Josh Heupel had to deal with comparatively little coaching staff change in his first two seasons at Tennessee. After just one season on
Rocky Top, Auburn graduate Kodi Burns accepted the same role with New Orleans, costing him his position as WR coach.
Then, following the 2022 campaign, veteran offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh, who was seen as a relatively
fashionable name among the next generation of head coach prospects, accepted the position of head coach at USF.
However, in less than a week, Heupel quadrupled the number of coaches who had left for other positions when Jerry Mack, the
previous coach of the Tennessee running backs, chose a similar position with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Jean-Mary rejoined the Big
10 as the coordinator of the defensive run game.
I won’t go into too much detail because we’ve already discussed the Mack news and its implications for recruiting and player
development, but it’s undeniable that Tennessee lost two of its top assistants this week.
His corpus of work speaks for itself when it comes to Jean-Mary. Given that starting linebacker Jeremy Banks was involved in a highly
publicized altercation with local police in 2019 and went on to record a team-high 128 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, one
interception, three pass breakups, and three quarterback hurries just 1-2 seasons later, the work he did during his first year on campus
deserves plenty of credit in and of itself.
If overseeing Banks wasn’t enough, Mary also had to deal with Juwan Mitchell, a Texas transfer, who by
ASU reporter Chris Karpman of 247Sports outlined numerous issues with Mitchell’s demeanor that finally resulted in his termination
from the club.
Mitchell was fired after just one week, so it wasn’t a lengthy process.
A three-star recruit out of high school who had been treated like an afterthought by the previous staff, Aaron Beasley was empowered
by Mary in addition to handling a plethora of personalities that weren’t quite in line. Beasley started 11 of 13 games in Mary’s first
season as the LB coach. He also placed second on the team in total tackles and QB hurries with six. He went on to become the most
reliable linebacker for UT, amassing 76 tackles.
It’s difficult to find someone as young as Mary with such a successful resume on the recruitment trail. I didn’t even try to list his
accomplishments at his previous places, but man, did he shine at Michigan.
He was listed in 2022 as the main or secondary recruiter for four-star defensive end Joshua Josephs, three-star linebacker Kalib Perry,
three-star linebacker Elijah Herring (who is expected to start this season), and three-star defensive back Jack Luttrell, who has since
transferred.
Mary appears to have truly found his footing in 2023, as evidenced by the recruitment of multiple players with potential to be
extraordinary players, including as 4-star LB Arion Carter. 4-star Edge 4-star tight end Caleb Herring 3-star linebacker Ethan Davis
Three-star CB and Jeremiah Tealander Christian Conyer appear to be
I’m not sure Heupel has any plans or who his board will be replacing, but he will have a difficult time finding someone who can recruit
across the country and help the guys grow once they go on a college.
With the timing of the departures, the Vols could use a calm, peaceful couple of coaching searches. Let’s cross our fingers for that.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
