Tennessee has the blueprint.
First, you might want to avoid hiring Lane Kiffin.
Since Kiffin bolted for USC after one year at Tennessee, the Vols Athletics Director, Mike Hamilton has been turned down by:
Will Muschamp, a defensive coordinator with no head coaching experience, who was offered almost 3 and half times what he is making right now at Texas.
Troy Calhoun, where again Tennesse offered him 3 times what he is making at the Air Force Academy.
And now David Cutcliffe, the head coach at Duke, a revered former assistant at Tennessee who had the backing of both Peyton and Eli Manning has said no.
Cutcliffe had accepted the job, but balked at being told he had to keep most of Kiffin's staff.
It seems that when Tennessee hired Lane Kiffin, they not only let him pay his assistants more than any other staff in college football, they also agreed that Tennessee would owe two seasons of pay to any coach it fired if that coach didn’t secure employment elsewhere. Kippy Brown, who has applied for the head coaching position, would be owed three seasons of pay if he’s not retained.
Former Longhorn player Willie Mack Garza is among the assistants that Kiffin left behind.
Yeah, rule # 1 might be just don't hire Lane Kiffin.