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UPDATE:
According to multiple reports, Kelly will leave for a job on the Alabama staff. Following that, Tennessee officially announced the addition of Tee Martin.
As you probably know by now, Tee Martin has returned home to Knoxville and joined Jeremy Pruitt’s staff at Tennessee. That’s created an interesting situation for Pruitt, who now has 11 on the field coaches for just ten spots. That means one has to go.
Safeties coach and special teams coordinator Charles Kelly has been the focus of this potential reshuffling this week. He was reportedly offered by Maryland this week to be Mike Locksley’s defensive coordinator, but turned that down. Now, according to John Brice, Nick Saban and Alabama are coming after Kelly.
Am told @AlabamaFTBL is close to adding @Vol_Football Special Teams Coord/Safeties coach Charles Kelly. “Bama has strong interest” and “offer is there” per multi sources. W/ #Vols slightly overstaffed after adding Tee Martin, David Johnson has been off the recruiting trail today
— John Brice (@JohnDBrice1) January 19, 2019
Saban has seen massive turnover on his staff once again in what has become a tradition this time of year in Tuscaloosa. He’ll have to replace both coordinators and a few position coaches — nothing new for him.
Charles Kelly could be a fit as a defensive position coach for Saban, which would solve Pruitt’s numbers issue. If Kelly moves to Alabama, Tennessee could roll with six offensive coaches (Chaney, Martin, Weinke, Johnson, Friend, Niedermeyer) and four defensive coaches (Sherrer, Rumph, Fair, Rocker). Of course, there still could be some shuffling.
Martin still has not been assigned an official title and likely won’t until the Tennessee staff gets back down to ten on-field coaches.
We’ll update this post as details on Kelly emerge.