A big time college football program tried to hire the Tennessee Vols’ new strength coach a year ago and failed

The Tennessee Vols hired a new strength coach on Tuesday morning.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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The Tennessee Vols made a splashy move early Tuesday morning by swiping strength coach Derek Owings from the Indiana Hoosiers.

Tennessee was in the market for a new strength coach after parting ways with Kurt Schmidt earlier this month.

Owings and the Hoosiers beat the Miami Hurricanes in the national championship game on Monday night in South Florida. Less than 10 hours later, news broke that Owings is leaving Bloomington for Tennessee.

USC tried to hire Derek Owings a year ago

Stealing Owings from Indiana is obviously a huge move for Josh Heupel and the Vols. Not only did Tennessee manage to swipe a key staff member from the national champions, but the Vols managed to pull off a move that the USC Trojans failed to pull off a year ago.

According to CBS Sports college football insider Matt Zenitz, USC tried (and failed) to hire Owings last year.

Owings, who is set to be the highest paid strength coach in college football history after landing with Tennessee, stuck around at Indiana for the 2025 season instead of joining Lincoln Riley’s staff in Los Angeles.

Heupel has been a man on a mission this offseason. After a disappointing end to the 2025 season, Heupel has made big-time moves by landing Owings and hiring former Ohio State and Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to replace Tim Banks as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator.

Owings is reportedly expected to arrive in Knoxville on Tuesday, which is important as offseason workouts are on the verge of kicking off for the Volunteers.

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