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Returning to the SEC? NFL assistant coach on Tennessee’s radar not being retained
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Jeremy Pruitt has a few openings on his Tennessee coaching staff to fill this offseason, as the Volunteers currently don’t have an offensive line or defensive line coach.
Tennessee is searching for a new offensive line coach following Will Friend’s departure from the program. If you missed it, Friend was hired by Shane Beamer to be the new offensive line coach at South Carolina.
Now comes news that former Texas A&M offensive line coach Jim Turner won’t be retained by the Cincinnati Bengals. This news was first reported by Elise Jesse of Sports Illustrated.
Why is this Turner news relevant for Tennessee?
According to John Brice of FootballScoop, Pruitt has interviewed Turner regarding the open offensive line position in Knoxville.
It should also be noted that Turner previously worked with Tennessee running backs coach Jay Graham at Texas A&M.
Turner is also no stranger to the SEC, having worked at A&M under three different head coaches.
First, he coached the Aggie offensive line for Mike Sherman from 2008-2011, then again for Kevin Sumlin from 2016-17, and was retained by Jimbo Fisher in 2018.
During his time in College Station, Turner helped develop a number of prospects into NFL linemen and helped identity, recruit and develop several members of Texas A&M’s current offensive line, which has been named a finalist for the Joe Moore Award — given annually to the nation’s best offensive line.
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
