Tennessee football: Ranking all Vols staff changes during 2020 offseason

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1. Hiring Jay Graham as running backs coach

This is the fourth time Tennessee football has welcomed Jay Graham. He first was welcomed in the 1990s as a player. Then he returned as a graduate assistant in 2005. Most recently, he joined Derek Dooley’s staff in 2012.

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Now, with David Johnson leaving to coach running backs at the Florida State Seminoles, where Graham ironically coached under Jimbo Fisher for five years, Graham is back again, this time to replace Johnson. And he is a major upgrade given his previous history coaching the position throughout this decade.

Nobody can deny the success Graham has had churning out offensive stars, even dating back to Marcus Lattimore with the South Carolina Gamecocks. The guy has worked with Jeremy Pruitt before, as they were national champions at FSU in 2013. And he is a superb recruiter. There are almost no drawbacks to bringing the former Vol back.

It’s also clear Graham is an upgrade. Johnson appears more comfortable coaching receivers, as Ty Chandler had a major drop-off in production this year. Now, to be fair, Eric Gray developed late. But Graham is the type of guy who should be able to make both of them elite at the same time.

Next. Ranking position groups in Vols 2020 class. dark

On top of that, Tennessee football is likely to have Graham as special teams coordinator despite not announcing it yet. Graham has plenty of experience doing that, and he has thrived for years under Fisher in that role. So he’d actually be an upgrade over Kevin Sherrer there as well given his experience. Simply put, Graham is a great hire, and he belongs at the top of this list.

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