Chris Petersen would be a home run if they could get him away from Washington. That may be possible now that the premier job out west seems to be locked up for a while (assuming USC continues their great play).
Peterson would be a great hire, and anything's possible, but I'd be surprised. He turned down several offers while at Boise, and apparently is a western US guy. I wouldn't see him leaving a Washington program he spent several years bringing back to prominence, for UTe.
Other than the Neyland years, that program has struggled to find success unless rivals have their own problems -- some of which UTe conspired to create. I don't see Sankey allowing a repeat of what Kramer did.
At the upper end, Tennessee high school football has some talent. But it doesn't produce the numbers necessary for a major program to find national-caliber success. Compound that with UGA, Clemson, and Alabama being recruiting powerhouses, soaking up all the nearby talent they want. Auburn isn't bad recruiting either (development is another story, but we're talking talent acquisition here), and tOSU is not that far to the north.
UTe is really boxed in, and has to go far afield to find enough quality players to win championships....which as we remember from their Fulmer days, has its own downside.
To RTR91's point, what national-profile coach would willingly walk into that situation?
I think they'll have to take a chance on a mid-major coach again, or maybe a high-profile coordinator. And that's always risky...no matter how successful they were at the lower level, you just never know if they can make the leap. For every Tom Herman, there's a dozen Butch Joneses. I think their best hope is Fuente at VaTech, and I really don't see him leaving that soon. I wouldn't be surprised if they sniffed around Jeremy Pruitt.