Herb Hand
Current role: OL coach/run-game coordinator at Penn State
The connection: Hand and Jones worked together on Rich Rodriguez’s offensive staff at West Virginia from 2005-06. Jones called him one of the best offensive line coaches in the nation when the Vols were preparing to face his Vanderbilt team in 2013.
Pros: Jones and Hand know each other well, and Hand has experience as a run-game coordinator and offensive coordinator in his career. He’s coached in the SEC recently and helped Vanderbilt put up unprecedented numbers during his tenure in Nashville. He could also help oversee the offensive line, a group the Vols really need to take the next step in 2015 to have more success. He’s one of those rare coaches that has a background on both sides of the ball as well with some of his earlier coaching coming on defense. That helps him see the whole picture better.
Cons/Questions: Though he’s a big part of James Franklin’s offensive staff, he hasn’t called plays since 2009, and that was at Tulsa. It’s also unclear how the coaching staff would be aligned if Hand came on board since he likely couldn’t coach quarterbacks like Bajakian did.
