The Tennessee administration wasn't alone in getting blindsided by Lane Kiffin's abrupt departure to Southern California.
His own brother-in-law and his quarterbacks coach on the Vols' staff, David Reaves, said he was also completely in the dark.
Kiffin did not take Reaves with him to USC and apparently has no plans to. Reaves is the brother of Kiffin's wife, Layla, and still looking for work.
"The disappointment was more of me not knowing about the situation," Reaves told Joe Person of The State newspaper. "You would think that I would have some kind of heads-up on the situation. But that's how it works out sometimes.
"They had to keep that close to the vest, and I understand that professionally. Sometimes you've got to get left out of the loop, and it just so happened to be me this time. But something will work out. We'll just go from there and learn from it."