The news that Tennessee receivers coach and passing game coordinator Zach Azzanni was leaving the school for the Chicago Bears Wednesday morning was a surprise to many — including the coach himself.

Head coach Butch Jones was quick to offer his praise and congratulations to Azzanni for his promotion to the NFL level. Now Jones is faced with the unenviable task of replacing a position coach so well thought of that an NFL franchise was eager to add him to the staff.

Before leaving Knoxville for good, Azzanni spoke to Rhiannon Potkey of the Knoxville News Sentinel. Among the topics discussed by the former Tennessee assistant was his surprise to be offered a job at the NFL level.

“Hell yeah I was shocked. Absolutely,” Azzanni said, according to Potkey. “I was all full speed, throttle down for next season here (at Tennessee). That thing came and kind of staggered me a little bit.”

Azzanni claims he had no desire to leave Jones’ staff but his name kept came coming up while the Bears interviewed potential replacements, mostly from the college level, for their former receivers coach Curtis Johnson. The challenge to coach at the game’s highest level proved to be too much to overcome for Azzanni.

“I didn’t go to interview intending on taking the job. I certainly wasn’t looking to leave the University of Tennessee,” Azzanni said. “It had to be right and I had to do my homework and they had to offer me the job too. They did and then I did a bunch of homework and realized it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. It’s the NFL. The best of the best. There are only 32 of those jobs in the world.”

The former Tennessee coach also weighed the options of no longer having to recruit, thus allowing him more time to spend with his family – Azzanni has four daughters with his wife, Julia.

After junior receiver Josh Malone opted for early entrance to the 2017 NFL Draft, the Vols face some challenges ahead in replacing the team’s most productive receiver from the 2016 season. Thankfully for Tennessee, and the next receivers coach, the team currently has a receiver group loaded with promising young talent.

According to Azzanni, leaving the high-character receiver group he helped assemble in Knoxville may have been the hardest part of his decision.

“They were great. They were happy for me and they were excited,” Azzanni said. “I feel like I finally got that room for the most part the way I want it and those kids I recruited and hand-picked are some great young kids. That room has some high-character kids, and I feel like the best is yet to come. It was hard for me to tell them I was leaving, but this is Tennessee and I know they will get a great coach in here.”

Who that coach will be remains to be seen, but either way, he stands to benefit greatly from the work Azzanni put in on Rocky Top.