Two of former Tennessee head coach Butch Jones’ assistant coaches have found jobs elsewhere this offseason already. And a third one reportedly moved on to a new job this weekend as well.
According to Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports, former Tennessee defensive backs coach Charlton Warren will be hired on to the same position at Florida for Dan Mullen’s new staff there. Warren was the Vols’ defensive backs coach for one season after Jones hired him away from North Carolina
Warren got his start in coaching at Air Force in 2003 and stayed with them till 2014. He became the secondary coach at North Carolina State prior to the 2014 season and was hired on to be North Carolina’s secondary coach prior to the 2015 season.
Warren made $455,000 in his lone season with the Vols.
Tennessee’s secondary saw improvement under Warren in his one year with the Vols. Granted, Tennessee’s opponents didn’t have to pass the ball against the Vols a ton because Tennessee’s run defense was so bad (the Vols only had 279 passes attempted against them this season, second-fewest in the SEC). But the Vols’ secondary, while still prone to allowing some big plays, looked better this year than in 2016.
The Vols allowed just 161.7 passing yards per game, which was the second-fewest in the conference, while giving up 15 touchdown passes and intercepting five passes as well. That’s up from the 230.7 yards allowed and 18 touchdowns given up in 2016. But last year’s Vols did have more interceptions with 11.
Florida’s pass defense allowed 195.4 yards a game, which placed them eighth in the SEC. They allowed 16 touchdowns but had the second-most interceptions in the conference with 14. The Gators had a very young secondary this season and will benefit from all that playing time next year.
Warren joins former Vols quarterbacks coach Mike Canales and former defensive coordinator Bob Shoop as former Butch Jones assistants to find jobs elsewhere. Shoop is now the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State while Canales is the quarterbacks coach at UTEP.
