KNOXVILLE - Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne had one of his staff members send John Currie a spreadsheet evaluating college football coaches as Currie searched for Butch Jones' replacement at Tennessee in November.
Several weeks later, Tennessee hired someone who was not on Alabama's spreadsheet but was on its payroll.
The unhinged saga that led to Jeremy Pruitt being named Tennessee's football coach reached a milestone Thursday when the university announced a $2.5 million settlement with Currie, who was relieved of his duties as athletic director on Dec. 1.
In the wake of the settlement, thousands of pages of communication between UT officials have been released, offering a partial glimpse behind the curtain into Currie's failed search for a football coach.
The willingness of Byrne to share Alabama's "coaching efficiency" formula with Currie and a rival program is just one interesting revelation contained in the communications. Among the others was that USA Today sports writer Dan Wolken offered to "help" as Currie expressed concern over how his attempt to hire Greg Schiano would be received.
"Our people are wacko," Currie wrote in an outgoing text message at 6:39 p.m. on Nov. 26, according to the records.
"I'll help," Wolken sent to Currie. "Not sure they'll listen. LOL. I know he's a very good coach and is about the right stuff."
Less than 20 minutes after the exchange, Currie began receiving several texts per minute - and thousands over the next day - in protest of Schiano becoming Tennessee's next coach.
Currie signed a memorandum of understanding with Schiano, but chancellor Beverly Davenport did not sign the MOU as the deal with Schiano died in a sea of public outrage.
By one set of criteria that circulated among Currie and his top aides, it appeared that Schiano actually was lacking compatibility with Currie's top priority in the search. A file sent from executive associate athletic director Reid Sigmon to Currie by email on Nov. 19 and contained in the documents released Thursday outlined the "requirements" of the new head coach.
First on the list was Southeastern Conference experience, which Schiano did not have.
"Not having this cost BJ (Jones) his job," the document read. "Took him 4 years to get the right assistant in place to be able to handle the pressure, stress, recruiting, and expectations of UT. Don't believe you can have a vision for success unless you truly know what you are up against. The assistant hires are as important as the HC hire."
The second requirement on the document sent between Sigmon and Currie was recruiting success. The third requirement was experience as a head coach or NFL coordinator.
The fourth item was a defensive background and the fifth item was Southern ties. Sixth, and last, were character traits.
Also included in the document circulated between Sigmon and Currie were several suggestions for the Tennessee football program, including a revamped drug policy and a director of sports science "with appropriate training."
"I feel very strongly that the major reason we struggled this year is the fact we had 3 strength coaches and 2 nutritionists over the last 5 years," the document said. "We have not been able to develop players at a consistent rate like other schools. We need to dedicate more resources to this area. We need to have a trained person equipped to oversee the development of our players and this would also take this area off the HC's plate."
It's unclear to what extent Currie consulted Alabama's "coaching efficiency" rating in his evaluation of candidates for the Tennessee job.
The chart provided to Currie by Alabama listed the top 87 coaching tenures in college football since 2000, using a weighted score that incorporated various factors such as national championships, final AP ranking and overall win percentage.
Schiano, who previously was the head coach at Rutgers, was not among those listed. Alabama coach Nick Saban was first on the list, while Ohio State's Urban Meyer was second.
Schiano was - and still is - Meyer's defensive coordinator.
After Currie's unsuccessful bid to hire Schiano, attempts to hire several other coaches fizzled until Currie was placed on paid leave.
The day after Phillip Fulmer was announced as the new athletic director, Currie's cellphone received a text message.
It was from Jones - the coach Currie had fired three weeks before.
"Just wanted u to know I was thinking of u," Jones wrote.
Speculation over Jon Gruden's interest in Tennessee's head coaching position grew so rampant during Currie's time leading the search in November that even former Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs probed Currie for information.
"Good evening Mr. Currie, Sooo are the rumors true?" Dobbs texted Currie on Nov. 16.
"Which rumors?" Currie texted back.
Dobbs responded by saying, "A lot of buzz around Coach Gruden. Wasn't sure if it is legit or heresay."
"Geez even you?" Currie responded back.
Interim head coach Brady Hoke sent an all-capitals text to Currie on Nov. 29, making sure Currie knew Hoke would be interested in the full-time job.
"JOHN I HOPE YOU DO KNOW I WOULD LIKE TO BE YOUR HEAD FOOTBALL COACH I DO KNOW THE ENVIRONMENT WE LIVE IN AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AT TENNESSEE!" Hoke wrote.
Currie's cellphone was abuzz with text messages and phone calls from athletic department staff members during a week that began with the near-hiring of Schiano and ended when Davenport placed Currie on paid leave after he went to visit Washington State coach Mike Leach.
Former Tennessee interim athletic director and longtime women's athletic director Joan Cronan reached out to Currie noting that she had received a call from former LSU coach Les Miles. Cronan suggested the idea of Fulmer or Miles as head coach paired with Tee Martin as offensive coordinator and Kevin Steele or John Chavis as defensive coordinator.
Even an Atlanta attorney claiming to represent Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson reached out to Currie suggesting Johnson had interest in the job.
But eventually it was no longer Currie's search. University officials expressed concern the evening of Nov. 30 when they were unable to contact him as he continued with the search.
That morning, Currie sent a text message to an unidentified recipient saying, "Today will be epic one way or another."
The next day, Fulmer was introduced as athletic director.
"JOHN VERY SORRY TO HEAR WHAT HAS HAPPENED THIS IS THE BULL CRAP THAT COLLEGE FOOTBALL HAS BECOME," Hoke wrote to Currie. "IF I CAN BE OF ANY HELP PLEASE LET ME KNOW."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.