Tennessee has been in the market for a new football coach for under two weeks, but the process is already boring. Maybe that’s because it’s in a holding pattern.

You have known for more than a week that Butch Davis is UT’s No. 1 pick. But you don’t know if he would leave North Carolina after only two years on the job.

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is on UT’s short list. Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly is, too. But both of them have a team in the running for a conference championship -- and in Leach’s case, a national championship. Nothing can happen on those fronts until after the regular season.

Since it’s apparently too early to shorten the list, why not add a few names for speculation?

For example, how about Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez?

Who cares if he hasn’t been coaching the Wolverines for a full season. Bobby Petrino didn’t need a full season with the Atlanta Falcons to make a fast break for Arkansas. Besides, where would you rather live: Ann Arbor or Knoxville?

Rodriguez, a native of West Virginia, has spent most of his career coaching in the South. And after a 3-7 start, the northerners haven’t exactly made him feel at home. There’s already a “fire Rich Rodriguez” web site.

Never mind what has happened in a transitional year at Michigan. Rodriguez is a terrific coach and an offensive innovator. He’s also a quick fixer-upper. His first West Virginia team was 3-8; his second was 9-4.

My next new name is Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith. “Ridiculous,” you say. Well, it’s no more ridiculous than Jon Gruden, whose name has been linked to the UT job since the Vols went 5-6 in 2005.

Smith has way more college experience than Gruden. He was a college assistant coach for 13 years, including two as UT’s secondary coach.

Maybe he has no interest in leaving the NFL. But if it’s OK to bandy about Gruden’s candidacy, why not Smith’s?

I can’t take credit for the next name. A fan emailed it my way Friday afternoon. I’ll give you a hint: He’s coaching one of the worst teams in college football.

No. It’s not Phillip Fulmer.

I’m referring to first-year SMU coach June Jones, whose team is 1-9. That record is no more relevant than Michigan’s if you’re trying to evaluate the team’s coach.

First and foremost, Jones is an offensive guru. He proved that for years as Hawaii’s head coach. He also lasted longer than Petrino did as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. In fact, he even took them to the playoffs.

I don’t know how well he could recruit on the mainland, but he has got two things in his favor: a big offense and an NFL connection.

My next guy is also an offensive guru. I’ll give you a hint: He already has been mentioned in this column.

No. It’s not Phillip Fulmer.

It’s Bobby Petrino, the first-year Arkansas coach who was a first-year Falcons coach last season. Yeah, he moves around a lot. Big deal. But he has decided he prefers the colleges to the pros. And if you’re going to coach college football, where would you rather be: Arkansas or Tennessee?

Petrino has impressed me in more ways than one this season. Most significantly, a not-so-talented Arkansas team has improved greatly as the season has gone along. Also, look what Petrino has done with quarterback Casey Dick. For the last two years, Dick was one of the first players who came to mind when anyone asked: “Who’s the worst quarterback in the SEC?” Now, I would take Dick over half the quarterbacks in the conference.

I’ve saved my most off-the-wall suggestion for last. Actually, it’s two suggestions.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is the first half of the suggestion. So what if he said he wasn’t interested. Offer him a four-year contract at $3 million a year and see if you can change his mind.

He would give you more than an offensive-minded coach. He would give you an SEC legend with NFL head-coaching experience. And if you hired Spurrier, you wouldn’t have to worry about him making fun of the UT coach.

Maybe you think Spurrier is too old at 63 to start up a new program. That brings us to the second half of my suggestion: Will Muschamp, the fiery, young defensive coordinator at Texas.

Hire Spurrier as the head coach and offer Muschamp $1 million a year to become the Vols’ defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

Muschamp, 37, is already being mentioned prominently as a head-coaching candidate, so you might wonder why would he take another coordinator’s job.

Answer: Because you would pay him $1 million a year to be a defensive coordinator and assistant head coach with a contractual agreement that he would succeed Spurrier as head coach after four years.

Those aren’t all of my candidates. I’m saving the rest of them -- just in case the search lasts another month.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.copm.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.