Tennessee Vols Football Assistant Coaches And Coordinators 2023

Tennessee Vols football coaching staff consists of Glen Elarbee, Rodney Garner, and Brian Jean-Mary. Their contract doesn’t end before 2025.

The members are mostly the continuation of the previous staff this season as well and their contracts extended for at least 2 to 3 years from now. 

Below is the full list of coaching staff and their positions:

Glen Elarbee

Elarbee came to join the coaching team in 2021 and is currently in his third year serving in the Offensive Line guiding role. He brought the experience of 19 years in the squad.

His 2022 offensive line led the team to win 11 games last season. The hard work paved the way for the team’s offense to lead the nation in scoring with 46.1 ppg and total yardage with 525.5 ypg.

He has made one National Championship appearance as a Graduate Assistant at LSU in 2007 and three Conference Championships in 2007 (LSU), 2015 (Arkansas State), and 2018 (UCF).

Glen has made 11 Bowl game appearances including those in the Music City Bowl, Orange Bowl, Boca Raton Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Texas Bowl, and Holiday Bowl to note some. 

Rodney Garner

Garner is among the nation’s most esteemed defensive line coaches and is popularly known for developing the NFL’s defensive linemen.

The Southeastern Conference veteran returned to look after Tennessee Vol’s defense in 2021. It is his second stint with the program. The Leeds, Alabama native had previously served two successful years as the Tight Ends and Offensive Tackles coach in 1996 and 1997.

The veteran began his career in mentoring the players in 1990 where he joined Auburn University for the Tight Ends/Recruiting duties. Over the years, he has worked with just three universities; Auburn, Tennessee, and Georgia but his experience counts 33 in the field of guidance.

He has also worked as Associate Head Coach twice. The first was with Georgia from 2005 to 2012 and another with Auburn from 2013 to 2020.

Josh Heupel is the current head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers Football team. He was appointed in the lead role on 27 January 2021.

He is a former National Championship quarterback while he was playing for the Oklahoma Sooners back in 2000. The Aberdeen, South Dakota native played as a quarterback from 1997 to 2000.

Josh Started to show the Heupel effect as soon as he landed on the team. He took over the team that had 3-7 season record and made them go 11-2 at the end of the 2022 season. 

In just two years, he completely revived the squad despite the departure of several players prior to his arrival. The head coach has built a strong culture in the team and contributed immensely to making it one of the strongest teams in both offense and defense.

Heupel began his career as a Graduate Assistant for Oklahoma in 2003 and worked until 2004. Over the years, he was associated with Arizona, Utah State, Missouri, and UCF in a variety of mentoring roles including Tight Ends, Quarterbacks, Assistant head coach, Co-offensive Coordinator, and more.

Prior to joining the Volunteers in 2021, he was the head coach at UCF from 2018 to 2020.

Salary

Josh Heupel’s salary is $9 million per year as per his new contract. He received the longest extension this year which expires only in January 2029.

As per his previous contract with the team, the terms were agreed that would pay him $5 million which is nearly half of what he is getting now. 

The extensive amount is the result of how the coach has changed the Volunteers’ play and victories in just two years. In 2022, the Vols went 11-2 beating Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

Along with Heupel, other members of his staff also received long extensions and significant raises in their payroll marked by the immense success of their team. 

Tennessee Football head coaches in the past were J.A. Pierce, George Kelly, H.F. Fisher, S.D. Crawford, Derk Dooly, Butch Jones, and Jim Chaney.

The football program has seen around 27 coaches in history since the establishment of the football program. Among them, John Barnhill who served in the position from 1941 to 1942 (first stint) and 1944-1945 (second stint) had the most winning percentage which was .816.

Jim Chaney who was in the lead role in 2012 had a winning percentage of 1.000 but that was because his record was 1-0 that season.

Below is the list of head coaches over the years who contributed to the Volunteers. 

Similarly, Gen. Robert Reese Neyland holds the second most win PCT record and his number reads .787 and served the team from 1926-34, 1936-40, and 1946-52.

Phillip Fulmer who was on duty from 1992 to 2008 has the third most HC winning percentage record in the program’s history with a .738 number.

Tennessee vols football offensive coordinator is Joey Halzle. He began his career with the team under Heupel since his appointment in 2021.

The California native was not provided with the current role in the beginning. He worked his first two seasons as the quarterbacks coach. 

The 37-year-old is currently serving his first season in the OC role. His elevation to the position came in January 2023. The Oklahoma State graduate commenced his career associating with his alma mater in Oklahoma as an Offensive Quality Control Assistant. 

He has worked staying close to the HC Heupel for around 15 years and one can say there is a great chemistry between these two. The duo has played an instrumental role in bringing out elite quarterbacks in the last two seasons. 

Halzle was an integral part of the program’s 2022 campaign’s massive success where the team shattered the offensive record of 13 teams. 

The Volunteers’ offense led the nation in scoring offense, total offense, and team passing efficiency. They ranked second in the fewest interceptions thrown, fifth in completion percentage, and third in red zone offense. 

The OC has seen five conference championships including three of them as a player. As a coach one was in the 2010 Big 12 as an Offensive Quality Control for Oklahoma and another in the 2012 Big 12 as an OGA.

Halzle Career Timeline

• 2023-present: UT Volunteers, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
• 2021-2022: UT, Quarterbacks
• 2020: UCF, Quarterbacks
• 2019: UCF, Offensive Analyst
• 2016: Missouri, Offensive Analyst/Assistant Quarterbacks Coach
• 2015: Utah State University, Assitant Quarterbacks/Offensive Analyst
• 2012-2014: Oklahoma Sooners, Offensive Graduate Assistant
• 2009-2011: Oklahoma Sooners, Offensive Quality Control Assistant

Tennessee Vols football defensive coordinator is Tim Banks. He is currently in his third season in the position and was appointed in 2021.

The Detroit, Michigan native holds 16 years of experience in building impressive defense over the years. He is the prime reason behind the Volunteer’s attacking identity at present. 

In just two years, he completely changed the defensive play of the team. The players are equipped with the most impressive and tactful yet aggressive skills that are demanded to create an impactful defense.

Last season, his defense was ranked second in the SEC in turnovers forced which is 20, and rushing defense of 11.5 yards per game. 

The team’s red zone defense rank in FBS was 13 and in SEC was 3. Although Banks commenced his career in 1996, the DC role came to him only in 2007. 

He was with Central Michigan from 2007 to 2009, Cincinnati from 2010 to 2011, Ilinois from 2012 to 2015, and Penn State from 2016 to 2020. 

As a both player and a coach, Banks has seen five conference championships and a total of 14 Bowl games.

The coordinator receives an annual salary of $1.5 million annually and has two years left in his contract which is subject to end in January 2025. 

His salary during his first season was $1.4 million which saw a $ 0.1 million raise after the impressive success of the team in the 2022 season.