When Tennessee Athletic Director Phillip Fulmer first introduced Jeremy Pruitt as the new face of the Volunteer football program, one of the final comments he had involved his commitment, along with the university’s, to giving their first-year coach as many resources as possible to help him become successful.

Critical to Pruitt’s early success, and potentially his sustainability in Knoxville, will be the staff around him. According to Cole Cubelic of the SEC Network, Tennessee has helped Pruitt assemble the best staff in the league among the six new coaching staffs this offseason.

It took longer than expected, but Tennessee officially announced Pruitt’s first UT staff last week:

Offensive Staff:

  • Tyson Helton, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
  • Will Friend, offensive line coach
  • Robert Gillespie, running backs coach
  • David Johnson, wide receivers coach
  • Brian Niedermeyer, tight ends coach

Defensive Staff:

  • Kevin Sherrer, defensive coordinator/inside linebackers
  • Chris Rumph, co-defensive coordinator/outside linebackers
  • Charles Kelly, special teams coordinator/safeties coach
  • Terry Fair, cornerbacks coach
  • Tracy Rocker, defensive line coach

Additional Football Staff:

  • Craig Fitzgerald, director of strength and conditioning
  • Drew Hughes, director of player personnel
  • Todd Watson, director of football operations

On Tuesday, during his radio program The Cube Show, Cubelic expressed his belief that no first-year SEC coach has managed to build a better staff this offseason: