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Tennessee football: 5 reasons to be excited about Vols hiring Jim Chaney

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Tennessee mascot Davy Crockett carries the flag across the end zone during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

4. Jim Chaney brings numerous recruiting advantages

There have been questions about Jim Chaney’s ability to recruit in general. But the verdict on him is he doesn’t get a lot of players, but the ones he does get are the big names and top guys. So he can get splash players.

That’s what Tennessee football needs right now. They need those three to four splash recruits to really beef up their classes, and with National Signing Day less than a month away, Jeremy Pruitt got what he needed for that with Chaney.

One of the marks of Chaney is that he is a great evaluator of talent. Dating back to his first coordinator job with the Purdue Boilermakers, he’s always found guys that can thrive when nobody else saw anything in them.

But on top of that, Chaney has numerous recruiting connections. He can take you into the Midwest after coaching at Purdue and with the Rams when they played in St. Louis, which also gives him NFL connections. Then he brings connections into Pennsylvania with his year as the Pittsburgh Panthers offensive coordinator, and he also has Texas and Arkansas connections after his time with the Razorbacks.

Dating back to his early days, coaching with the Wyoming Cowboys and Cal State Fullerton Titans give him a couple of surprise connections out west. And then there’s a stint with the Western Michigan Broncos that further cements his midwest legacy.

Now, most importantly he has Georgia connections. Those Georgia connections are the real story. Chaney has established a presence in three years there, and with Pruitt already relying on Georgia talent to build his program, Chaney can help him get more elite talent. And that’s what makes this a coup.

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