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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 Elsa/Getty Images
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images /

6. Bob Shoop

Role: Defensive Coordinator

Hired by: Butch Jones

Year hired: 2016

Coach replaced: John Jancek

There was never a bigger bust of a hire than Bob Shoop. When Butch Jones brought him to Knoxville, he was the hottest commodity in the country as an assistant coach. Tennessee football had made the splash hire of the year.

Shoop was considered the architect of James Franklin’s success, as the Vanderbilt Commodores were a Top 25 team two of three years and made three straight bowl games thanks to his defenses, and the Penn State Nittany Lions were staying afloat at the time because of defense. Jones forced out Jancek all because of the collapse against the Florida Gators to get Shoop.

So when the Vols brought him to a 9-4 team returning all its talent, the excitement was more than justified. But we know what happened. Jones’s flawed strength program cost the Vols significantly down the stretch of the 2016 season, and they didn’t win the East because the secondary was so bad under Shoop in the second half of the year. In 2017, he did his best to have his team carry a horrible offense, but it was still an overall disaster.

Shoop’s biggest problem was giving up way too many big plays late. The Georgia Bulldogs appeared to get him with a game-winning Hail Mary in 2016 before the Vols got their own. Then the Florida Gators got him with an actual game-winning Hail Mary in 2017. Those were inexcusable plays.

However, he’s clearly a good coach. The guy was one of the top assistants in the nation his first year under Joe Moorhead with the Mississippi State Bulldogs. But his coaching didn’t mix with Jones’s work, and the result was disastrous on Rocky Top. We have him as a middle of the road hire, though, because the results weren’t really on him. There were too many other bad factors at play while he was in Knoxville.

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