Tennessee AD releases statement on aborted attempt to hire Schiano

Tennessee athletic director John Currie has broken his silence regarding the school's attempt to hire Ohio State's Greg Schiano as the next Volunteers head coach.

The university reportedly pulled out of a memorandum of understanding with Schiano after fan backlash swelled to monumental levels, in part due to an allegation that he knew about Jerry Sandusky's abuse while serving as an assistant at Penn State. Schiano has denied it.

Currie released a statement Monday, obtained by Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports, saying Tennessee had thoroughly looked into Schiano's time at Penn State.

As we began our search for our next head football coach earlier this month, I promised that I would pour all my energy and effort into this process.

I have followed Coach Schiano's accomplishments throughout his career and have been fortunate to get to know him and his family over the last several years. As reported by the media, he was a leading candidate for our position. Among the most respected professional and college football coaches, he is widely regarded as an outstanding leader who develops tough, competitive teams and cares deeply about his student-athletes.

We carefully interviewed and vetted him, as we do candidates for all positions. He received the highest recommendations for character, family values and commitment to academic achievement and student-athlete welfare from his current and former athletics directors, players, coaching colleagues and experienced media figures.

Coach Schiano worked at Penn State from 1990-1995. Consequently, we, of course, carefully reviewed the 2012 investigation report by Louis Freeh. Coach Schiano is not mentioned in the Freeh report and was not one of the more than 400 people interviewed in the investigation. We also confirmed that Coach Schiano was never deposed and ever asked to testify in any criminal or civil manner. And we conferred with our colleagues at The Ohio State University, who had conducted a similar inquiry after the 2016 release of testimony. I know that Coach Schiano will continue to have great success in his coaching career and wish him and his family well.

I am grateful for your patience as our search for the next leader for the Tennessee football program continues, and I look forward to making that introduction soon.