A former Tennessee Vols assistant coach is reportedly joining Bill Belichick's coaching staff at North Carolina. 

According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Belichick, who was surprisingly named as UNC's new head coach in December, is hiring former Vols offensive line coach Will Friend as the Tar Heels' new offensive line coach. 

Friend served as Tennessee's offensive line coach from 2018 to 2020 under then Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt. 

Veteran offensive line coach Will Friend is expected to finalize a deal to become the offensive line coach at North Carolina. He was OC at Western Kentucky last year and has worked at Auburn, Mississippi State and Tennessee over the years. pic.twitter.com/dYVYlBt9f5

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 15, 2025

Friend most recently served as the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky under Hilltoppers head coach Tyson Helton (Helton was Tennessee's offensive coordinator in 2018). 

Vols fans weren't always pleased with Friend during his time on Rocky Top, largely due to the struggles of Tennessee's offensive line during his tenure.

It's worth noting, however, that Friend recruited one of the best Tennessee players in recent history. During the 2019 recruiting cycle, Friend helped the Vols land five-star offensive tackle Darnell Wright over programs like Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, and USC. 

Darnell Wright thought about quitting football before Josh Heupel was hired by Tennessee 

Wright didn't truly "take off" until Josh Heupel's staff took over at Tennessee in early 2021. 

“Just my first experience, thinking I’m going to be in college and I’m going to have this good career and then we start out with all of that, I’m like (a teenager) at the time,” said Wright to The Chicago Tribune in 2023. “It was at that point I was thinking maybe football is probably not the thing. Just because things weren’t going that well. I wasn’t playing great and also with what was going on with the team.”

Heupel and offensive line coach Glen Elarbee helped Wright "settle in" according to The Chicago Tribune. And that's when the former Vol started regaining his confidence.

“I feel like I gained a little bit of my confidence back, or at least a little bit of, ‘Yeah, this is my thing,’” said Wright. “Just getting that fresh start, a little reset my junior year. And then somewhere around my senior year was when Coach Heupel sat me down and was telling me, ‘Yeah, you could probably play at a high level. You just have to stay consistent and get better.’”

Wright was the No. 10 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. 

Mike Keith has already nailed one aspect of being the Voice of the Vols that will be important in 2025

Can’t wait for the Mike Keith era on Rocky Top