Duke head coach David Cutcliffe’s name increasingly became linked with the vacant head coaching position at the University of Tennessee Thursday, and there has been contact between Cutcliffe and Tennessee representatives, several sources told The Chronicle Thursday. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Thursday night that Cutcliffe is expected to be hired, "barring a last-second snag in negotiations," according to an unnamed source.
Art Chase, Duke's sports information director, told The Chronicle Thursday evening that though Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton’s office had not been in direct contact with Cutcliffe, the Duke head coach has been in touch with people associated with the Tennessee football program about possibly bringing Cutcliffe to Knoxville. Chase added that Cutcliffe was in Durham Thursday and that he did not know if Cutcliffe planned to travel to Tennessee in the coming days for direct negotiations. Cutcliffe could not be reached for comment by The Chronicle on Wednesday or Thursday.
Director of Athletics Kevin White told The Chronicle that he and Cutcliffe spoke Thursday, but declined to elaborate on the nature of that conversation.
As of Thursday evening, no team meeting had been held to inform the players of Cutcliffe’s decision to remain at Duke or leave for Tennessee, according to four members of the football team who requested anonymity.
“The guys are worried about it,” one member of the squad told The Chronicle. “We read ESPN, too. We love Coach Cut— he’s the reason why guys even thought about coming here.”
Earlier in the day, several media outlets, both in Tennessee and North Carolina, reported that Cutcliffe had accepted the Volunteers’ head coaching job. But most of those outlets later retracted their reports and updated their Web sites to reflect the uncertainty surrounding Cutcliffe’s possible departure.
Duke’s head coach has been associated with Tennesee for close to three decades. Cutcliffe was an assistant coach at Tennessee between 1982 and 1998, and again from 2006 until he arrived in Durham in December 2007. He served as the head coach at Ole Miss in between those two stints with the Volunteers, giving him plenty of experience coaching and recruiting in the SEC.
Cutcliffe’s departure would be a significant blow to the Duke Football program, which has improved its regional and national standing in the last two seasons. After going 1-23 in previous head coach Ted Roof’s final two years, Cutcliffe has led the Blue Devils to a 9-15 mark in his two seasons in Durham.
Beyond the win totals, Cutcliffe has given Duke Football a presence on campus, and his players have built a strong connection to him, even though many were recruited by Roof.
“Cut is like a father to me—he’s a father to all of us,” a member of the football team wrote in a text message. “Love is an understatement."
Ben Cohen contributed to this report.
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