According to VolQuest.com — the Rivals site covering Tennessee — UT athletic director Dave Hart flew to Louisville to meet with Charlie Strong, but he did not return to Knoxville with him.

Meanwhile, WKRN-TV in Nashville is reporting that Hart flew to Louisville to pick Strong up and bring him back as the Vols’ new coach.

Finally, long time Louisville sports media member Eric Crawford tweeted the following:

Meanwhile, Jimmy Hyams of WNML-AM/FM in Knoxville reports that two sources have told him Strong has turned down the Tennessee job:

Got all that?

UPDATE: Citing a Louisville source, Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel says Strong has turned down Vols contract offer.

Late in the third quarter of Saturday night’s game between Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the Volunteers were staked to a 14-7 lead.  On Vandy’s three-yard-line, UT appeared on the verge of adding a touchdown or at least a field goal to its lead.  But Archibald Barnes stepped in front of a Tyler Bray pass at the goal-line, snagged it, and returned it 100 yards for a game-tying Vandy score.  (Tennessee went on to win the game 27-21.)

But at the end of the play, game officials hit Bray with a 15-yard personal foul for going low on a Vanderbilt player during Barnes’ return.  Asked about that penalty after the game by Jimmy Hyams of WNML-AM/FM in Knoxville (who’s made our site twice today), Bray said:

“Oh, the first guy came and tried to hit me and the second guy came and I was like, ‘Oh, no, I’ll take the penalty,’ and I just took his knee out.”

Is it possible Bray was kidding?  That seemed to be Derek Dooley’s assessment during Tennessee’s media session today.  But the fact that officials saw enough to call a 15-yard personal foul against UT’s quarterback suggests the “just kidding” defense is rather weak.

Bray is just a sophomore.  Barring injury or unexpected demotion, he’ll face the Commodores at least once more during his career.  So it’s likely Vandy’s players will be reminded of the quarterback’s comment and actions next November.

On a related note, officials last offseason used Bray’s throat slash gesture against North Carolina in the 2010 Music City Bowl as an example of the type of celebration that could result in a team’s touchdown coming off the board as part of a tougher taunting penalty.

For a quarterback, Bray certainly seems to have captured the attention of the SEC’s officials.

The University of Tennessee is one of the few remaining athletic departments in the country featuring separate men’s and women’s athletic directors.  Now it looks like the women’s AD will be taking over for both genders in the short term.

Joan Cronan — women’s AD at Tennessee — will be named the school’s interim athletic director, according to Knoxville radio host Jimmy Hyams of WNML-AM/FM.

Cronan has led the women’s athletic department at Tennessee since 1983.  She was named the AD of the year in 2005 by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics.

While Pat Summitt’s name has been mentioned in connection with the vacant AD position — she said she wasn’t interested — Cronan’s name has not gained much momentum.  Perhaps filling the role of interim AD could kickstart a move in her direction.

Considering the school has two ADs, it only makes sense that one would fill in for the other on an interim basis.

UPDATE — The University of Tennessee’s statement says that Hamilton’s eventual replacement will “serve as the senior administrator” of the entire athletics department.

Next July, Cronan will begin a two-year stint serving in “the role of an adviser to UT’s vice chancellor and chancellor.

A radio report in Knoxville has shined a bit more light on the final weeks of the Bruce Pearl era today.  Jimmy Hyams of WNML-AM/FM reports that — as suspected — Tennessee center Brian Williams missed two late-season games due to a drug issue.  But it was Pearl’s handling of that issue that cost him some favor with his bosses.

Williams allegedly refused to take a drug test.  As a result he was held out of Tennessee’s last two regular season games against South Carolina and Kentucky.  According to a WNML source, Pearl was told to provide the old “violation of team rules” explanation for why Williams would miss two games.  Instead, he said that his senior had a back issue. 

“Backs are funny things,” Pearl told The Knoxville News Sentinel at the time.

The fact that Pearl — apparently — disobeyed the wishes of his boss AD Mike Hamilton “caused a rift between Pearl, Hamilton and UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek,” according to Hyams.

Some will no doubt say that that kind of cover-up goes on everywhere.  Maybe it does.  And some will likely say that the player was still punished… missing two games.  True enough.

But if you’ve gotten yourself, your program, your school and your boss in hot water by committing earlier NCAA violations and attempting to cover them up, it’s probably best to follow the instructions your employer gives you.

At the very least, this report — if accurate — shows that while the Tennessee administration erred in its handling of Pearl’s ouster, the coach himself asked for said ouster by not following simple, standard directions like many other “good soldier” coaches across the country.  How many times do you hear “violation of team rules” on a daily basis?  Answer: a bunch.

After sticking their necks (and their reputations) out for Pearl by keeping him, Hamilton and Cheek had a right to be angry if the man they stood behind refused to follow orders.

According to Knoxville radio host Jimmy Hyams of WNML-AM/FM, Tennessee has officially “informed Bruce Pearl that he will be fired.”  As expected, the buyout is believed to have been the sticking point over the weekend.

Also, according to the report, Tennessee chancellor Jimmy Cheek “made the call.”

Tennessee’s only representative on this year’s All-SEC team is back from Louisiana and ready for today’s bowl game against North Carolina.  But there are still questions surrounding safety Janzen Jackson.  Like, where’s he been and why has he been there?

Jackson’s father, Lance Guidry, told a Knoxville radio show yesterday that his son is dealing “well” with “serious family issues” that took him away from UT’s bowl preps for more than a week.

Guidry, who is now the interim head football coach at Miami (Ohio), said: “It’s kind of a family situation.  He’s dealing with it well.  He reported to practice.  He’s been staying in touch with the coaches.  We’ve talked every day during the process.  He’s doing well.”

Derek Dooley has not provided details on the nature of Jackson’s week away, saying only that the matter was “very, very personal.”  He also suggested that Jackson might choose to talk about it in the future. 

Not so, says his father.  “I think he’ll keep it quiet,” Guidry said.  “Some things you open up about and other things you don’t.  You kind of keep it within your family.”

Okay, so the player has a private, family issue.  But, as noted, his father is not in Louisiana.  He’s coaching in Ohio.  And Jackson’s mother lives in California.  So perhaps Jackson was in Louisiana to take care of serious family issues in his extended family.

But was that the whole reason he was away from the team?

Jimmy Hyams, who hosts another Knoxville radio show, reported prior to Christmas that Jackson “was involved in a drug-related dorm room incident Dec. 7 but was not arrested or cited.”

Multiple sources have told MrSEC.com that the drug in question was marijuana.  Dooley said at the time that his safety had not been suspended from the team.

Jackson has been at the center of controversy since arriving in Knoxville prior to the 2009 season.

In Fall 2009 he was arrested along with two other Vol footballers for his involvement in an attempted armed robbery outside of a Knoxville convenience store.  Jackson was later cleared.

According to Hyams he also went through drug rehab last summer.

And this past July he was present for a melee involving numerous UT football players at a Knoxville bar.  An off-duty Knoxville police officer was beaten to the point of unconsciousness.  Jackson was not cited in that incident.  Tennessee has since reported secondary violations involving free admission of athletes to that bar.
 
Despite Jackson’s past off-field issues and his recent sabbatical, he will be back on the field for today’s Music City Bowl.  That’s good news for Vol fans who’ve been wondering where their star defender has been.

You can scratch the name Phillip Fulmer from the list of candidates at Minnesota.  Knoxville radio host Jimmy Hyams of WNML-AM/FM has reported that Fulmer told him that the job in Minneapolis was “not a good fit” for the former Tennessee coach.

No kidding.  Fulmer has never coached north of the Mason-Dixon line and trying to rebuild a program amidst traditional powers like Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska doesn’t sound like a good way to start.

Fulmer was reportedly contacted by Minnesota alum Tony Dungy to gauge his interest in the job.  Fulmer would not confirm who spoke to him or how serious the discussions got.

Earlier this week, Fulmer told The Knoxville News Sentinel that a coach could recruit to Minnesota and have success thanks in part to the school’s new facilities.  It’s likely that those comments — as we suggested at the time — had more to do with the coach wanting to be wanted… than actually wanting the Golden Gophers’ job.