Things remain close to the Tennessee football vest under Josh Heupel. Whether this is intentional or not remains in the air, but at least there seemed to be some movement on several fronts on Thursday.
The Vols reportedly added Jerry Mack as a running back coach, according to Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel. Mack has been offensive coordinator for Rice Owls for the past three years under coach Mike Bloomgren. Prior to that, he coached the North Carolina Central Eagles from 2014 to 2017, winning three conference championships.
Mack’s coaching career includes two years with statesmen from Delta State, JSU and Central Arkansas Bears each, one with Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions and Memphis Tigers and two with the South Alabama Jaguars before taking over UNC Central. Thamel announced his addition to Tennessee football on Twitter.
Sources: Rice OC Jerry Mack hopes to be the next RB coach in Tennessee. Mack is a former North Carolina Central coach. He also served as a QB coach and an associate principal coach for Rice.
– Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 11, 2021
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Mack played with the Jackson State Tigers in 1999 and later with the Arkansas State Red Wolves from 2001 to 2003. Upon his arrival, the offending Vols team under Josh Heupel was closed, based on a Monday report by John Brice, Football Scoop. You can read our opinion about the other members of the offensive team by clicking here.
Al Washington refuses offer of defensive coordinator
Ohio State Buckeyes linebackers coach Al Washington was the main name to become UT’s next defensive coordinator. However, it was reported that he declined the offer on Thursday night. Austin Ward of Letterman Row and Bill Rabinowitz of BuckeyeXtra reported that he is apparently hosted at OSU.
In an article on Football Scoop earlier in the day, Brice reported that Washington was inclined to stay at OSU. A critical point was Rocky Top’s current state, and the story goes that Washington sought out other coaches about the potential for success there.
With the non-arrival of Washington, Tennessee football could turn to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense technician and UT Kacy Rodgers graduate. His name came up, according to Brice. A four-year defensive end for the Vols outside Humboldt, Tennessee, under Johnny Majors, Rodgers helped the Vols win two SEC Championships from 1988 to 1991 and ended with 131 career tackles.
Since 2003, Rodgers has been a defensive coach in the NFL and has experience as a defensive coordinator, serving as Todd Bowles’ defensive coordinator for the New York Jets from 2015 to 2018. Given that background, he may be Heupel’s best player.
We have no idea how the position of the defensive coordinator will change, but as we wrote on Wednesday, there is no reason to panic. Tennessee football still has some solid names in defense, and the offensive team was closed. Given Heupel’s focus and why he was hired, that’s all that matters.