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The last member of Butch Jones’ Tennessee staff to survive in Knoxville is headed to the ACC as Robert Gillespie is expected to land at North Carolina.
While initially announced as the lone holdover from Jones’ staff, Jeremy Pruitt decided to move on from Gillespie soon after National Signing Day. Pruitt hired Chris Weinke to replace Gillespie on his first Tennessee staff.
News of Gillespie’s move to the Tarheels was first reported by Jon Reed of FOX Sports Knoxville. Reed broke the news last week:
I've been told Robert Gillespie is headed to UNC.
Tennessee will save a nice chunk of change, six figures , since he got another job
— Jon Reed (@Jon__Reed) March 7, 2018
Sports Illustrated’s Bruce Feldman is also reporting the news of the move:
SOURCE: Former #Tennessee RB coach Robert Gillespie is joining the #UNC staff. This move was 1st reported by FOX Sports Knoxville's @Jon__Reed
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) March 13, 2018
Gillespie is a nice pickup for North Carolina but should also help balance Tennessee’s checkbook a bit. The Volunteers will only have to pay Gillespie any amount that the Tarheels don’t match of his scheduled 2018 salary he was supposed to make with Tennessee.
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