The Vols have a coach. Less than a week after Cuonzo Martin opted to bolt for California, Dave Hart found his replacement in the form of Southern Mississippi’s Donnie Tyndall. We were the first to report that Tyndall would be Hart’s choice should White turn Tennessee down.

With eight years of experience, two NCAA berths, a 29-2 home record and a 56-17 (77%) overall record the last two years, Tyndall is a name we’ve heard from day one of the coaching search. Southern Mississippi missed the tournament last year despite an RPI of 33—the third-best RPI to ever be excluded from the field.

In addition to quickly turning around two struggling programs (Morehead State and Southern Miss) and leading them to historic success, Tyndall spent time as an assistant at LSU (97-2001) and at Middle Tennessee State (02-06) and is familiar with the SEC and UT. We expected Tyndall to be contacted by Tennessee sometime early in the search, but as of 5:30 pm on Monday evening, he had not heard from Tennessee directly.

When he finally got the call, things moved quickly. Tyndall had his eye on the Tennessee job the day Martin left and will be a great fit on Rocky Top.

Tyndall got in some NCAA hot water for “major violations in its recruiting related to a booster activity” while at Morehead State. Those violations resulted in two years probation and the loss of a scholarship. However, they were never a big emphasis in Tennessee’s search and Tyndall has stayed out of trouble since moving to Southern Mississippi. He was making $500,000 and has a $500,000 buyout. ESPN is reporting Tyndall has agreed in principle to a five-year deal worth $8 million ($1.6 million annually), but that both parties are still negotiating because Tyndall wants a six-year contract.

At both Southern Miss and Morehead State, Tyndall endeared himself to the fan base by winning and engaging them with his outgoing, charismatic personality. It won’t take long for Tennessee’s fans and players to embrace him. He likes to employ an full court press after made baskets and play an aggressive style on both ends of the floor. Here’s what he had to say about style of play when he was announced as Southern Mississippi’s head coach two years ago.

“Style of play: It’s going to be an aggressive and attacking style of play. Most of you probably haven’t seen Morehead State play, but our defense would be similar to Louisville. We’re going to press on made baskets. We’re going to press on dead balls. We’re going to get after people in the half court. We’re going to have an aggressive zone. We’ll pressure the ball and trap different places with ball screens on the floor to try to create turnovers where we can get out and play on the open floor.”

“Offensively, we’re going to play a lot like Kansas. We run a high-low motion, but we ball screen a lot and give our guards a chance to play to draw and kick off ball screens and shoot a lot of threes. It’s going to be exciting and fun for you fans and people to come watch. We’re going to play unselfish. We’re going to play with a toughness and we’re going to be a very passionate team. We’re certainly going to be classy and sportsmen, but our team is going to be an exciting, passionate, hard-nosed group that will be about toughness and winning. I can assure you that.”

An introductory press conference has been tentatively planned for Tuesday afternoon at 2 pm. We’ll be there with full coverage.