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Tennessee football: Ranking all 10 Vols coordinator changes this decade

By Caleb Calhoun

STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 13: Tennessee Volunteers defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri coaches on the sideline in place of head coach Derek Dooley, who is coaching from the booth after hip surgery, in a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on October 13, 2012 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 13: Tennessee Volunteers defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri coaches on the sideline in place of head coach Derek Dooley, who is coaching from the booth after hip surgery, in a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on October 13, 2012 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images /

2. Justin Wilcox

Role: Defensive Coordinator

Hired by: Derek Dooley

Year hired: 2010

Coach replaced: Monte Kiffin

Nobody was appreciated more than Justin Wilcox the year he left. But to be fair he was always the biggest positive for Tennessee football during Derek Dooley’s first two years and was clearly a great hire that Dooley had made.

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    • The year before, Vols fans were really happy with what Monte Kiffin’s Tampa 2 defense was doing in Knoxville. However, as he followed Lane Kiffin to the USC Trojans, Dooley established a return to wanting to affect the quarterback with Wilcox, whom he brought from the Boise State Broncos after helping them to a 49-4 record and two undefeated seasons in four years.

    Wilcox had to deal with a ton of attrition when he arrived, as the Vols had lost their four leading tacklers, including superstar Eric Berry. Kiffin’s dismissals of numerous players from the previous year along with his lack of interest in vetting recruits wrecked the defense further.

    On top of that, Wilcox would get little support from an offense that had to replace everybody. Nonetheless, with all this working against him, his defense still gave up fewer than 400 yards a game in 2010 and only allowed 25 points a game. A year later, while playing the toughest schedule in school history, Wilcox’s defense allowed less than 23 points a game.

    After that, he left to become the defensive coordinator of the Washington Huskies, getting out of the chaos Dave Hart was creating by not renewing contracts. That’s when Dooley’s career collapsed, as Sal Sunseri was a disaster. It was clear that Wilcox knew what he was doing.

    Related Story. 5 best options to replace Tyson Helton as Vols OC. light

    Obviously, Wilcox is now succeeding as a head coach with the California Golden Bears. But I have no doubt that had Dooley been able to keep him in 2012, he would have had a very successful season. At that point, he may have been able to salvage his career with Tennessee football, even as Wilcox likely would’ve left at some point anyway.

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