Tennessee football: Ranking all head coaches of Vols 2019 opponents

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 17: Head coach Bill Clark of the UAB Blazers reacts to pass interference called on his defense against the Texas A&M Aggies in the second quarter at Kyle Field on November 17, 2018 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

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Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images /

To many people, Tennessee football hit the lottery by drawing the BYU Cougars as their major non-conference opponent this year. BYU is a solid program, but they should be no match for Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols heading to Neyland Stadium this year. Well, this is another defining game. If UT loses, they will be in trouble Pruitt’s second year.

Meanwhile, this is a chance for Kalani Sitake to show how great of a head coach he is. Sitake is the first coach on our list to not be in his first year or not oversee any drop-off from his predecessor. In fact, he has pretty much hit even pars related to what Bronco Mendenhall did.

His first year on the job in 2016, he went 9-4, which Mendenhall went in 2015. In 2017, Sitake’s program fell apart and went 4-9. But it replaced a ton of talent and was inexperienced. So last year, with a bit more experience, it returned to 7-6.

Now, this year, expectations are for BYU to take another major step. That will also define how good of a coach Sitake is, and the Vols are a great program for him to measure what leaps his program has taken. Still, he deserves credit, even with that losing season, for maintaining what his alma mater has done so far under him.

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