By BRYAN STRICKLAND

bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671

DURHAM -- Reports ran rampant Thursday evening that Duke football coach David Cutcliffe had agreed to become Tennessee's next coach, but neither school gave any validity to the reports.

It appears clear that Cutcliffe and his former employer have been in contact -- if not through official channels then at least through back channels -- but Duke sports information director Art Chase couldn't confirm any contact and said Cutcliffe still was Duke's football coach as of Thursday evening.

"It was business as usual at Duke University today," Chase said, adding that Cutcliffe spent much of the day in his office.

Even though it appears Cutcliffe hasn't set foot in Knoxville since Lane Kiffin left Tennessee earlier this week to become the head coach at Southern Cal, he's one candidate that wouldn't necessarily require a lengthy interview.

The Volunteers know exactly what they'd be getting in Cutcliffe, who spent 19 years on Phillip Fulmer's staff at Tennessee, and in many ways, he might be exactly what the program needs.

Between Fulmer's departure in November of 2008 after 17 seasons and then Kiffin's decision to leave after just one season, the proud program could use someone who takes pride in the program. Fulmer said so much early Thursday, when he released a statement through CBS College Sports Network in which he said he wouldn't be a candidate to return to the sidelines.

"He must embrace Tennessee's cultures and traditions, be mature and of good character, and demonstrate integrity and leadership to our young men who desperately want to be shown the way," Fulmer said.

Then later Thursday, when the Knoxville News Sentinel reported a source as saying that Cutcliffe would be named Tennessee coach "barring a last-second snag in negotiations," Fulmer told the News Sentinel that Cutcliffe was "the kind of person I described earlier in my release."

The day started with Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, portrayed as the lead candidate, reportedly turning down an offer for the job. In the middle of the afternoon, a report that Air Force coach Troy Calhoun had called a team meeting for Thursday evening prompted at least one Web site to declare that Calhoun had been hired, but moments later Calhoun released a statement via Air Force athletics saying he planned to stay put.

Attention on the Internet and over the airwaves has been centered squarely on Cutcliffe ever since, heating up with a report from a Greensboro television station saying that Cutcliffe had accepted the job, a report that later was softened and that Chase at the time called "inaccurate."

Later in the evening, a media outlet in the center of the fray, the Knoxville News Sentinel, made its pronouncement of a virtual agreement, one that neither Duke officials nor Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton would confirm.

Cutcliffe has chosen to remain silent on the situation, unlike the last time Tennessee hired a coach, when Cutcliffe came out the next day and said eight game into his first season that he was staying at Duke.

This time, however, he has a lot more to think about. Tennessee is more interested now that Cutcliffe has won nine games over his first two seasons at Duke (the Blue Devils won 10 games over the previous eight seasons). And Cutcliffe appears more interested now that some time has passed since Fulmer's unceremonious departure, leaving Cutcliffe to weigh the appeal of helping Tennessee right the ship against the continuing challenge of turning a perennial loser into a winner.

Duke, however, has to be deeply interested in keeping Cutcliffe, having invested more financially into attaining football success than the school ever has. Clearly, Cutcliffe is the centerpiece of the latest rebuilding effort.

The verdict should soon be official one way or the other, with Hamilton still vowing to have a coach in place by the weekend if at all possible. Interim coach Kippy Brown appears to still be in the mix, and other names still being mentioned include Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham and Temple coach Al Golden.