JOHN ADAMS

John Adams: Coaching search could help UT budget more than program

John Adams

john.adams@knoxnews.com

Tennessee's Larry Scott gives instruction while he was tight ends coach during spring practice at the Anderson Training Center on March 24, 2016. He has been promoted to offensive coordinator.

As Tennessee seeks to revamp its football coaching staff, university bean counters should be feeling really good about the process. UT fans might be less than ecstatic, though.

It’s obvious Tennessee won’t be breaking the bank in the hiring process. That’s not necessary if you promote from within your staff or hire from the unemployed line.

Unfortunately, such approaches rarely provoke fans to tweet, “Man, we’ve got a great shot to stay under budget this year. Yahoo!”

For starters, let’s take the offensive coordinator job, which Mike DeBord managed well enough the past two seasons before taking the offensive coordinator’s job at Indiana last week.

First, there was speculation about Mark Helfrich, who was fired as Oregon’s head coach this season. He has an impressive resume as an offensive coordinator and a quarterbacks coach, another position on UT’s shopping list.

The Helfrich rumor has run out of steam. Meanwhile, there’s mounting speculation coach Butch Jones would be comfortable promoting one of his assistants, wide receivers and passing game coordinator Zach Azzanni or Larry Scott, a tight ends coach and special teams coordinator.

Either possibility is about as exciting as a balanced budget.

Azzanni has one year of experience as an offensive coordinator (at Western Kentucky in 2011). And Jones bypassed him when there was a coordinator’s opening after the 2014 season. Instead, he preferred DeBord, who was out of coaching.

Scott has never been a college offensive coordinator. However, he was a high school co-offensive coordinator in Sebring, Fla., 12 years ago.

Exceptional play-callers are rare. And you would think any coach gifted with that knack wouldn’t have spent more than 10 years in college coaching, which both Azzanni and Scott have, without making it as an offensive coordinator.

Former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke, who has experience as both a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, has interviewed with the Vols. He was the Rams quarterback coach the past two seasons under Jeff Fisher, who was fired last month.

Mike Canales, the assistant head coach at Utah State, also has interviewed at UT. He has experience as both an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach while working at seven different colleges from Pacific to South Florida.

Once Jones firms up his offensive staff, he can take on the real challenge: the defense, which – thanks to a strong showing in the Music City Bowl – cracked the top 100 (at 95) in fewest yards allowed per game.

Given how the secondary has performed, you would think Jones would replace secondary coach Willie Martinez. He also would be justified in replacing Bob Shoop, the highest-paid defensive coordinator in UT history, after one season.

Nonetheless, Jones seems committed to Shoop, who excelled as a defensive coordinator at both Vanderbilt and Penn State. Maybe Jones believes that 2016 was an aberration, and that the staff and players will perform better after a year in Shoop's system.

However, there remains the challenge of filling out the staff.

It’s understandable assistant coaches might be leery about joining Jones at this juncture. While the program has improved in his four seasons, the Vols botched great opportunities to win the SEC East the past two seasons. The heat will be on him and his staff, whoever that includes, next season.

But the budget should be just fine.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter. com/johnadamskns.

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