KNOXVILLE — Jeremy Pruitt has moved quickly in putting together his coaching staff at Tennessee.

Pruitt reached out to two coaches that he knows well and that have a history together.

Will Friend and Tyson Helton go back to their UAB coaching days under then head coach Neil Callaway. Callaway, a former player under Bear Bryant at Alabama who also was an offensive coordinator at Georgia under Mark Richt, brought the two coaches to UAB through his connections in his coaching career.

Callaway’s history dates back to the University of Houston when Helton was a quarterback, Callaway an offensive coordinator and Tyson’s father Kim was the Cougar head coach from 1993-96.

Kim Helton played at Florida and began his coaching career as an assistant under Doug Dickey from 1972-78 in Gainesville.

Dickey has a strong background and relationship with new UT athletics director Phillip Fulmer and now Pruitt is bringing Helton’s son to Tennessee to oversee the offense.

In Pruitt’s introductory press conference, it did not take him long to point out his respect for Dickey and Fulmer.

During Pruitt’s time as an assistant at Hoover High School and at Alabama under Nick Saban, he was close by when Callaway was UAB head coach from 2007-11. Kim Helton was UAB’s offensive coordinator, Tyson Helton was quarterbacks coach and Will Friend was offensive line coach from 2007-10 before departing for Georgia.

Helton and Friend have come full circle with Pruitt as they form the Tennessee coaching staff. Friend was named the Vols’ offensive line coach and Helton offensive coordinator.

Darion Smith played center at UAB for Friend and in Helton’s offense. He is familiar in what Tennessee is about to get on offense.

Smith told Saturday Down South that Friend “was a real players’ coach that understands players.”

Smith said respect goes both ways with Friend in that “we truly loved him” and that when he left UAB for Georgia, it “was a no brainer, but it was still hard for him because we were a family.

Will Friend has been Colorado State's offensive coordinator the past three seasons and previously coached in the SEC at Georgia, first as a graduate assistant then as the O-line coach and run game coordinator.

“He almost cried telling us he was leaving and he still pulled me to the side to talk one-on-one and almost cried again. That’s family. He’s fiery and a great teacher of technique and attitude. Full package. Tennessee is getting a great glue guy. We still talk about Friend with each other till this day.”

Another person that worked closely with Friend at UAB is Nick Salyers, who was on the equipment staff from 2008-13, the same capacity that I worked at UAB from 2011-12. Salyers also worked with the offensive line during practices as I worked with the wide receivers and quarterbacks.

Salyers points out that Friend “knows football and the trenches like nobody I’ve worked under” and that “he has a way of commanding the respect he is owed without having to fight for it.”

Salyers says that it is hard to “always find a balance of support and direction with football coaches.”

The familiarity Friend and Helton have with each other is a plus for the Tennessee offense.

Salyers agreed, saying he does not “see any reason why they cannot be successful” together at Tennessee.

“Helton is a solid passing game guy and Friend can teach a line to pass block, for sure. Assuming recruiting takes shape, and it’s Tennessee so it should, they have the tools to succeed.”

Another area where Helton should succeed at Tennessee is in developing quarterbacks. He did that at UAB as Joe Webb, Bryan Ellis and Jonathan Perry all became better signal-callers under Helton’s direction.

“People might default to thinking of Joe (Webb) and how run-happy he is, but Joe developed as a passer a lot in the two years I saw him,” Salyers said.

“Ellis and Perry both showed serious growth. Ellis had probably the biggest leap in growth that I have ever seen a quarterback have.”

Callaway was fired after the 2011 season, but Helton stayed on Garrick McGee’s UAB staff as running backs coach with Jeff Brohm as offensive coordinator. Salyers and I stayed in the same capacity.

Brohm and Helton left UAB and were together at Western Kentucky as Helton was Brohm’s OC from 2014-15. Ellis also joined Western Kentucky’s staff, moving up to wide receivers coach and becoming offensive coordinator in last season’s bowl game after Brohm departed for Purdue. Ellis then followed Helton to USC to be an offensive administrative assistant and had Callaway as the Trojans’ offensive line coach.

Questions do pop up about what kind of offense Helton might bring to Tennessee because he has never had a coaching situation outside of being under his father, Brohm, or his brother Clay at USC.

Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Having seen Helton first-hand in practices, it’s likely his schemes and terminology will most likely not change at Tennessee.

The Tennessee offense under Helton will display a mixture of what his father implemented at UAB: A spread offense that likes to be balanced in running and passing and will not abandon the run under center in short-yardage situations. The same is true now at USC with Clay Helton.

Helton also excels at teaching a “NASCAR package: — a series of 5-10 plays that they are comfortable with, operating from play-calling on wristbands with a quick cadence.

When the play is executed and the whistles blow, an uptempo-style continues unless the staff on the sideline instruct otherwise. The quarterback has full freedom to call plays on the wristband based on what he feels comfortable running in NASCAR mode. That shows how good Helton is at developing players and being ready.

Smith said the NASCAR package “really allowed the offense to get into a good rhythm and the offensive line was better because of the snap count and protection was already determined.”

Helton will also implement what he has learned under Brohm, a style Brohm’s former wide receivers coach at UAB, Ron Sigler, describes as “playing big-boy ball and run it down your throat and (a scheme where coaches are) not afraid to go to the mismatches and go five-wide and sling it down the field.”