Between odd jobs around the house,
football trips around the South, a birthday and
vacation, it’s easy for Steve Caldwell to wonder
where the familiar faces have gone.
Phillip Fulmer still lives nearby in Blount
County and is working with an investment
company and moonlighting with CBS Sports.
Former UT defensive coordinator John Chavis
landed a similar job at LSU. Fellow defensive
line coach Dan Brooks is at Clemson and
secondary coach Larry Slade’s at Louisville.
Among the offensive staff, Dave Clawson is the
new head coach at Bowling Green. Greg
Adkins and Stan Drayton are at Syracuse,
Latrell Scott’s at Virginia and Jason Michael is
with the San Francisco 49ers.
After UT’s rare football coaching upheaval,
Steve Caldwell is the last man standing…
without a job. It’s odd considering his expertise
about defense, a track record of recruiting
excellence and unwavering loyalty. Somebody
is going to get one heck of a football coach
when Steve Caldwell lands on his coaching feet.
“Well, it’s just one of those deals,” said the UT
assistant for 15 years. “When you’re a position
coach that turns 54, it’s not all that easy to find
work.” After a little more thought, he added,
“But, yes, it sort of surprised me, too.”
It’s easy to overlook just how many lives are
altered when a coaching change occurs. This is
certainly true with Fulmer’s multi-million
dollar departure and Lane Kiffin’s multi-million
dollar arrival. Regardless of whether a change
was justified, dozens of lives will never be the
same. All sorts of good Tennessee people have a
new wardrobe that features purple and gold, a
deeper shade of orange, red, yellow or blue.
Steve Caldwell was left holding a ladder
propped against his gutter. He whistles while
doing yard work and sweats out a long overdue
phone call.
“I am not bitter about it,” he said. “You have
to accept change as a part of life and move on.”
But what about the coaches that
contributed to a defense being ranked
No. 4 in the country after the 2008
season?
“It hurts because you know we had a
good staff and you know we were
successful,” Caldwell said. “We won a
lot of games together and several of us
have great friendships.”
But the Vols had two losing seasons
in four years and a change was made.
Caldwell tries to look at his situation
as a blessing, but it’s been difficult. This
is the first time in 40 years that he hasn’t
been on the field as a player or a coach.
There are only so many other things a
non-coach can do. The former
Arkansas State linebacker and defensive
end hopes to return as a coordinator
and wants to coach about 10 years. A lot
depends on what coach Fulmer decides
to do. Caldwell had a chance to join
Bobby Petrino’s new staff at Arkansas in
December of 2007 and didn’t do it. He also had
a chance to be Petrino’s defensive coordinator
at Louisville. Some other interesting possibilities
are on the horizon.
One thing’s for sure: Leisa Caldwell has just
about run out of driveway or deck space for her
husband to pressure wash. (Truth be known, he
tends to get a little carried away with a pressure
washer.) There’s only so much painting and
landscaping, too.
Steve Caldwell is an excellent coach and
football is in his blood. Someone else can rake
leaves or clean gutters.
“Hey, it hasn’t been all bad,” said Caldwell,
who will receive his salary from UT for one
year as long as he reports other sources of
income and doesn’t take another job. “I am
getting to spend a lot of time with my
grandkids and children. I haven’t been able to
do nearly as much of that as I would like for the
past 30 years.”
He found time to visit preseason practices at
Kentucky, Louisville, Ole Miss, Arkansas and
LSU along with the Tennessee Titans and
Cincinnati Bengals. He wanted to learn
something at each stop and work contacts in
the coaching fraternity. Although he was born
in Missouri and grew up to dislike Arkansas
football, he faced a predicament in Fayetteville.
“They gave me a Hog hat and Arkansas
t-shirt to wear during practice,” he said. “That
part was weird because I never really cared for
the Hogs much at all.”
Of course, he doesn’t like being out of
coaching, either.
“Hopefully, come December, I will be
working somewhere,” coach Caldwell said. “My
wife is getting tired of having me around the
house all the time and I’m not very good as a
carpenter. I’ve had just about all of the home
improvement and yard work I can stand.”
From all of the scouting reports, Leisa
Caldwell feels the same way. She also knows a
great football coach when she meets one.EK
Chuck Cavalaris is a freelance writer in
Knoxville. Send comments or story ideas to
chuck.cavalaris@suntrust.com. Chuck can
also be reached at (865) 692-6950.
