For those of you in Longhorn Nation concerned about losing defensive coordinator and head coach-in-waiting Will Muschamp to Tennessee, you might be able to breathe a little easier this afternoon.
According to Tom Dienhart of Yahoo! Sports, Muschamp is now out of the running to replace Lane Kiffin as the head coach of the Volunteers and will remain on Mack Brown‘s staff in Austin.
Instead, Tennessee will shift their focus to a pair of coaches from a non-BcS automatic qualifying conference -- TCU’s Gary Patterson and Air Force’s Troy Calhoun. Both of those coaches were under consideration late in 2008 before Kiffin was given the job of replacing Phil Fulmer.
Also under consideration are Duke head coach -- and former UT assistant -- David Cutcliffe and Syracuse head coach Doug Marrone.
Interim Vols head coach Kippy Brown told the Knoxville News Sentinel that a new coach could be in place by Friday. Athletic director Mike Hamilton said at a press conference earlier today that he realizes “timing is of the essence” but will not rush the process just to fill the void.