Report: Josh Heupel hires 2 more staffers

Josh Heupel continues to fill out his new staff at Tennessee. John Brice of FootballScoop reported a pair of new Heupel hires on Friday.

Kelsey Pope will reportedly be making the move from an on-field position in the FCS ranks to an off-field position at UF. Pope, who Brice calls “one of the brightest young coaches climbing through the ranks of college football,” will reportedly join the Volunteers staff in an offensive quality control role. Pope arrives from Gardner-Webb, where he was passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach.

Brice also reports that Heupel is adding Kurt Schmidt as his Director of Competition Development on the Volunteers’ staff. Schmidt held the same position on Heupel’s staff the past three seasons at UCF. The two have also worked together before in the SEC. Schmidt was the Mizzou’s Director of Applied Performance for Football while Heupel was the Tigers’ offensive coordinator.

Schmidt’s focus at UCF was with the strength and conditioning program, but Brice writes that Schmidt’s addition does not impact the status of incumbent UT strength head, A.J. Artis, who will remain in the role of Director of Sports Performance for Football with the program.

Schmidt also has NFL experience with the San Francisco 49ers and was at Arkansas from 2008-12.