the whole Gruden thing... grrrrr...
yeah, they talked to him- that's a fact. they shot for him that's also a fact... my personal opinion is that he either accepted an invitation or offered his services as an adviser... hence all the discussion with him, and the care not to write him off- he WAS 'helping'..
UT has always had a dream of finding the next diamond in the rough... as if they are savants of some sort... and if they can't catch a 'Jones' or a Kiffin or a what the hell were they thinking in retrospect Dooley then it better be a mountain of a presence in a known entity, and there sits gruden in their sites. dumb as shit. but, i've little doubt the conversation went from "you want a job?" to "well, how would you go about this?" in short order.
there is no confidence in the AD after Hamilton, Hart, and now Currie- i'd be shocked if he survives this... some places are already saying he's gone/done. that opens a friggin barn door for clowns like Haslam to enter, who was an official member of the 'committee'... why? stupidity... this isn't rocket science, it's more like deer hunting... the best thing to do first being "stay still, see what comes to you", second, gauge interest in targets.. third, seek them out and see it through all the while keeping an eye on what's happening around you.