
Legendary former Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe is officially retiring.
Cutcliffe, who also served as the head coach at Ole Miss and Duke during his illustrious career, has served as the SEC’s special assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations for the last four years.
News broke Tuesday that Cutcliffe, who is 71, is retiring on March 31.
David Cutcliffe, who has been SEC’s Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations since 2022, is retiring on March 31. One of the most respective individuals in the sport, Cutcliffe previously was head coach at Ole Miss & Duke
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) March 17, 2026
Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh, who served as Tennessee's offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022, sent a message to Cutcliffe on Tuesday while speaking to reporters after his team's first spring practice.
"I guess Coach Cutcliffe's retirement got announced today," said Golesh. "Coach Cut obviously did a ton for this league, but he became a dear friend from my time at Tennessee. You talk about guys that changed the way offensive football's played. So congrats to him on his retirement. I told him I'd see him here at some point myself. He's been really, really good to me, even just in my time here (at Auburn)."
Cutcliffe is one of the all-time greats in college football, not just as a coach, but as a person. There are very few people in this sport who can match the wisdom that Cutcliffe possesses.
Amazingly, Cutcliffe spent nearly 40 years as a college coach and he only worked for three schools -- Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Duke.
That's something we may never see again in college football.
As for Golesh, it's pretty cool that he took time to remember a legend whose name was made in the SEC long before Golesh coached in the SEC -- the respect for Cutcliffe certainly stretches across multiple generations.
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