Tennessee Vols lose assistant coach; more staff movement could take place
The Tennessee Vols lost an assistant coach on Saturday, which means they're back down to ten on-the-field assistant coaches. Charles Kelly, who coached safeties and special teams at Tennessee, is reportedly leaving Jeremy Pruitt's staff for a spot on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama. It hasn't been reported what Kelly's role on Saban's staff will […]
The Tennessee Vols lost an assistant coach on Saturday, which means they're back down to ten on-the-field assistant coaches.
Charles Kelly, who coached safeties and special teams at Tennessee, is reportedly leaving Jeremy Pruitt's staff for a spot on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama. It hasn't been reported what Kelly's role on Saban's staff will be, but according to VolQuest, Kelly is expected to make "just under" $1 million annually in Tuscaloosa. It's very likely that Kelly will receive a "co-defensive coordinator" title.
Now that Tennessee is back to the requisite ten assistant coaches, it would seem that Pruitt just needs to shuffle some duties around to make things work.
But it might not be that simple…or likely.
The Vols currently have six offensive assistants and four defensive assistants. And they don't have a true special teams coach on their staff (Kelly and John Lilly, an off-the-field coach who left UT for the Cleveland Browns, handled special teams last year). While Pruitt obviously has some flexibility with his coaches, he still needs to have coaches in the best positions possible to help the program. Tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer has some experience coaching linebackers, but it seems very unlikely that Pruitt would move Kevin Sherrer or Chris Rumph away from their respective positions coaching inside linebackers and outside linebackers.
This means that some more staff movement could still take place. Wide receivers coach David Johnson has been in play at several different schools, and he was pulled off the recruiting trail at one point this week, but it's unclear if he will depart the staff. If Johnson did leave, then Tee Martin could slide right in as the wide receivers coach and Pruitt could hire a special teams coordinator and let Terry Fair coach the secondary.
Essentially, there are still quite a few ways this could turn out. Pruitt could possibly elect to go after former Vol Jay Graham, who is currently Texas A&M's running backs coach. Graham, an excellent recruiter who coached at Tennessee in 2012, coached alongside Pruitt at Florida State. He also coached special teams as a member of the Seminoles' coaching staff.
Of course if Graham is brought in to coach running backs, then Pruitt would have to move Chris Weinke around (could Weinke coach defense?).
Pruitt still has plenty of time to work these issues out. And it's a good problem to have.
I just don't think the Vols are finished making coaching changes this off-season, based on the puzzle currently in front of Pruitt.
Featured image via Randy Sartin/USA Today
