‘That’s why Tennessee was disappointed’ – The Vols suffered a tough blow before the start of spring practice
The Tennessee Vols received some unfortuante coaching staff news ealier this week.
The Tennessee Vols suffered an unexpected blow earlier this week.
On Tuesday, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported that Vols cornerbacks coach Michael Hunter is leaving Rocky Top to join the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff.
Hunter, who was hired by Tennessee earlier this offseason, was viewed as an important assistant coach for the Volunteers due to his previous experience working under new UT defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
Tennessee will need to move quickly to replace Hunter as spring practice is set to get underway in Knoxville on March 16.
Vols insider details what Michael Hunter leaving means for Tennessee football
VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will on Friday, and he was asked how Tennessee will go about replacing Hunter.
“I think they’re going to go with a guy who’s got recruiting prowess,” said Hubbs. “[Someone who is] a good recruiter. A guy with energy. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a young guy. When you talk about those two things (recruiting and energy), you kind of think more of a young guy. But it could be a guy who’s older. The fascinating part of this is I think Michael Hunter was making about $250,000 a year. So if (Vols co-defensive coordinator) Anthony Poindexter is overseeing the entire secondary, and the corners coach kind of works underneath Anthony Poindexter, then you’re going to be at a lower price range.
“Or do you make the decision that Poindexter is the co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach, and we’re going to go get a proven, established corners coach. If you’re going to go that direction, then you’re going to have to go pay somebody more money than what you were paying. Hunter was a perfect fit for Tennessee. That’s why Tennessee was disappointed. He had a good bit of corners experience. He had worked with Jim Knowles. He knew Jim Knowles’ defensive system. He was plug-n-play and go, and they would split up the secondary.”
“Now you’re talking about bringing a guy in who’s got to learn a new defensive system, most likely, unless it’s somebody who’s worked with Knowles that we haven’t found yet,” continued Hubbs. “And then he’s got to develop a relationship with Poindexter, and they’ve got to work together. So, we’ll see. Jim Knowles will be the one who ultimately has the biggest say in this. [Josh Heupel] is going to sign off on it, but this will be largely Jim Knowles and Anthony Poindexter as they wade through this. And I think they would like to get something done here over the course of the next week to 10 days.”
One name that would make sense for Tennessee is former Virginia Tech cornerbacks coach Derek Jones, who worked with Knowles at Duke from 2010 to 2017.
Jones is available after not being retained at Virginia Tech by new Hokies head coach James Franklin.
It sounds like this search will move fairly quickly based on Hubbs’ comments on Friday.
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