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Tennessee football: Ranking head coaches on Vols’ 2022 schedule

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart (left) and Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel (right) meet at midfield after the game at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart (left) and Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel (right) meet at midfield after the game at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
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If Tennessee football faces every head coach of the opponents on its 2022 schedule, it’ll be the first time since 2012 the Vols didn’t face a team in the regular season led by somebody in his first year ever as a head coach of a four-year institution. That’s way different from last year, when UT faced three coaches in their first year.

This would have applied to the Vols in 2015, but they faced interim coaches of the South Carolina Gamecocks and North Texas Mean Green. If you count Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Sam Pittman’s two years coaching junior college, then it only goes back to 2020.

The Vols face both head coaches who were in last year’s national title game, four who won their conference and another who led his program to a New Years Six bowl. Six coaches are in one of those categories. Who is the best among them? Here is our ranking of every head coach Tennessee football is slated to face in 2022.

Oct 23, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea reacts to a call made by the officials during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Vanderbilt Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea reacts to a call made by the officials during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Vanderbilt Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

Pick Analysis. 2nd season. Clark Lea. player. 887. Scouting Report. Vanderbilt Commodores. 12

2-10

This is probably unfair. Clark Lear took over a disastrous program. The Vanderbilt Commodores went 0-9 Derek Mason’s final year on the job, back in 2020, and Lea inherited a mess. Taking that into account, it’s extremely hard to gauge just how good of a job he did, particularly when it was his first year ever as a head coach.

What we can say is that Lea did score an upset over the Colorado State Rams, and he also beat the UConn Huskies. Those have to count for something. Losing to the East Tennessee State Buccaneers doesn’t look bad when you consider the fact that ETSU won the Southern Conference.

Still, Lea went winless in SEC play, and by losing to the Bucs, he still lost to an FCS school. He may be a great coach in a bad situation, but we have no evidence to go off of yet. As a result, for now, he’s the worst coach on Tennessee football’s 2022 schedule, but that could change dramatically with anything above a terrible year at Vandy.

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