Tennessee football: Five positives from Vols hiring LB coach Shelton Felton

Jeremy Pruitt hired Shelton Felton to replace Chris Rumph as Tennessee football’s outside linebackers coach. That could work out well for the Volunteers.

In a surprise move, Tennessee football really doubled down on the youth movement with its new on-field assistant coaches. With Chris Rumph leaving to join the Houston Texans, Jeremy Pruitt lured Chris Rumph away from the Akron Zips to take his place.

Given Felton’s experience, the position Rumph coached and where everybody else on the staff is coaching, we can safely say that Felton will be coaching outside linebackers for the Vols. But just what type of hire is Felton?

Well, the truth is that we don’t know just yet. Tennessee football could be getting a major steal, or they could be getting a flop. Outside linebacker is a crucial position in Jeremy Pruitt’s scheme, as he relies on them to make the biggest plays on defense.

As a result, Felton has a lot of pressure on him. But Rocky Top should maintain a bit of optimism with him at the moment. After all, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of a youth movement to keep energy injected into the program.

Here, we’re going to break down why Felton could be an encouraging hire for the Vols. As we’ve been doing with all the different hires Pruitt made during this time period, we’re going to analyze everything about the move and what works for it.

Any part of Felton’s background could be a factor here, including what he’s done, where he’s been and who he has coached with. All of those things play a role in how effective somebody could be once they take a position as an on-field staff member.

So what is it that Felton can bring to the table? How can UT be encouraged by this move? Let’s break all of that down here. These are the five positive signs from Tennessee football hiring Felton to be the Vols’ new outside linebackers coach.