All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football: Ranking all 28 offseason coaching changes by impact on Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee Herd Coach Josh Heupel at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue
Tennessee Herd Coach Josh Heupel at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 28
Next
Oct 30, 2021; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Jake Dickert looks on against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second half at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2021; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Jake Dickert looks on against the Arizona State Sun Devils during the second half at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

For once, the coaching carousel this offseason didn’t involve Tennessee football. Including midseason firings, 28 FBS schools replaced head coaches from 2021 to 2022, 15 of which were Power Five programs and two of those were SEC programs. Coaching changes can affect other programs dramatically.

When the Georgia Bulldogs hired Mark Richt in 2001, it dried up UT’s recruiting advantage in that state, a huge reason they haven’t won an SEC Championship this century. A decade before that, the Florida Gators made a move that would cost UT at least three SEC Championships by hiring Steve Spurrier.

What about hires this offseason? Well, that’s what we’re going to break down here. This post will analyze every FBS hire by naming the new hire and mentioning who that coach replaced (the coach who entered the 2021 season as head coach). This is a ranking of every coaching change’s potential impact on Tennessee football.

Nick Rolovich. Jake Dickert . 28. player. 846. Scouting Report. Washington St. Cougars. Pick Analysis

Previous position: Interim head coach, Washington State Cougars

By nature of this not being a real change, we had to put this in last place. Jake Dickert was hired as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Washington State Cougars when Nick Rolovich took the job in 2020. After going 1-3 that year and starting off 4-3 in 2021, Rolovich was fired for not complying with the state’s vaccine mandate.

Dickert, who was the Wyoming Cowboys’ defensive coordinator before Rolovich lured him away, took over for his first head coaching job. He went 3-3 as the interim head coach. Then, in the offseason, the administration decided to retain him full-time.

Since it was a decision by a Power Five program, it’s one that will impact Tennessee football. However, the school deciding to maintain its head coach from the middle of this past season makes it barely qualify as a coaching change, and that’s why this move is last on the list. Nothing technically done in the offseason affects UT.

Home/Vols Football