The defensive coordinator who suggested the Tennessee Vols’ offense is predictable has reportedly been fired
A year ago, after the Tennessee Vols unexpectedly lost a road game to the Arkansas Razorbacks, defensive coordinator Travis Williams made some comments suggesting that UT’s offense was predictable. Williams, who was hired as the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator in 2023, pointed out that Tennessee had certain tendencies that revealed what the Vols were trying to […]
A year ago, after the Tennessee Vols unexpectedly lost a road game to the Arkansas Razorbacks, defensive coordinator Travis Williams made some comments suggesting that UT’s offense was predictable.
Williams, who was hired as the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator in 2023, pointed out that Tennessee had certain tendencies that revealed what the Vols were trying to do offensively.
“When I go home, I’m watching a lot of tape by myself,” said Williams a few days after Arkansas took down Tennessee. “That’s kind of when I get my thoughts, and I said, you know what, every time they (Tennessee) got this look, they did this. And it’s [going] back to 2021, 2022, just watching every team that they played and trying to get a beat on, you know, what are their identities once they see a certain look.
“And I saw it, I said the whole goal is, okay, if we can get them to 12 personnel, then perfect, we got them. We got them where we want them. You know, kinda playing our type of game. They got in 12 personnel, so we switched personnel to fit that. And then 12 personnel made 11 because they still want to take the shots. Man, Coach (Josh) Heupel, he’s really good at what he does. He’s an offensive genius. So we were really just trying to slow them down and give us a chance at least. And it kind of worked throughout the game.”
Tennessee will be looking for some revenge on Oct. 11 when it faces the Razorbacks for the first time since last season’s loss.
When Arkansas comes to town in a couple of weeks, though, Williams won’t be on the sideline.
Arkansas interim head coach Bobby Petrino fires Travis Williams
On Sunday, a day after the Razorbacks lost 56-13 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman.
Pittman, a former Vols offensive line coach, went 32-34 in his six-plus seasons as the Razorbacks’ head coach.
Former Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino, who is in his second season as the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator, was named the interim head coach.
On Monday, Petrino fired multiple members of the coaching staff, including Williams.
Williams certainly did a great job against the Vols last year, but he won’t get a chance to recreate that magic this season.
Though I’m not sure Williams would’ve had much success this time around against Tennessee.
The Volunteers’ offense is operating at a higher level this season. And it’s far less predictable than it was last season, thanks to some new wrinkles that were installed over the offseason.
There’s also the fact that Tennessee is much better at home. This is a much different UT offense than the one we saw in 2024.
The Vols are off this weekend before their matchup against the Razorbacks on Oct. 11.
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