Tennessee football names A.J. Artis new strength coach
Jeremy Pruitt found Craig Fitzgerald’s replacement for the Tennessee football Volunteers.
One question surrounding the Tennessee football program has been solved. The Vols have promoted A.J. Artis to strength and conditioning coach as Craig Fitzgerald’s replacement, according to UTSports.
Artis’ official title will be director of football sports performance. He has effectively been running the program for the past two months, ever since Fitzgerald, who had been running the program since Jeremy Pruitt first arrived in 2018, left to take a similar position with the New York Giants.
Dating back to 2018, Artis was an assistant in the program. A graduate of Campbell in 2015, he was with the Duke Blue Devils in a from 2016 to 2018, the Appalachian State Mountaineers as a graduate assistant in 2015 and 2016 and Campbell as an intern 2014 and 2015. He discussed his style in a video posted to Tennessee football’s Twitter account.
AJ Artis has been named the new Tennessee Football Director of Sports Performance.
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) June 15, 2020
💪: https://t.co/Bg6eoPJREl pic.twitter.com/YrfcXYco42
Related Story. Ranking Vols coaches who played for rival schools. light
More from Vols Football
- How to Win a GUARANTEED $200 Bonus Betting Just $5 on the Vols vs. Florida!
- Tennessee Football at Florida: Five Keys to a Vols Victory
- Week 3 SEC Power Rankings: Did Tennessee Football’s Win Help At All?
- Week 3 AP Polls: Why Did Tennessee Football Drop in the Polls?
- Tennessee Football: Top Five Performers in 30-13 Win vs. Austin Peay
While at Campbell, Artis played for wide receiver and tight end for four years. There are obvious questions about his youth, but Pruitt has shown that he should be trusted with these things. Early on, one of Pruitt’s first tasks was to recondition the program.
Under Butch Jones, conditioning fell apart after Dave Lawson left in 2015. Jones did not prioritize finding a replacement and let assistant director Michael Szerszen run things. The result with no leadership was a disastrous injury-riddled season in 2016, which is why UT underachieved despite a top 10 ranking.
In 2017, Jones desperately tried to rectify things by bringing in Rock Gullickson, but the damage was done, and the Vols had a slew of injuries again en route to a 4-8 season. That served as proof that continuity is huge in a strength program, and Pruitt appears to be taking that seriously.
Next. Vols' top 10 now-defunct rivalries in history. dark
The strength and conditioning staff for Tennessee football will include Mike Farrell, Byron Jerideau and Shaq Wilson. They will all work under Artis. A native of Eden, N.C., Artis has a great chance to prove himself here, and given the fact that this training comes amidst dealing with a pandemic, he’s got an immediate early test.