A coach that we thought would land at Tennessee this summer was just hired by Mississippi State
A former head coach that we thought would land at Tennessee this offseason is instead heading to Mississippi State.
A coach that we thought might land with the Tennessee Vols this offseason has instead been hired by the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Last December, I mentioned that Vols fans should keep an eye on Matt Wells, a former head coach at Utah State and Texas Tech.
Wells served as Kansas State’s offensive coordinator the last two years but he wasn’t retained following the 2025 season.
According to On3, Mississippi State is hiring Wells as an offensive consultant.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel has a close relationship with Wells, so I thought he would be a strong option to join Tennessee’s staff as an analyst.
In 2015, after Heupel was fired by Oklahoma, he landed on Wells’ staff at Utah State as the offensive coordinator.
Additionally, Heupel played for the Sooners when Wells’ brother, Luke, was a student assistant at Oklahoma (it was during that time that Heupel first met Matt Wells).
One of the lowest moments in Heupel’s career was when he was fired by his alma mater after the 2014 season. With his career essentially at a crossroads, Wells gave Heupel a job.
And the year at Utah State was an important season for Heupel, allowing him to recalibrate his career.
“He got out of the pressure cooker (at Oklahoma),” said former Utah State offensive line coach Mark Weber of Heupel to The Athletic in 2021. “He got out of a tough situation. He was just one of the guys. He wasn’t Josh Heupel. He was just one of the coaches. I loved my time at Utah State, and it’s a great place, and I don’t know what his salary was at Oklahoma, but I’m sure it was more than it was at Utah State. It was probably half, at least. I mean, that’s a tough pill to swallow. He never talked about that stuff. He was just coaching ball.”
Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby was on staff at Oklahoma with Wells in 2022 and 2023.