Tennessee football: Ranking all Vols staff changes during 2020 offseason

3. Moving Brian Niedermeyer to inside linebackers coach

Comparing Brian Niedermeyer to Shelton Felton is a bit tricky. However, Niedermeyer is a more proven recruiter, and his move is less dangerous for Tennessee football than the hire of Felton for a few reasons. To get it out of the way, though, Niedermeyer replacing Kevin Sherrer as inside linebackers coach is also, for the time being, a net negative.

Sherrer was a proven success coaching inside linebackers, and the way Daniel Bituli thrived while he developed Henry To’o To’o was insane. Meanwhile, Niedermeyer has never coached on the defensive side of the ball at an FBS school in an on-field role, and that’s what makes this another staff move that we somewhat have to question for the time being.

In addition to a proven track record in recruiting, though, Niedermeyer specialized in coaching defensive positions while in off-field roles under Pruitt with the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide. So he appears to be more in his comfort zone in this role, which means it could potentially be an upgrade for him. That’s where there’s a bit more of a positive here.

Beyond that, there were issues with production at tight end. Dominick Wood-Anderson was a great team player but never became the splash player Jeremy Pruitt recruited him to be. So moving Niedermeyer away from that position while keeping him on staff may end up being a major positive. That is also something that leads to the next staff move in these rankings.