‘I know we have guys who would be pretty upset’ – Vols redshirt sophomore drops strong statement about potential coaching staff move
The Tennessee Vols are expected to have some coaching staff changes on the defensive side of the ball this offseason.
Earlier this month, Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel hired Jim Knowles to replace Tim Banks as the program’s defensive coordinator.
Knowles, who served as Penn State’s defensive coordinator in 2025, was the defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2024 during the Buckeyes’ national championship season.
So far, Knowles is the only new addition to Tennessee’s on-field coaching staff.
On3’s Chris Low, however, reported a couple of weeks ago that the expectation is that Knowles will be allowed to make a couple of his own hires.
Will defensive line coach Rodney Garner return to Tennessee in 2026?
It’s unclear, at this point, what coaching staff changes will be made this offseason (those changes are expected to happen sometime after the Music City Bowl).
One assistant coach, though, that most folks in East Tennessee are hoping to see return in 2026 is defensive line coach Rodney Garner.
Garner, who joined Heupel’s staff at Tennessee in 2021, is one of the most well-respected defensive line coaches in the nation. But his contract is set to expire at the end of January, which means his status at UT is up in the air.
Vols redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Nathan Robinson was asked about Garner on Saturday, and he made it clear that he hopes to see the veteran defensive line coach return in 2026.
“I think it’s really important (Garner coming back) to who we are as a defense,” said Robinson. “And so I feel that it’s necessary that G (Garner) is able to come back. I’m not sure how it would look if he left — as far as the roster. I mean, we talked about the depth chart and all that stuff, but G is really important to us. And he’s helped us a lot growing as football players and as men. And so if that relationship just kind of ceased being an everyday thing, I mean, I know we’d have guys who would be pretty upset about that.”
The good news for Tennessee is that it sounds like Garner will return next season.
“We’ve said on our [message] board that we expect Rodney Garner to be back, even though his contract is set to expire,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price earlier this week on WNML’s Josh and Swain.
Things can change quickly when it comes to coaching staff moves in college football, so it’s not a certainty just yet that Garner will return to Tennessee in 2026. But it sounds like it’s trending in that direction, which is undoubtedly great news for the Vols.
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