Now that the Vols have rounded out their new coaching staff with the hiring of Chuck Smith, we thought we'd take a look at these guys collectively. Some of the assistant hires got a little lost in the shuffle of recruiting, but on the whole, this is a staff with a solid balance of NFL and SEC experience.
Much was made of the Kiffin Chimera, and while this staff will certainly be less talked about, our hope is that they can be just as efficient in both recruiting and coaching, and ultimately even more so...and that they'll all stick around long enough to realize the fruit of their labor.
While official announcements on specific position assignments haven't been made in all cases, Brent Hubbs at VolQuest gave what he felt to be the assignments on Friday night ($), and we'll be working with that information. For more details on each coach, check out the official individual releases from UTSports.com, from which the majority of this information comes.
The highlights of our ten coaches:
(RC is Recruiting Coordinator, ST is Special Teams, and previous experience does not include graduate assistant work)
Derek Dooley - Head Coach
- 2009: Head Coach, Louisiana Tech
- at Louisiana Tech (07-09): 17-20 overall, 8-5 in 2008 and won 2008 Independence Bowl (first LaTech bowl appearance since '01, first bowl win since '77)
- Previous coaching experience: SMU (WR 97-99), LSU (TE/RC 00-02, RB/ST 03-04), Miami Dolphins (TE 05-06), Louisiana Tech (HC 07-09)
- Coached on Nick Saban's staff at LSU that won 2 SEC Championships and the 2003 National Championship
- Son of Georgia legend Vince Dooley
Jim Chaney - Offensive Coordinator & Running Backs
- 2009: Offensive Coordinator, Tennessee
- Previous coaching experience: Wyoming (OL/RC 95-96), Purdue (OC 97-05), St. Louis Rams (OL 06-08), Tennessee (OC 09)
- Offensive coordinator for Drew Brees and Kyle Orton at Purdue - Boilermakers were in the Top 10 in total offense six times in Chaney's nine years there
- Led Tennessee from 268.8 ypg in '08 to 383.6 ypg in '09, and helped turn Jonathan Crompton's career around
Darin Hinshaw - Quarterbacks
- 2009: Wide Receivers coach, Memphis
- Previous coaching experience: Central Florida (QB 00), MTSU (RB 01-02, OC 03-05), Georgia Southern (OC 06), Memphis (WR 07-09)
- At MTSU, Hinshaw's offense led the Sun Belt Conference in total offense in 03-04 and scoring offense in '03
- At Memphis, coached Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton, who are now the Tigers' top two all-time leading receivers
- Played quarterback at Central Florida, graduating in 1993
Charlie Baggett - Wide Receivers
- 2009: Wide Receivers coach, St. Louis Rams
- Previous coaching experience: Bowling Green (RB/WR 77-80), Minnesota (WR 81-82), Michigan State (multiple stints at RB & WR from 83-92), Houston Oilers (WR 93-94), Michigan State (WR 95-98), Green Bay Packers (WR 99), Minnesota Vikings (WR 00-04), Miami Dolphins (WR 05-06), Washington (WR 07-08), St. Louis Rams (WR 09)
- Coached with Dooley on Nick Saban's staff with Miami Dolphins
- WRs that have played under Baggett: NFL: Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Antonio Freeman - Michigan State: Plaxico Burress, Andre Rison, Muhsin Muhammad, Derrick Mason
- Will also serve as associate head coach at UT, a position he held with the Dolphins
Harry Hiestand - Offensive Line
- 2009: Offensive Line coach, Chicago Bears
- Previous coaching experience: Toledo (TE 88), Cincinnati (OL 89-93), Missouri (OL 94-96), Illinois (OL 97-04), Chicago Bears (OL 05-09)
- at Illinois: 12 All Big 10 selections on the offensive line, and every starting lineman at Illinois from 97-03 signed an NFL contract
Justin Wilcox - Defensive Coordinator
- 2009: Defensive Coordinator, Boise State
- Previous coaching experience: Cal (LB 03-05), Boise State (DC 06-09)
- Boise State ranked in the Top 25 in both total defense and scoring defense every season under Wilcox, including 14th in total defense in 2009, and 3rd in scoring defense in 2008
- Boise State also finished in the Top 10 in turnovers forced three of the last four years, including 3rd this season with 37
- Notably shut down Oregon (152 yards, 8 points) and TCU (308 yards, 10 points) in 2009
Chuck Smith - Defensive Line
- 2009: asst. Defensive Line coach & pass rush specialist, NY Jets
- Worked as a defensive line specialist and trainer for the past decade as founder of Defensive Line, Inc.
- Jets led the NFL in total defense in 2009
- Started at DE at Tennessee in '90-'91, played on the SEC Championship team in '90 and was named All-SEC in '91 with 9 sacks
- All-time sacks leader for the Atlanta Falcons
Lance Thompson - Linebackers
- 2009: Linebackers coach, Tennessee
- Previous coaching experience: Georgia Tech (TE 95, DL 96-98), Alabama (DL 99-00), Georgia Tech (DL 01), LSU (DL 02, TE 03), Central Florida (DC 04-06), Alabama (LB 07-08), Tennessee (LB 09)
- Served on two SEC Championship winning staffs (Alabama '99, LSU '03) and the 2003 National Championship staff under Nick Saban at LSU, alonside Derek Dooley
- Rivals National Recruiter of the Year in 2008
Terry Joseph - Defensive Backs
- 2009: Defensive Backs & Recruiting Coordinator, Louisiana Tech
- Previous coaching experience: Louisiana Tech (DB 08-09)
- Rivals Top 5 Non-BCS Recruiter in 2008
Eric Russell - Tight Ends & Special Teams
- 2009: Special Teams coordinator, Texas Tech
- Previous coaching experience: North Texas (multiple 94-06), Louisiana Tech (ST 07-08), Texas Tech (ST 09)
- Coached under Derek Dooley in 07-08, where LaTech led the WAC in net punting and blocked five kicks in two years
- Texas Tech was 8th in punt returns and 26th in kickoff returns in 2009