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Tennessee football: Ranking 15 options to replace Kodi Burns as Vols WR coach

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee wide receivers coach Kodi Burns 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 wide receivers coach Kodi Burns at the 2021 Music City Bowl NCAA college football game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn. on Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021.Kns Tennessee Purdue /
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Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Power T on the field before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Power T on the field before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /

Well it looks like Tennessee football won’t end its streak of replacing at least one coach. The Vols haven’t kept the same staff in back to back seasons since 2013 to 2014, from Butch Jones’ first year to his second year. Wide receivers coach Kodi Burns is joining the New Orleans Saints. Pete Thamel of Yahoo reported the news, and Burns later confirmed it.

The former Auburn Tigers quarterback and receiver who served as receivers coach on Gus Malzahn’s staff for his final five years there leaves a huge void to fill after the way he developed Cedric Tillman and turned Velus Jones Jr. into a star. This is a crucial hire for Josh Heupel.

Tons of names across a variety of services have cropped up as potential replacements. Even if they miss out on the chance to be the only SEC staff with full continuity, a solid hire here could be huge. Let’s take a look at all of them here, ranking them from worst to best option. These are the top 15 choices to replace Burns as Tennessee football’s wide receivers coach.

Years at current position: 4

Butch Jones hired Kevin Beard to coach the Vols wide receivers in 2017 after Zach Azzanni left for the NFL. There’s no chance Azzanni will come back, as he’s now with the Denver Broncos, but the Vols could bring back Beard. He played for the Miami Hurricanes and has been working under a solid offensive mind in Jason Candle since leaving UT.

Obviously, there is concern here given how bad the Vols’ offense was the one year Beard was coaching on Rocky Top. However, that was due to Larry Scott as offensive coordinator, Butch Jones’ horrendous handling of the quarterbacks and an overall lack of talent.

Beard lost his best player, Jauan Jennings, for the season in the opener that year. He still has potential, and his experience in a variety of offenses combined with his Florida and Ohio connections could be a huge bonus. Hey, Tennessee football has brought back other Jones assistants. Bringing back Beard isn’t a terrible idea.

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