Tennessee football offensive staff on hot seat, analyst says
Jim Chaney is under fire with the Tennessee football Volunteers.
Could their be a shake-up with the offensive coaches in the Tennessee football program during the offseason? Well, nothing is set in stone just yet, but one writer seems to think that it’s certainly a possibility.
Adam Rittenberg of ESPN+ listed the Vols, who are 2-5 and on a five-game losing streak, among eight teams with assistant coaches who could take the fall this year. On all eight, he either named the offensive staff, the defensive staff, both or to be determined in terms of who is on notice.
Given the struggles of Jarrett Guarantano in Jim Chaney’s second year on the job, it makes sense for Tennessee football’s offensive staff to come under fire. Here’s a bit of what Rittenberg wrote about the situation.
"Coordinator Jim Chaney, who came to Tennessee from Georgia in January 2019, is probably on his way out. What looked like a big-time hire for the Vols simply hasn’t panned out, especially this season. Tennessee ranks 113th nationally in offensive points scored (18.1 PPG), 116th in third-down conversion percentage (32%), and 105th in both passing (184.3 ypg) and yards per play (4.98)."
It is true that if you take away key mistakes by the quarterback, the Vols likely at least beat the Kentucky Wildcats and play it closer with the Georgia Bulldogs. But there were other factors in play in their losses to the Arkansas Razorbacks and Auburn Tigers. They never had a shot against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
You could also call out the defense. Jeremy Pruitt made the decision to fire defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh midseason. Meanwhile the secondary has been horrendous all year, unable to get fully healthy or offset the loss of Nigel Warrior.
Against Auburn, even special teams came into play, as Brent Cimaglia missed two field goals while the Tigers made all three attempts, including a 50-yarder. That hasn’t been the advantage for the Vols it should have been.
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Still, the one constant has been an atrocious Tennessee football offense. UT hasn’t scored over 40 points all year, and they haven’t scored more than 17 points in each of their last four outings. Dating back to the second half against UGA, it’s been abysmal, so it makes sense to call out all the offensive assistants for such play.