Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel suddenly has an important offseason decision to make
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel suddenly has an important offseason decision to make. VolQuest reported on Monday morning that Tennessee outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler is leaving Rocky Top to join Matt Rhule's staff at Nebraska. Ekeler, whose contract at UT expired at the end of January, had been part of Tennessee's […]
Tennessee Vols head coach Josh Heupel suddenly has an important offseason decision to make.
VolQuest reported on Monday morning that Tennessee outside linebackers coach/special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler is leaving Rocky Top to join Matt Rhule's staff at Nebraska.
Ekeler, whose contract at UT expired at the end of January, had been part of Tennessee's coaching staff since 2021, when Heupel took over as the Vols' head coach.
With Ekeler heading to Lincoln, Heupel suddenly has a big opening on his coaching staff.
The most obvious option for Heupel would be to promote popular senior defensive analyst Levorn Harbin (Coach Chop) to an on-field role. Harbin is reportedly well-paid as an analyst, which signals that he's a coach the Vols don't want to let get away.
Promoting Harbin is probably the smartest move that Heupel could make, but it's not a foolproof move. Ekeler's biggest impact with the Vols came as the program's special teams coordinator. Who coaches special teams if Harbin is promoted?
Harbin coached special teams at Georgia Southern in the early 2000s, but I'm not sure that qualifies him to coach special teams in the SEC (especially since his time as an analyst was mostly spent with the defensive line).
Inside linebackers coach William Inge could be an option as he coached special teams at Indiana in 2018 and 2019.
Whatever decision Heupel makes, I wouldn't expect it to be speedy. Heupel has traditionally taken his time when making (and announcing) coaching staff moves.
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