A Clemson athletics department spokesperson confirmed news through head coach Dabo Swinney that defensive coordinator Kevin Steele planned to stay with the Tigers.
Steele, a former UT player and assistant coach, contemplated over (and possibly accepted) an offer to return to his alma mater for a substantial raise, but Swinney and Co. kept him in the fold.
Dooley was on the road Wednesday recruiting and speaking with assistant coaching candidates, and he wasn't available for comment.
Two sources said UT was willing offer up to seven-figures annually for the "right" defensive coordinator -- but the department wouldn't complain if the best available candidate to accept the job demanded less money. UT men's athletic director Mike Hamilton often speaks about the "line-item" business of coaching staffs, and the only price figure restriction is the combined sum.
"I hate to be so cold about it, but I look at this as a line-item, and you're trying to pay for experience and the coaches that they'd hire and all those kinds of things," Hamilton said. "The way I look at it is, 'OK, we're going to pay the head coach this, and what does the rest of that line-item look like for their assistant coaches?'"
Hamilton, as he said he would, claimed to ask every potential UT head coaching candidates to questions about their collections of assistants: "Who would you bring with you, and what are the dollars necessary to hire the best coaches you can bring to the University of Tennessee?"
"I challenge them," Hamilton continued. "We now have that model out there to hire the best possible coaches they can hire. In some cases, you might have a head coach that has a higher salary, and the pool would be less for the assistant coaches."
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