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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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3. John Jancek

Role: Defensive Coordinator

Hired by: Butch Jones

Year hired: 2013

Coach replaced: Sal Sunseri

When Butch Jones fired John Jancek in 2016 and replaced him with Bob Shoop, Tennessee football fans were thrilled. Rocky Top blamed a horrible call he made for the Vols’ late 2015 collapse against the Florida Gators which cost them the SEC East.

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However, it was a bit of an overreaction in hindsight. Jancek clearly had a level of chemistry with the players that Bob Shoop didn’t and you saw a major drop in production the next year. Combine that with the improvements the defense made when Jancek arrived in 2013, and it was clear that he was a solid hire.

Of course, he benefits in this ranking because of how bad the defense was in 2012 under Sal Sunseri. A quick switch back to a 4-3 under Jancek saw a major resurgence of a lot of players, and that’s very commendable.

As the Vols went 9-4 in 2015, Jancek’s defense was there to bail the offense out of a few bad games. This includes the South Carolina Gamecocks, Missouri Tigers and North Texas Mean Green. It almost beat the Alabama Crimson Tide.

In hindsight, we could probably safely say that Jones never should have made the replacement he made. For chemistry purposes, Jancek could have delivered the SEC East for the Vols in 2016. This was a classic case of UT not appreciating what it had. Don’t forget that Jancek is the guy who developed Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Cameron Sutton, and most notably, Derek Barnett.

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