The Tennessee Vols said goodbye to a popular assistant coach earlier this offseason.

New Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles didn’t retain outside linebackers coach Levorn “Coach Chop” Harbin when he was hired in December.

Harbin had a great reputation as an assistant coach at Tennessee, largely because of his efforts on the recruiting trail.

Unsurprisingly, Harbin wasn’t out of a job for long as he quickly landed on the Missouri Tigers’ staff as the program’s new defensive line coach.

Levorn Harbin says he’s glad one player he recruited to Tennessee didn’t sign with the Vols

While speaking with reporters earlier this spring, Harbin pointed out that he’s glad one player he recruited to Tennessee didn’t end up signing with the Vols.

And that’s not because Harbin wasn’t giving his all for Tennessee when he was on Josh Heupel’s coaching staff. Instead, it’s because he now gets to coach the player — defensive lineman Marquis Gracial — at Missouri.

“I recruited Marquis out of high school, so I’m really familiar with him [from] high school,” said Harbin. “So I’m glad he ended up coming here instead of Tennessee.”

Gracial, who is from Missouri, is a former four-star recruit who was offered by the Vols shortly after Heupel was hired in early 2021.

Harbin was a defensive analyst for Tennessee at the time, though he also served as one of the Vols’ most important recruiters.

Gracial, interestingly, signed with Missouri out of high school, and he’s remained with the Tigers for his entire college career (he’ll be a redshirt senior this fall). That’s a rarity in college football in the transfer portal era.