Former Tennessee Vols wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni lands new coaching job

The former Tennessee Vols assistant coach is on the move.

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Former Tennessee Vols wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni reportedly has a new job in the NFL.

Azzanni, who served as the wide receivers coach at Tennessee from 2013 to 2016, spent the last two seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receivers coach.

With Pittsburgh experiencing a coaching staff change this offseason, Azzanni has been in the market for a new gig.

According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, the Las Vegas Raiders are expected to hire Azzanni as the franchise’s new wide receivers coach.

The Raiders officially hired former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as the team’s new head coach following Super Bowl LX.

Kubiak and Azzanni worked together on the Denver Broncos’ coaching staff in 2018.

The 2026 season will be Azzanni’s 10th in the NFL (he has also spent time with the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets).

Zach Azzanni wouldn’t recognize college football today

Azzanni’s journey gives him an interesting perspective as a coach.

The former Central Michigan wide receiver spent 18 seasons in college football (1999-2016) before making the jump to the NFL. Azzanni was part of the college football that many of us grew up with. He exited the sport well before major changes arrived — such as the NCAA transfer portal and NIL deals.

As a result, Azzanni went from understanding exactly what college coaches were dealing with on a daily basis to now being on the other side, where he’s (I assume) having to coach young players in the NFL differently because they’re being coached so differently in college now.

If Azzanni ever returns to college football — and I doubt he would want to at this point — he almost certainly wouldn’t even recognize the sport that he spent two decades a part of.

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