While the main staff of nine assistant coaches is set for now for the Vols with the addition of defensive coordinator Bob Shoop and tight ends coach Larry Scott, Butch Jones is still finalizing his support staff – the positions such as graduate assistants, quality control coaches and the like.
According to FootballScoop.com, Tennessee will be adding an impressive member to the staff as an offensive quality control coach in former Eastern Kentucky offensive line coach Walt Wells. Wells has twice been an offensive coordinator at the FBS level – once at South Florida in 2013 and also at Western Kentucky in 2009 – during his career.
During the introductory press conference for Shoop earlier this week, Butch Jones also indicated that graduate assistant Nick Sheridan, who will be finishing up his second year with the program, will remain on the staff. Sheridan, who has been a passing-game coordinator for both South Florida and Western Kentucky during his career, could end up in another one of the quality-control jobs, alongside Wells.
Jones downplayed the idea that the Vols need a true quarterbacks coach on the full-time staff. Offensive coordinator Mike DeBord has that title, though he hasn’t worked extensively with the quarterbacks in the portions of practice open to the media in the past year and hadn’t been a quarterbacks coach since 1986 prior to 2015.
“Nick Sheridan will still be on our staff,” Jones said. “He has done a great job. Coach DeBord has coached the quarterbacks. That is not a big change for us. He has coached them this year, and he is the coordinator. That is not a big deal.”
Former UT tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Mark Elder has taken several support staff members from UT to Eastern Kentucky, where Elder was named the head coach in December. Greg Meyer, Kevin Koger, Chase Gibson and Tommy Zagorski are among the former UT staffers moving on to EKU.
