Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel made a big-time coaching staff move last month when he decided to part ways with defensive coordinator Tim Banks.

Banks, who had been with the program since Heupel was hired in early 2021, is being replaced by former Ohio State and Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.

That’s not the only big coaching staff move that Heupel has in store this offseason.

Tennessee is in the market for a new strength coach

According a report from VolQuest, the Volunteers are in the market for a new strength coach.

Tennessee is not renewing the contract of Director of Competition Development Kurt Schmidt.

Schmidt was Heupel’s strength coach at UCF from 2018 to 2020. He joined Heupel at Tennessee in 2021.

This move doesn’t come as a big surprise as there were a lot of questions floating around this season about whether the Vols were physical enough.

Part of the reason those questions have surfaced is because Tennessee allowed the most rushing yards of the Heupel era in 2025. The Vols also rushed for the fewest yards of the Heupel era this past season.

There were also questions this season about whether Tennessee’s practices were physical enough.

One reason for the Vols’ lack of physicality in 2025 was the youth of the roster, which led to a lack of depth.

Heupel, however, clearly believes a change is needed. And as a result, Heupel will have a strength coach not named Kurt Schmidt for the first time in his head coaching career.

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