How will SEC experience help Tennessee’s coaching staff moving forward? Kevin Sherrer explains
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Without making any bold predictions (oftentimes coaches note they will hire “the best staff in the nation”) about the assistants he planned to hire when he was announced as Tennessee head coach back in December, Jeremy Pruitt simply reached out to fellow coaches he knew and respected from his time coaching at the high school and college ranks.
With his staff quickly coming together, Pruitt hired seven assistants the day he arrived in Knoxville, many familiar faces with tons of SEC experience headed for Rocky Top immediately and in the weeks that followed. But why is that so important? Why does having SEC experience actually help prepare a program for success?
Tennessee co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer was asked about that during his Thursday media availability.
“There’s no doubt, when you are familiar with the league, it obviously helps you understand and anticipate when you go into these stadiums — a lot of times these coaches and what their philosophies are,” Sherrer said. “There’s no doubt that it does (help). When you look at this league, it’s the premier league in college football. It’s hard to come in here because the guys, the coaches you are coaching against and the players don’t care who you are and where you’ve coached and where you are from they are trying to do the same thing we are trying to do and win the game.”
While results on the field are ultimately what matter most, success in recruiting is of paramount to a program’s success. So how does the staffs’ SEC experience help the program in recruiting high school athletes?
“Yeah, you know, it’s just like anything, when you get to know people, they know who you are and what you are about,” Sherrer replied. “A lot of us on the staff started coaching high school football so you go into these schools and you’ve kinda been there and done that so you bring a different perspective. I think a lot of the places that we’ve recruited know who we are, so that helps.”
Tennessee’s co-DC also noted that while SEC experience is vital to success, having worked for Pruitt in the past, which many of the coaches on UT’s staff have done, will also help moving forward.
“It helps. You get to anticipate maybe what he wants. He doesn’t have to go into a long elaborate discussion about what it is if you kind of been there and done that before,” Sherrer added. “It helps, sometimes when you have a history with a coach, you can help other coaches on the staff understand what it is he’s looking for.”
Those sentiments were also echoed by co-defensive coordinator Chris Rumph during his media availability. Once the SEC veteran found out some of the names Pruitt was adding to his Tennessee staff, Rumph quickly spurned an opportunity to stay at Florida and coach for Dan Mullen to join Pruitt’s first staff in Knoxville.
Tennessee co-defensive coordinator Chris Rumph could have stayed at Florida for his fourth season under new head coach Dan Mullen. Instead, he joined Jeremy Pruitt's staff on Rocky Top. #Vols pic.twitter.com/uYBvUhLYVx
— Marshall Hughes (@marshallhughes) August 2, 2018
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
