Why Tennessee Vols fans shouldn't be worried about UT's 'underwhelming' tight ends coach hire
The Tennessee Vols announced on Thursday that offensive analyst Alec Abeln has been promoted to tight ends coach. Abeln fills the tight ends coach role that was vacated by Alex Golesh in December. Golesh, who also served as Tennessee's offensive coordinator, left to become the new head coach at USF. Vols quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle […]
The Tennessee Vols announced on Thursday that offensive analyst Alec Abeln has been promoted to tight ends coach.
Abeln fills the tight ends coach role that was vacated by Alex Golesh in December.
Golesh, who also served as Tennessee's offensive coordinator, left to become the new head coach at USF. Vols quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle was promoted to offensive coordinator after Golesh's departure.
Plenty of fans were seemingly underwhelmed by the decision to promote Abeln. Many fans were hoping for a proven recruiter. Instead, Heupel went with an option that has no previous on-field coaching experience.
But I don't think fans should be skeptical of this hire. And there are several reasons why.
For starters, Heupel promoted Kelsey Pope last year from an off-field role to wide receivers coach.
And that worked out pretty well.
Tennessee's wide receivers performed at a high level in 2022 and Pope was praised for his recruiting abilities.
Heupel felt like Pope was the right guy for the job and he was right.
I would assume he has the same instinct when it comes to Abeln.
One reason why Heupel made this move is because continuity is so important for this offense.
Tennessee's offense might have a reputation for being "simple", but it's actually quite complex. The Vols do a lot more than just use tempo and utilize wide splits for their wide receivers. They slow things down at times, there are times when they go hurry up and don't even look the sideline for a signal (one of the Vols' fourth down conversions against Kentucky earlier this season is a great example of that). It's an offense that's constantly evolving. And because of that, it's imperative that everyone is on the same page.
Bringing someone new on staff is an option that Heupel will utilize at times (he did at UCF plenty of times). But if he has an internal option that makes sense, that's usually going to be the direction Heupel goes — especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Ablen is certainly someone that fits the bill when it comes to continuity.
He played under Heupel and Vols offensive line coach Glenn Elarbee at Missouri. And while at Mizzou, Abeln instantly connected with Elarbee.
“He’s funny,” said Abeln of Elarbee in 2016. “He’s a good coach, he knows what he’s talking about. He’s coaching us hard, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s got some quirk to him, which has definitely been light in the meeting rooms and kept it pretty easy.”
Abeln served as a graduate assistant at UCF under Heupel before joining Lane Kiffin's staff at Ole Miss for the 2020 season (that's a big positive since he has a view of how things are done away from Heupel, too). Abeln rejoined Heupel in Knoxville in 2021.
With this hire, there will be no adjusting to Heupel's offense. Abeln can hit the ground running during spring practice with players he already knows. And while he hasn't been an on-field coach before, he's been around Heupel and Elarbee (who he will likely work closely with) long enough that he knows exactly how practices go, how game planning works, etc.
Vols assistant offensive line coach Kevin Pendleton even pointed out via a social media post that Abeln "helped build" Tennessee's offense.
As for the recruiting part, I think that can be blown out of proportion at times.
Sure, Abeln absolutely needs to be a good recruiter. But who is to say he isn't?
Recruiting is all about enthusiasm for the job and the ability to build relationships.
Abeln is young, which means the enthusiasm part shouldn't be an issue.
When it comes to relationships, the response from Tennessee players to Abeln's promotion should tell fans all they need to know.
That's clearly a guy who connects well with his players, which means he should have no issues connecting with recruits.
I think there's plenty of evidence here for Vols fans to be happy about this hire. Heupel hasn't given fans a reason to doubt him yet. There's no reason to start now.
Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
