David Cutcliffe
David Cutcliffe The Volunteers are still feverishly looking for a man to run their football program on Friday as Duke coach David Cutcliffe withdrew his name from consideration for the Tennessee head coaching job.

Cutcliffe is a former offensive coordinator with the Vols. He had talks with Tennessee on Thursday to potentially replace Lane Kiffin after Kiffin left the program on Tuesday to become USC coach.

"You follow your heart in big decisions," said Cutcliffe. "I have a lot of ties and a lot of people that I'm very close to, and a lot of respect for the University of Tennessee, but my heart is here. We've worked very hard these two years to change the culture, to change the team physically. You feel like the job's not done, and in this era, it bothers me, what we do as coaches, moving here and there."

He
went on to say that he just didn't feel right about a mid-January move to Tennessee.

Duke is 9-15 in two seasons under Cutcliffe after winning only 10 games in the previous eight seasons combined.

Cutcliffe's withdrawal from Tennessee's search follows that of Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, the Longhorns' head coach-in-waiting, who turned down a lucrative offer from Tennessee.

Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton continues to work toward having a coach in place by this weekend. The recruiting period goes live again on Sunday, and the Vols are desperately trying to have a head coach in place by then.

Sources say that Tennessee's short list now includes Louisiana Tech's Derek Dooley and Temple coach Al Golden. Vols interim coach Kippy Brown is also said to be being considered for the permanent head-coaching job.