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Tennessee Vols: Kevin Sherrer On Decision To Come To UT

By Zach Ragan

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy presented by Dr Pepper is seen prior to the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: The College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy presented by Dr Pepper is seen prior to the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2017 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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When Kevin Sherrer finishes coaching the Georgia Bulldogs’ linebackers in the College Football Playoff, he’ll join the Tennessee Vols as their new defensive coordinator.

Thanks to his decades long relationship with Jeremy Pruitt, it wasn’t difficult for Kevin Sherrer to make the decision to leave the Georgia Bulldogs to become the Tennessee Vols’ new defensive coordinator.

The relationship between Sherrer and Pruitt goes back to their playing days at Alabama. They’ve also coached together at Hoover High School, Alabama and Georgia.

Tennessee’s new defensive coordinator recently met with the media, ahead of Georgia’s upcoming showdown with Oklahoma. Sherrer told reporters that he and Pruitt have known each other for 25 years, saying “We’ve played together and we’ve coached together……knowing him, knowing the staff he’s putting together, it wasn’t a hard decision to make I can say.”

(You can check out more of Sherrer’s media session here.)

This won’t be Sherrer’s first job as a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level.

South Alabama hired Sherrer in 2013 to be their defensive coordinator (after Sherrer had served as the director of player development for three years at Alabama, a position he took over from Pruitt). During Sherrer’s lone season at South Alabama, the Jaguars finished second in the Sun Belt in total defense.

That 2013 South Alabama team nearly beat Tennessee in Knoxville. The Vols won by a final of 31-24, but Sherrer’s defense was able to hold Tennessee to just seven points in the second half.

Sherrer was hired by Mark Richt to be Georgia’s outside linebackers coach after the 2013 season. When Richt was fired and Kirby Smart was hired, Sherrer was retained (Pruitt and Sherrer coached together at UGA in 2014-15).

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As I have with all of the Vols’ new coaches, I’ve spent some time watching old videos/interviews of Sherrer. From what I’ve been able to glean, Sherrer is a candid guy that doesn’t have an ounce of “football talk” in him. He’s an even keel coach that should complement Pruitt’s fiery side quite well.

Sherrer is also known as a great recruiter, so Vol fans should be extremely happy him joining the UT staff.

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