On Thursday, the Tennessee Vols announced that quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle has been promoted to offensive coordinator.

Halzle replaces Alex Golesh who left Tennessee last month to become the new head coach at USF.

Introduction not necessary.

The new Vols OC → @CoachHalzle

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) January 5, 2023

Halzle actually signed his contract to become the Vols' new offensive coordinator on December 16. Josh Heupel and Tennessee, however, waited until after the Orange Bowl to make the announcement. That's likely so attention wasn't taken away from the players during the lead-up to the Orange Bowl.

The decision to promote Halzle wasn't a surprise. In fact, it was very much expected. Halzle has been with Heupel since his playing days at Oklahoma. Aside from a brief exit from the coaching profession in 2017/2018, Halzle has been with Heupel every year since 2006 (Halzle arrived at OU in 2006 as a junior college transfer).

With Halzle working as the offensive coordinator, it means that Heupel still needs to hire a tight ends coach (the position that Golesh coached).

Fortunately for Heupel, there are several viable options.

Seth Littrell — Former North Texas head coach

This seems like the perfect option to me. Littrell was Heupel's teammate at Oklahoma in the 90s/early 2000s. He has a lot of experience coaching tight ends and he has roots in the Air Raid system — just like Heupel. Vols linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler was Littrell's special teams coordinator at North Texas in 2020, so there's some familiarity there with other Tennessee staff members.

Joe Jon Finley — Oklahoma tight ends coach

Finley played at Oklahoma so it could be tough to get him to leave his alma mater.

The Sooners, however, took a step back under Brent Venables this season. Finley could see coaching under Heupel as a better opportunity to advance in his coaching career.

Heupel was an assistant at Oklahoma during Finley's playing days. The two also coached alongside each other at Missouri for two seasons. Before joining Oklahoma's staff in 2021, Finley coached at Texas A&M and Ole Miss (for one year under Lane Kiffin).

John David Baker — Ole Miss co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach

Stealing Lane Kiffin's co-offensive coordinator would be a story in itself.

Baker, though, could actually be a legitimate option. He also coached under Littrell at North Texas (2016 to 2018) and he worked under Jeff Lebby for two seasons at Ole Miss (Lebby was Heupel's offensive coordinator at UCF for two seasons). Baker has similar coaching roots so he should fit in seamlessly at Tennessee if he's the guy. Landing Baker might take a passing game coordinator title or something along those lines. With Ole Miss trending in the wrong direction under Kiffin, this might not be a far-fetched scenario.

Ra'Shaad Samples — Los Angeles Rams running backs coach

This would be an outside-the-box hire that would require current Vols running backs coach Jerry Mack to move to tight ends (which he's done before). It also would likely require a passing game coordinator title.

Samples would be a nice weapon on the recruiting trail and he has roots in the Air Raid system (to be clear, Heupel doesn't run an Air Raid offense, but he comes from that system). Samples coached under Sonny Dykes, a Mike Leach disciple, for a few seasons at SMU.

Sometimes these hires end up being out of left field and that's why I've included a wildcard option like Samples.

Luke Wells — Tulsa tight ends coach

Wells and Heupel were co-offensive coordinators together at Utah State in 2015. They also know each other from their days at Oklahoma when Heupel was a player and Wells was a student assistant.

I don't really think this will be the hire, but it's a name with a connection to Heupel that's worth keeping an eye on.

Note: Heupel is also friends with Luke's brother, Matt (the former head coach at Utah State and Texas Tech). Luke is currently an offensive assistant at Oklahoma after getting fired as Texas Tech's head coach last year. Luke Wells hasn't coached tight ends since 2006, but he's also a name to keep an eye on. He also coached at Neyland in 2014 when Utah State played Tennessee.

Wildcard option: Joe Osovet — Heritage High School head coach/former Tennessee tight ends coach

I don't think this is a possibility because I'm not sure if Osovet was wrapped up in any of the NCAA recruiting investigation stuff at Tennessee under Jeremy Pruitt. Osovet interviewed with Heupel at UCF just before Heupel took over at Tennessee. Heupel didn't retain Osovet, but that might have been because of the presence of Golesh. Again, I doubt Osovet will be in play but I included his name because of the brief interview history with Heupel.

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