Yesterday, Josh Heupel made a bold move for the Tennessee football program that fans have wanted all season. Defensive coordinator Tim Banks was fired, and the search begins for a new defensive play caller.
During coaching searches, there are fan favorites, and guys that the fanbase absolutely do not want to see on their staff. Let's take a look at three defensive coordinator hires that Josh Heupel should avoid at all costs.
1. William Inge
William Inge was named Tennessee's interim defensive coordinator after Banks was fired. Inge has been on the Tennessee staff for two years, serving as the linebackers coach. He has a solid amount of defensive coordinator experience split between Northern Iowa, Buffalo, Indiana, Fresno State, and Washington. It's great to see this, but Inge has never been the defensive coordinator at a school like Tennessee.
Inge was the co-defensive coordinator for Washington in 2023 when they made the national title game, but that team was led by their potent offense. Washington's defense with Inge at the helm ranked 54th in the nation in points allowed per game, and it was ranked 92nd in yards allowed per game.
Inge is a very good linebackers coach, he recruits hard, and his group plays solid. Nevertheless, I'm not so sure he's the guy you want calling your defense.
2. Gene Chizik
Gene Chizik, yes, the former Auburn Tigers' head coach, is a name that Tennessee should avoid at all costs for its defensive coordinator position.
After Chizik was fired from Auburn, he worked as the defensive coordinator at North Carolina for two years and then took a six-year hiatus before returning to North Carolina once again. His defenses were some of the worst in the nation during his two-year stint from 2022 to 2023.
Right now, he's working as an SEC Network analyst, and when coaches have been out of the game for a while, sometimes narratives begin that they have been studying hard and diving deep into the modern game, and they want to make a comeback.
Chizik has yet to be linked to Tennessee in any way so far, but if he is the Vols might be in trouble.
3. Randy Shannon
Randy Shannon is a name that has been linked to the defensive coordinator spot at Tennessee, as he worked under Heupel at UCF. Shannon is a decorated coach who has worked at plenty of major programs in the southeast, but there are some questions about his ability to create an elite defense in the modern era of college football.
In Shannon's last year working at UCF with Heupel, his defense was 123rd in the nation in yards allowed per game. More recently at Florida State his defense have just been solid, but not elite. Another wrinkle to this is Shannon specializes in coaching linebackers, and they already have a solid coach there in Inge.
Shannon is a veteran coach, but the Vols need youth and innovation.