As Tennessee football enters its third year under head coach Jeremy Pruitt, the Volunteers continue to turn to former players and coaches.
When Jeremy Pruitt took over as head coach of the Tennessee football program over two years ago, he was hired by a former UT player and coach in Phillip Fulmer, who is now the Vols’ athletic director. His first year on the job, he had one former player on the staff, Terry Fair.
Fast-forward to 2020. Pruitt just hired Jay Graham to replace David Johnson as the Vols’ running backs coach and to likely become their special teams coordinator with Kevin Sherrer also leaving. With Graham, he has two former players on staff and three former UT coaches on his staff. By the way, Fair isn’t even one of them.
Overall, their are four people on Tennessee football’s staff who either coached or played for the Vols. Ironically, the two who played, Graham and Tee Martin, rejected chances to coach under Butch Jones back in 2013. It looks like they made the right choice.
However, both of Pruitt’s coordinators, Derrick Ansley and Jim Chaney, were members of the Vols’ 2012 staff under Derek Dooley. Chaney is back in his same role as offensive coordinator. Ansley in his his first stint ever as the sole defensive coordinator. He was just the secondary coach back in the 2012 season.
Graham, however, fits both. In addition to being a former player, he was also a member of the 2012 staff, and like Chaney, he is certainly taking on the same role by being the running backs coach. However, it’s worth noting that if he does become the special teams coordinator, as we expect, then he’s adding upon the role he had in 2012.
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Meanwhile, going beyond just the on-field staff, former linebacker Kevin Simon has a player development role, and there’s a chance he gets promoted to an on-field role. After all, he was the one who landed Henry To’o To’o on the recruiting trail, and with Sherrer gone, there’s an opening for a linebackers coach as much as a special teams coordinator. So Pruitt may not be done.
There isn’t much reason for concern. Martin, Chaney and Ansley all seemed to work well on Tennessee football’s staff this past year as they developed over time. Graham was never really the blame for Dooley’s failed stint, as he was only on his staff for one year anyway, and he coached on the offensive side of the ball, which certainly wasn’t the problem in 2012.
As a result, Pruitt appears to know what he’s doing. He’s got a staff that is building a solid level of chemistry, and many of them are familiar with the program. These are things Fulmer valued when he coached the Vols for 16 years.
Stability, chemistry, continuity and familiarity can all be key to building a program. Rocky Top now has those things, and it may only get better. Sure, staff changes will happen, but Pruitt had fewer this year than last year, and that’s great news for Rocky Top. Also, the changes appear to involve bringing in more familiar people. And that should work out in a big way.