Who in the world saw this coming? For the 2025 season, the Tennessee football team is hoping to get back to the College Football Playoff and they're also hoping to try and take the offense to the next level. What will be in store for quarterback Nico Iamaleava? We can't wait to find out.
Neither can head coach Josh Heupel, who is ready to see what Iamaleava can do in his second season as the starter. Well, Heupel is bringing in some help in the form of the most prolific passer in Big 12 history.
According to VolQuest, Heupel is hiring former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Landry Jones as an offensive analyst. Jones is no stranger to success at the college level, as he's OU's all-time passing leader with the 16,646 yards to his name (also No. 1 in Big 12 history). Baker Mayfield is No. 2 on the list with 12,292.
Tennessee hiring former Oklahoma QB Landry Jones as offensive analyst
— Volquest Staff (@Volquest_On3) January 2, 2025
🔗https://t.co/rsI4bjGcav pic.twitter.com/ABKSXueFmG
Tennessee is reportedly hiring Landry Jones as an offensive analyst
As reporter Brett Hubbs noted in his piece, Jones fills the void left by McKenzie Milton, who left Knoxville to join the UCF staff - it's a reunion for Milton with Scott Frost over in Florida. This is also a reunion for Heupel and Jones, as they were quite close while working together in Norman.
This is the first coaching gig for Jones. Following his playing days at Oklahoma, he went on to play in the NFL for seven seasons, suiting up for the Steelers, Jaguars and Raiders. He then had a short stint in the XFL with the Dallas Renegades.
Iamaleava is coming off a strong 2024, powering the Vols to a 10-win season. However, as good as he is, there are still some things for him to clean up moving forward. That's where someone like Jones can come in and help the youngster out. For now, no one knows how things will go for Jones in Knoxville, but this feels like a low-risk move that could pay off big time for Heupel.