Switching football coaches may cost Tennessee $11 million

• Former coach Derek Dooley will receive $5 million after his firingIf assistants are not retained, that could cost school a further $4 millionTennessee could also pay Butch Jones' buyout plus taxes

Even without taking into consideration what Tennessee will be paying new coach Butch Jones, just making the coaching change in the football program is becoming an eight-figure proposition for the school.

When it fired Derek Dooley last month, Tennessee obligated itself to pay him $5 million in monthly installments through Dec. 31, 2016. All but one of Tennessee's nine assistant coaches have contracts that run through Feb. 28, 2014; defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri's ends a year after that. If Jones retains none of those coaches, Tennessee will owe them a combined total of well over $4 million over their remaining terms (nearly $1.8 million to Sunseri alone), although that amount will be reduced as those coaches follow through with contractually required efforts to find other jobs that would offset Tennessee's obligation.

Then there is the matter of Jones' buyout payment to Cincinnati. Jones owes his former employer $1.4 million for terminating his contract prematurely and taking another coaching job. When Tennessee hired Dooley from Louisiana Tech in January 2010, Tennessee agreed to pay not only Dooley's $500,000 buyout but also the nearly $290,000 in taxes he owed on that amount, which was treated as income to him.

If Tennessee does the same thing for Jones, his buyout to Cincinnati will end up costing Tennessee more than $2 million.

So, altogether, before it even begins paying Jones a salary, Tennessee could be looking at more than $11 million in obligations associated with the coaching change.