All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football: Five reasons for excitement over Vols hiring Jay Graham

By Caleb Calhoun

14 Oct 1995: Tailback Jay Graham of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the football during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Tennessee won the game 41-14. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport
14 Oct 1995: Tailback Jay Graham of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the football during a game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. Tennessee won the game 41-14. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 6
Next

Jeremy Pruitt brought a familiar face on to be Tennessee football’s new running backs coach. Here’s why Volunteers fans should be excited about Jay Graham.

He’s back with Tennessee football for the fourth time. Jay Graham played running back for the Vols in the 1990s, then he became a graduate assistant in 2005, and he became the running backs coach in 2012. Now, he has returned to join Jeremy Pruitt be the running backs coach for Rocky Top once again.

Pruitt brought on Graham to replace David Johnson, who just left to join Mike Norvell’s staff with the Florida State Seminoles. There’s a chance Graham could end up coaching the special teams unit, where he is also experienced, with Kevin Sherrer gone. Nobody will debate the fact that Graham is a great hire in numerous ways, and he could even be a strong upgrade.

Despite the strong emergence of Eric Gray at the end of the year, Tennessee football needed some more consistency overall at the running back position. There’s a very good chance that Graham brings just that to the table. But why is that the case?

In this post, we’re going to break down what exactly makes Graham a really good hire for Rocky Top. He provides fans with lots of reasons for excitement, and there are a variety of reasons for that to be the case.

The reasons could stretch from his own past to the past of people and programs he has been associated with. It’s all on the table for the guy who once held the Vols record for rushing yards in a single season.

If you look at this hire in the best possible light, then it’s a 75-yard touchdown run to clinch a win at the Alabama Crimson Tide in 1995 level of a hire. Yes, it could be that good for Pruitt and the Vols should things go the way they expect.

Let’s break down exactly why that’s the case here. These are the five biggest reasons for excitement over Jay Graham returning to the Vols to replace David Johnson as Tennessee football’s running backs coach.

Home/Vols Football