What has been rumor for weeks is now coming true. Rodney Garner, according to a report by Pete Thamel, is going to Knoxville to be Tennessee’s next defensive line coach.
Sources: Tennessee is hiring Rodney Garner as the defensive line coach. He was the last at Auburn and brings extensive experience at the SEC, including stints in Georgia and Tennessee.
– Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 12, 2021
Garner has brought extensive SEC experience to the table, serving on a SEC secondary line in some capacity for 30 years. Garner was a former offensive SEC striker in Auburn, where he also started his coaching career. The 54-year-old defense assistant has spent time in Georgia, Tennessee and Auburn for the past three decades. His time at Auburn ended after Gus Malzahn was fired.
Sure, hiring a defensive line coach before a defensive coordinator is interesting, but Garner fits what Tennessee needs. Josh Heupel’s team needed some SEC experience, and you can’t ask for much more than Garner offers. In fact, he helped recruit several team members from Tennessee’s 1998 national championship during a brief stay in Knoxville.
Garner is credited with helping to get nine five-star recruits during his career, including Derrick Brown, Montravius Adams and Carl Lawson.
With Garner in place, all eyes now turn to hiring the defensive coordinator. Former volunteer Kacy Rodgers is the latest name to come up in the rumor – we’ll see if anything will be done there.