Vol fans are well aware of who Brian Niedermeyer is on Jeremy Pruitt’s coaching staff at Tennessee. But those around Knoxville aren’t the only ones who have their eye on UT’s young assistant coach.
Niedermeyer joined Pruitt’s staff as tight ends coach once Pruitt was hired as Tennessee’s head coach prior to the 2018 season, and Niedermeyer’s only on-field coaching experience before coming to UT was as a receivers coach at East Texas Baptist University in 2014.
That didn’t stop Niedermeyer from making an instant impact with the Vols, though.
The Alaska native earned the 247Sports National Recruiter of the Year award for the 2019 cycle after he helped Tennessee land five-star Darnell Wright, four-star Henry To’o To’o, and four-star Quavaris Crouch among others.
On the field, Niedermeyer was moved to inside linebackers coach this offseason, and his recruiting prowess has continued to shine. He’s the primary recruiter for five-star Vol commit Terrence Lewis and is a secondary recruiter for four-star Vol commits Aaron Willis and Julian Nixon.
Because of that stout recruiting track record and the ability he’s shown as an on-field coach, Niedermeyer has caught the attention of coaches all around the football world.
Matt Zenitz of AL.com helped put together an article that looked at some of the “rising star assistant coaches” across the SEC according to other coaches. AL.com got feedback from more than 20 coaches and high-ranking officials around college football and the NFL, including five head coaches and granted them anonymity. Those coaches were asked about which SEC assistants they view as rising stars who aren’t coordinators or co-coordinators on offense or defense and are under the age of 40.
In those conversations, Niedermeyer’s name was brought up fairly often.
“Niedermeyer has been with Jeremy Pruitt dating back to Pruitt’s time as the defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2015,” Zenitz wrote. “The Alaska native followed Pruitt to Alabama in 2016 and is now a valuable part of Pruitt’s staff in Knoxville. Niedermeyer was the 247Sports national recruiter of the year for 2019 and is the lead recruiter on Tennessee’s top-ranked commit for its highly-ranked 2021 class — five-star linebacker Terrence Lewis. Niedermeyer had been coaching tight ends for the Vols but is now entering his first season as the team’s inside linebackers coach. The 31-year old had previously worked with linebackers as a graduate assistant at both Georgia and Alabama and also as a volunteer assistant for former NFL linebacker Michael Barrow at Miami in 2013.”
The young Tennessee assistant played tight end for two years at Arkansas Pine Bluff and eventually began his coaching career at his alma mater in 2012, serving as a defensive student coach at UAPB. From there, Niedermeyer became a volunteer assistant at Miami, wide receivers coach at East Texas Baptist University, a graduate assistant at Georgia, a graduate assistant at Alabama, then the Director of Recruiting Operations at Alabama before following Pruitt to Tennessee.
Niedermeyer was one of 13 SEC assistants mentioned by the coaches interviewed by AL.com as “rising stars.” He joined the likes of South Carolina WRs coach Joe Cox, Ole Miss TEs coach Joe Jon Finley, Ole Miss special teams coordinator Blake Gideon, Georgia WRs coach Cortez Hankton, Alabama RBs coach Charles Huff, Florida QB coach Brian Johnson, Alabama DL coach Freddie Roach, Florida LB coach Christian Robinson, Texas A&M DL coach Elijah Robinson, Texas A&M LBs coach Tyler Santucci, Alabama CBs coach Karl Scott, and Kentucky ILBs coach Jon Sumrall.
Last summer, Niedermeyer earned a raise and contract extension heading into the 2019 season. The new deal upped Niedermeyer’s pay to $355,000 annually, a $150,000 raise from his beginning salary. His new contract runs through January 31, 2021.
