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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 Volunteers mascots Davey Crockett and Smokey entertain the crowd at the Vol Walk 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 Volunteers mascots Davey Crockett and Smokey entertain the crowd at the Vol Walk before a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Georgia Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /

Kelsey Pope. Offensive analyst. Tennessee Volunteers. 12. player. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis

Years at current position: 1

If Josh Heupel wants to stick with continuity, he could promote one of his own rising stars. This past year, Pope was in his first season as an offensive assistant for Tennessee football, so he is now familiar with Heupel’s system and the offense that he runs.

Pope also has experience coaching wide receivers specifically. In 2020, he was the wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. The year before that, he served as the wide receivers coach for the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles, so that’s the specific area of expertise he has.

In addition to coaching receivers, Pope has been all over the state of Tennessee specifically as a coach. That’s a big deal because Heupel didn’t do as well in the state as he needed to this past year when it came to recruiting, and a guy like Pope could improve that in an on-field role.

Experience with the position, familiarity with Heupel and continuity of being an internal promotion all work in Pope’s favor. However, lack of experience in general and no national connections work against Pope as well, so while he would be an intriguing hire, he wouldn’t bring to the table what Burns was able to bring.

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