Tennessee assistant says current Vol will be an 'elite' coach one day
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel and his staff love to utilize former players as assistant coaches. Vols offensive coordinator Joey Halzle, for example, played under Heupel at Oklahoma. Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln played under Heupel and Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee at Missouri. It seems extremely likely that at least one […]
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel and his staff love to utilize former players as assistant coaches.
Vols offensive coordinator Joey Halzle, for example, played under Heupel at Oklahoma.
Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln played under Heupel and Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee at Missouri.
It seems extremely likely that at least one or two current Vols will eventually end up as staff members under Heupel.
One player that's a prime candidate to eventually be a coach under Heupel is wide receiver Jack Jancek.
Jancek is the son of former Vols defensive coordinator John Jancek (currently an assistant at LSU). The elder Jancek led Tennessee's defense to one of its best seasons in recent memory in 2015 (UT was the No. 17 scoring defense in the nation in 2015).
The redshirt junior wide receiver, who has seen limited action at Tennessee as a walk-on, was praised this week by Vols wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope for his leadership abilities.
Pope also suggested that Jancek will be an "elite coach" one day.
"Jancek is a phenomenal leader," said Pope. "Mark my words, he'll be an awesome coach, an elite coach one day."
Coaching is obviously in Jancek's blood. I don't know what his plans are for his post-playing days, but Heupel would be wise to go ahead and carve out a spot for him on the Vols' coaching staff. It sounds like Jancek has the potential to be a major asset for a program after his playing days are done.
