Tennessee Football: Vols to Face 3 Former Coaches in 3 Straight Weeks

Tennessee football’s schedule over the next three weeks includes games against two former Volunteers coordinators and then one against a former head coach.

After firing one coach and going through two failed hires, Tennessee football has left its mark all over the NCAA with former coaches.

And three of them will be going up against the Vols over the next three weeks.

In order, Tennessee is set to face a former offensive coordinator, a former defensive coordinator, and a former head coach.

Only one of them garners any respect in Knoxville.

Going into Saturday’s game against the Georgia Bulldogs, the Vols will face a new coaching staff led by Kirby Smart. His new offensive coordinator? Jim Chaney.

Chaney was with the Vols for four years and spent the final three as the offensive coordinator and play-caller under Derek Dooley. He even served one game as interim head coach after Dooley was fired in 2012, a 37-17 win over the Kentucky Wildcats.

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Despite setting numerous records that year, fans don’t remember Chaney too fondly. Often times, his plays were slow-developing, and it took him three years to get any production.

After Jim Chaney, Tennessee travels to College Station to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. John Chavis is Kevin Sumlin’s defensive coordinator there.

He served as Phillip Fulmer’s defensive coordinator in Knoxville from 1995 to 2008. Fans remember Chavis fondly in many ways. He developed talent and prepared great. However, he was frustrating as well.

Chavis always struggled with in-game adjustments and stopping new offensive formations. Still, he garners proper respect in Knoxville as a Tennessee graduate. Now that he has finally figured out the spread, going up against him will be tough.

The final week of this stretch is the most infamous one, however. The Vols will host the Alabama Crimson Tide. They will be taking on offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, their former head coach in 2009, for the third straight year.

Of course, everybody in Knoxville remembers Kiffin’s controversial departure from the school after that year. The saving grace, though, was that he got fired from the USC Trojans after four years as a head coach there.

The most concerning part about this three-game stretch is Tennessee football’s record against all of them. Combined, the Vols are 0-4 against Chavis and Kiffin since they left Knoxville. They haven’t played Chaney yet.

Tennessee lost to the LSU Tigers twice when Chavis was the defensive coordinator there in 2010 and 2011. Of course, 2010 was the infamous 13-man on the field penalty in Derek Dooley’s first year after the Tigers had already lost the game. They should have won that game.

In two years going against Kiffin, the Vols lost to Alabama both times. However, that has a heck of a lot more to do with Nick Saban than Kiffin. After all, last year they held the Tide to 19 points in Tuscaloosa.

At the same time, despite the 2010 debacle, LSU still had much more talent than the Vols those two years.

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So everybody expected all four of these losses. Maybe this year, though, the Vols can finally get a win. Their first chance is Saturday with their first game against Chaney.

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Tennessee Football: Vols to Face Two Former Coordinators and a Former Head Coach in Three Straight Weeks

By Caleb Calhoun | Sep 30, 2016

Tennessee football’s schedule over the next three weeks includes games against two former Volunteers coordinators and then one against a former head coach.