tennessee’s football coach this past Sunday.