Tennessee’s 84-36 win over Western Carolina tonight was a textbook, pre-Christmas non-conference blowout. The Vols looked how you’d expect the No. 1 team in the nation to look against a 3-6 Southern Conference team, barely breaking a sweat in a 48 point win.

The New York Jets offseason is going to be a busy one with all of the vacancies that they have to fill.

Before even worrying about the roster, they need a new regime in place to lead the football operations. While head coaching interviews will begin in a few weeks, the process to replace general manager Joe Douglas on a full-time basis has already started.

The team is going to cast a wide net when it comes to candidates, looking far and wide for the next person to lead the front office.

One of the more popular names that has been linked to the opening so far is Jon Robinson, who completed his interview with the team on Tuesday. The Jets have decided to announce when interviews are completed.

On Monday, New York announced it had interviewed former Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff. ESPN analyst Louis Riddick is also reportedly on the list of initial interviews.

He has prior experience in the position, as he served as general manager with the Tennessee Titans from 2016 through 2022, as he was fired on December 6 of that year.

During his tenure with the franchise, the team had a good amount of success on the field. Under his watch, the Titans were 66-48, winning at least nine games in every campaign before 2022, when they finished with seven.

Tennessee four times, advancing to the AFC Championship Game during the 2019 season before being defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs.

In the Wild Card Round, they went into Gillette Stadium and defeated the New England Patriots in what ended up being Tom Brady’s last game as their starting quarterback before heading to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Robinson has the kind of track record and experience that could appeal to New York given the current situation of the franchise. Whoever takes this job could be staring down a lengthy rebuild, and someone with experience might be able to navigate things a little more smoothly.

Hiring him could also make the Jets a more appealing landing spot for Mike Vrabel, who was the head coach of the Titans during the last five years of Robinson’s time with the team.

The two proved they could build a successful football program and would bring the kind of pedigree that could help get New York back on track after suffering their nine straight losing years and their playoff drought reaching 14 seasons.

A leaked presale code last week allowed Tennessee fans to get a jump on buying tickets for the College Football Playoff First Round game Saturday night at Ohio State.

The sales haven’t slowed down on the secondary market.

According to Awful Announcing’s Ben Koo, 42% of resold tickets on SeatGeek have gone to Tennessee residents. 

Updates on the botched OSU playoff ticket sale…

1- Per @SeatGeek “42% of tickets resold on the platform have gone to Tennessee residents”

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2- Professional resellers holding a huge amount of tickets. Prices quickly dropping (get in price now under $200) pic.twitter.com/PG1bxWpJz5

— Ben Koo (@bkoo) December 16, 2024

No. 9 Tennessee (10-2) and No. 8 Ohio State (10-2) are scheduled for an 8 p.m. Eastern Time start Saturday night at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The winner will advance to face No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

It’s the first appearance for the Vols in the College Football Playoff and the first time Tennessee has played at Ohio State. 

The Vols were given an allotment of 3,500 tickets, as mandated by the College Football Playoff. Ohio Stadium has a capacity of 102,780. 

Ohio State AD: ‘Don’t sell your tickets. Tennessee fans, they’re rabid fans.’

Koo estimated that Tennessee fans could fill 18-22% of the Ohio Stadium crowd and that fans of “usual visiting teams” take up 5-12% of the stadium. 

Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork went on Columbus radio last week and asked Buckeye fans not to resale their tickets to Tennessee fans.

“Don’t sell your tickets,” Bjork said during an appearance on The Fan 97.1-FM WBNS. “Tennessee fans, they’re rabid fans. They are going to invade the Shoe. Let’s make sure we don’t have as much orange in there as people think.”

The get-in price as of Tuesday morning was as low as $142 on StubHub. The Ticketmaster presale code ‘OSUFB’ leaked online last week, when tickets were put on sale for Ohio State fans. The leak ended with Tennessee fans and ticket resellers getting a head start on the ticket market. 

Head coach Josh Heupel said Monday he wasn’t surprised to hear of so many Tennessee fans buying tickets for the game. 

“Not with this fanbase,” Heupel said. “It’s a nice, short drive up there. Christmas is right around the corner. It’s a great Christmas present.” 

Ryan Day: ‘Our fans are invested in this in a big, big way.’

Tennessee is coming off a 36-23 win at Vanderbilt to end the regular season on November 30, punching a ticket to the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Ohio State lost 13-10 at home to rival Michigan, losing out on a chance to play in the Big Ten championship game and earn a bye into the quarterfinals. 

The Vols and Buckeyes have met just once in football, with Tennessee winning 20-14 in the 1996 Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

“It’s just exciting for our fans,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said Monday of the first home playoff game. “And just like our players, our fans are invested in this in a big, big way. So it’s going to be an exciting day, exciting night, 8 o’clock kickoff. And then this week of work for us is going to just continue to build to Saturday.”