Tennessee Vols wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope received a promotion and a raise this offseason.

Pope, who has developed into an extremely important assistant coach for the Vols, had his pay bumped from $550,000 to $800,000 in 2026 and $850,000 in 2027.

The Alabama native also had “passing game coordinator” added to his job title.

Kelsey Pope comments on what the passing game coordinator title means for his job duties

A reporter asked Pope on Monday what adding the passing game coordinator title means for his duties as an assistant coach.

Pope admitted that it doesn’t really change anything about his day-to-day duties.

“It’s a cool title, but I’m just still doing the same things,” said Pope. “I’m trying to invest every day. I’m trying to come up with new ways for us to use certain skill sets that we have, like we’ve got a lot of different skill sets in the building now than what we’re used to… In general, I’m kind of doing the same things that I’ve been doing. I would like to think that I’ve operated with that title before it was given to me. Coach Heup was just gracious enough to go ahead and do that, so that’s the only difference.”

It’s long been suspected that the “passing game coordinator” is simply a title bestowed upon important assistant coaches that head coaches don’t want to lose (the same goes for the co-offensive coordinator title you sometimes see).

Tennessee’s offense is extremely collaborative, so Pope’s voice was already an important presence in that process. Adding the passing game coordinator title just makes Pope’s resumé look a little sharper for any future opportunities that may arise.

It was a smart move by Josh Heupel — Pope is a rising star, and other SEC programs have already tried to swipe him from the Volunteers.

Pope, though, said earlier this offseason that he has no plans on leaving Tennessee anytime soon.

“I tell people all the time, and parents ask, ‘How long you gonna be at Tennessee?’” said Pope earlier this month on The Mike Keith Show. “And I’m telling them, ‘I’ll be here as long as Tennessee has me.’ Because I’ve started to build a legacy here. What we’ve done here is really, really special. And it’s something that hasn’t happened here in a long time, and I take that personally.

“So for me to leave, like, it’s hard. It’s hard on me, it’s hard on my family, and that’s not something I’m willing to do right now. I love this place, I love what we’ve done, I love what we created. And I want to build that as much as I can and hopefully win a national championship.”