Tennessee football: Five positives from Vols moving Brian Niedermeyer to ILB coach

5. Familiarity with Jeremy Pruitt’s schemes

This is something that has applied to many of the coaches we brought up, but it also applies to Brian Niedermeyer. His familiarity with Tennessee football is obvious, as he’s been with the program the past two years. That wouldn’t technically be a positive when it comes to specifically moving an assistant coach around on the staff.

However, Brian Niedermeyer’s experience and familiarity with Jeremy Pruitt extends beyond just his time on Rocky Top. Niedermeyer was in an off-field role working under Pruitt when he was defensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2016 and 2017 and when he was defensive coordinator for the Georgia Bulldogs in 2015.

Simply put, Niedermeyer is as close to a protege of Pruitt as somebody could be. They’ve been together for five years. The last two years, working on the offensive side of the ball has kept him away from the defensive schemes. But now he will be working under Derrick Ansley, who is also a direct protege of Pruitt, so he will have extensive knowledge of how the defensive schemes work.

As a result, this was another move that Pruitt made where there’s not much of a learning curve. Niedermeyer is familiar with the Vols, and he’s specifically familiar with working in Pruitt’s defensive schemes. Given all the staff changes that took place, learning curves were something UT desperately needed to avoid. They are too close to turning a corner, and this is a smart move.