Tennessee Vols: Ranking Jeremy Pruitt's assistant coaches
When Butch Jones was hired as the head coach of the Tennessee Vols in late 2012, he promised to put together the best staff in America. Jones' promise proved to lack substance, as he was unable to attract elite assistant coaches. His replacement, however, has proved capable of doing what Jones couldn't do. Jeremy Pruitt […]
When Butch Jones was hired as the head coach of the Tennessee Vols in late 2012, he promised to put together the best staff in America.
Jones' promise proved to lack substance, as he was unable to attract elite assistant coaches.
His replacement, however, has proved capable of doing what Jones couldn't do.
Jeremy Pruitt put together an impressive staff when he was hired in late 2017. After his first season, he made a few changes and put together an even better staff.
I don't think there's any doubt that Tennessee currently has one of the best coaching staffs in the nation. Some of the coaches that are ranked near the bottom of this list would easily be in the top five at other programs (even at some SEC programs).
Here's how I rank Pruitt's assistants heading into the 2019 season.
Ranking Jeremy Pruitt's assistant coaches —>>>
Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
10. David Johnson — Running Backs
David Johnson could easily be higher on this list, but the fact that he's tenth is a testament to the coaching staff that Jeremy Pruitt has put together.
Johnson is in his first stop at a Power-5 program, which means he has the least amount of coaching experience at this level of anyone on Pruitt's staff.
But Johnson, who previously coached at Memphis and Tulane, established a good reputation in the coaching community by leading St Augustine High School to back to back district titles in 2009-10.
Johnson is also responsible for the development of Anthony Miller at Memphis.
Miller, a former walk-on, caught 96 passes for 1,462 yards under Johnson in 2017. He went on to be drafted in the second round by the Chicago Bears.
Image via Saturday Down South
9. Chris Weinke — Quarterbacks
Not many programs have a former Heisman winning quarterback on the coaching staff coaching quarterbacks.
Jeremy Pruitt, however, has made sure to put together a coaching staff full of coaches with a long list of accomplishments.
Weinke is another coach that could be higher on this list, but we haven't seen his work with quarterbacks at the college level yet. Weinke coached running backs last season for the Vols. His only experience with quarterbacks came with the Los Angeles Rams in 2015/16. The Rams were a team on the brink of transition, so it's tough to glean much from Weinke's time with the franchise.
The former Florida State quarterback spent a year learning under Nick Saban as an analyst before joining Tennessee's staff last season.
It will be interesting to see how the Vols' quarterbacks progress under Weinke in 2019. If Tennessee's passing game improves dramatically, Weinke could find himself higher on this list next season.
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8. Will Friend — Offensive Line
Jeremy Pruitt once said Will Friend and Sam Pittman (currently Georgia's offensive line coach) are the two best offensive line coaches in college football.
That's pretty high praise for a guy at No. 8 on this list. But Friend is only at No. 8 because we've yet to see a dramatic improvement from Tennessee's offensive line under his guidance.
Now that's not to say that Tennessee's poor offensive line play last season is on Friend. I don't think that's remotely fair to say. But I do think Tennessee fans should expect to see vast improvement in that area this season — especially with Darnell Wright and Wanya Morris entering the mix.
Pruitt might be right that Friend is one of the best offensive line coaches in the country. But he's going to have to prove it before he moves up this list.
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7. Kevin Sherrer — Inside Linebackers/Special Teams
Kevin Sherrer was essentially handed the defensive coordinator job at Tennessee because of his connections to Jeremy Pruitt. Sherrer didn't necessarily have the requisite experience needed to be successful at Tennessee.
Perhaps this is something that Pruitt recognized, since he brought in Derrick Ansley to call the defense in 2019.
But that doesn't mean Sherrer is a bad coach. He's done a nice job with linebackers during his coaching career and he's a solid recruiter.
Can he be an effective special teams coach, though? That's a question that can't be answered yet, since Sherrer has no experience in college football coaching special teams.
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6. Tracy Rocker — Defensive Line
Tracy Rocker might be the most underrated coach on Tennessee's staff.
The Atlanta native has a wealth of SEC experience (Ole Miss, Arkansas, Auburn and Georgia) and he also has NFL experience (three seasons with the Titans).
As far as coaching goes, Rocker gets a lot out of his players. He's able to get players to compete with high energy, which can be as important as technique.
The Vols are losing a lot of talent up front on the defensive side of the ball in 2019, so it'll be interesting to see what Rocker is able to do with that unit.
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5. Chris Rumph — Outside Linebackers/Co-Defensive Coordinator
Chris Rumph is another coach who brings an incredible amount of relevant experience to Rocky Top. The South Carolina grad has coached at Clemson, Alabama, Texas and Florida.
Rumph has a big personality that plays well on the recruiting trail. It also plays well on the practice field — it's hard to not be motivated by Rumph.
It says a lot that Pruitt was willing to give Rumph a co-defensive coordinator title. It also says a lot that he kept it after the 2018 season while Kevin Sherrer was completely stripped of any defensive coordinator title.
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4. Tee Martin — Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers
It would be easy to suggest that Tee Martin is only this high on the list because he's a Vol legend.
And I be lying if I said that wasn't a small factor. But I believe in Martin as a coach. He wasn't promoted to offensive coordinator at USC because he's a bad coach. And he wasn't let go because he was a bad coach (USC had too many folks involved in the play calling process).
Martin is a renowned wide receivers coach and he's one of the best recruiters in the nation. He's an elite addition to Tennessee's coaching staff.
Image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
3. Derrick Ansley — Defensive Coordinator/Secondary
When I learned that Terry Fair had been relieved of his duties as Tennessee's cornerbacks coach, I didn't think for a second that Jeremy Pruitt would be able to convince Derrick Ansley to join his staff in Knoxville.
But Pruitt continues to defy the odds.
Landing Ansley is an absolute steal for Tennessee, even if he's commanding a large salary and a defensive coordinator title.
That defensive coordinator title, by the way, isn't just lip service — Pruitt says Ansley will call the plays in 2019.
Ansley was already regarded as one of the top defensive back coaches in the NFL, it should be fun to watch him work his magic on Rocky Top.
Image via Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
2. Brian Niedermeyer — Tight Ends
When Brian Niedermeyer was announced as part of Jeremy Pruitt's inaugural staff at Tennessee, I was skeptical.
I trusted Pruitt's judgement, but I didn't expect Niedermeyer to be anything more than an adequate assistant. And that's nothing against Niedermeyer, it's just that the odds were stacked against him. It's not easy to be an elite assistant coach in college football. More often than not, coaches fail.
But Niedermeyer has more than proved me wrong, mostly because he's one of the best recruiters in the country.
As long as Niedermeyer does an OK job with tight ends (which it's hard to tell much after just one season), his recruiting prowess cements his status as one of the best coaches on Tennessee's staff.
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1. Jim Chaney — Offensive Coordinator
Jeremy Pruitt turned a questionable search for an offensive coordinator into a walk off home run when he tapped Jim Chaney for play calling duties.
Butch Jones' decision to not retain Jim Chaney, who helped quarterback Tyler Bray set records at Tennessee in 2012, was one of the many terrible decisions he made as the Vols' head caoch.
Pruitt's ability to not only bring Chaney back to Tennessee, but to also swipe an offensive coordinator from one of the top programs in the country (Georgia), shows just what kind of coach the Vols have.
Chaney won't be able to turn Tennessee's offense into a powerhouse overnight, but he's a proven play caller. And he's undoubtedly one of the best hires Pruitt could've made this off-season.
Image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
