Not that this is going to slow down any of the rampant Internet speculation that Rodney Garner is gone, gone, gone to Knoxville, Tennessee, but David Hale reports on his Twitter feed that Todd Grantham is going right ahead and plugging Garner in as his defensive line coach, thank you very much.
And given that we’ve seen plenty of names bandied about for the UT defensive coordinator job – here’s the latest – with none of those being Garner’s, it’s probably safe to assume that if he were asked to return to the Vol staff it would be at roughly the same level he’s at in Athens. So outside of contract leverage, what’s the point?
By the way, speaking of lateral moves, Virginia Tech just announced the numbers for Bud Foster’s “golden lunchbox” deal. If he sticks around for the full five-year term to collect the bonus, the numbers work out to about $560K per year – definitely not too shabby, but definitely not as good as what Georgia, LSU, Alabama and Tennessee are paying (or offering to pay, in UT’s case) for their DCs. Hell, DeRuyter’s almost making that per year at TAMU and he doesn’t have to wait for any bonus. Somebody needs a new agent.
Glad to hear Rodney’s staying. I’m breathing easier about our recruits.
As for Foster, he does have a rolling 5-year contract at Va Tech, so that’s a GREAT deal if the unthinkable happens. Plus, Va Tech can still raise him again (since there seems to be no ceiling on coaching salaries). Finally, after 23 years it’s obvious he likes being where he is. All in all I can see why he stayed.
Besides, I don’t think we settled at all with Grantham.
You know you’re comfortable in life when you can leave $200k a year on the table.
Love how the inellectually superior Jackets linked an article from a year ago to support the story. I sure hope CRG doesn’t take Lane Kiffin’s offer!