Current member of Tennessee's coaching staff almost joined Lane Kiffin's staff at UT in 2009 but something 'didn't feel right'
Tennessee Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner is in his second stint as an assistant on Rocky Top. Garner served as an assistant on Phillip Fulmer's staff in 1996 and 1997. He returned in 2021 after Josh Heupel was hired to replace Jeremy Pruitt as the program's head coach. This was almost Garner's third stint […]
Tennessee Vols defensive line coach Rodney Garner is in his second stint as an assistant on Rocky Top.
Garner served as an assistant on Phillip Fulmer's staff in 1996 and 1997. He returned in 2021 after Josh Heupel was hired to replace Jeremy Pruitt as the program's head coach.
This was almost Garner's third stint at Tennessee.
Garner told ESPN's Chris Low this week that he was set to join Lane Kiffin's staff at UT in 2009. He even said he accepted the job and then got to Knoxville to meet with the new staff and something "didn't feel right".
"I almost came back here to Tennessee when Lane [Kiffin] got the job. I came up here and interviewed and everything. I actually took the job before I came. But I got up here and things just didn't feel right."
Garner, who was an assistant at Georgia at the time, was wise to listen to his gut.
Kiffin famously left Tennessee for USC after just 13 months on the job. It can be argued that Kiffin's abrupt departure, which came just a few weeks before National Signing Day, was the catalyst for the Vols' decade of dysfunction (I can't use that phrase without mentioning Mark Nagi's book).
Now that Garner has returned to Tennessee, under a head coach he believes in, the former Auburn lineman couldn't be happier.
"This place is a place that’s special to me and my family," said Garner this week during an appearance at the Knoxville QB club.
“It was really important to me, the first time I talked to Coach Heupel about the opportunity to come back here, and I told him I just wanted to play whatever small role that I can play in trying to get UT back to the elite status where it belongs," added Garner. "I believe it’s an iconic brand and it’s one of the most unique game-day experiences of anywhere in the country."
“The fan base is just so incredible. The facilities are incredible. The tradition and everything that the Power T stands for, I wanted to help it get back there, and that’s the thing I try to tell my players every day.”
Feature image via Adam Brimer/News Sentinel
