Tennessee Vols: Names To Watch For WR Coach

It appears that Bryan McClendon will not be part of the Tennessee Vols’ coaching staff in 2018.

When Jeremy Pruitt was hired as the Tennessee Vols’ head coach, I immediately started putting together short lists for his potential staff.

One name that I had on those lists from the beginning was South Carolina co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon. Pruitt worked with McClendon at Georgia and it seemed likely the two would reunite at Tennessee.

But that would only be possible if Will Muschamp didn’t tab McClendon as the Gamecocks’ next offensive coordinator (McClendon served as SC’s interim offensive coordinator in the Outback Bowl).

Unfortunately for Tennessee, it looks like McClendon is going to end up getting the promotion to offensive coordinator at South Carolina.

With McClendon likely out of the picture, it means we have to check out some other possible names for the Vols’ next wide receivers coach.

Lawrence Dawsey

Dawsey has been Florida State’s wide receivers coach since 2007. He was also recently the co-offenisve coordinator, along with Randy Sanders, at FSU.

New head coach Willie Taggart opted to not retain Dawsey when he took over for Jimbo Fisher.

Pruitt and Dawsey coached together at FSU in 2013.

Dawsey was absolutely loved by his players at FSU, but he hasn’t put a lot of WR talent in the NFL (though that’s something that also falls on Jimbo Fisher).

Considering Dawsey is currently out of a job, this would be a pretty easy get for Tennessee.

Mike Groh

I’ve mentioned Groh’s name before as a longshot. And I still think it’s a longshot, but he’s worth mentioning.

Groh is currently the wide receivers coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s unlikely he returns to college unless it’s for a offensive coordinator role. Or unless he’s fired by the Eagles. If he does get surprisingly fired, then it wouldn’t be until after the Eagles’ exit from the playoffs, which could be too late for Tennessee.

Pruitt and Groh, by the way, coached together at Alabama from 2011-12.

Chris Beatty

I’ve mentioned Beatty’s name a lot. He’s currently the wide receivers coach at Maryland.

Beatty, who coached under James Franklin at Vanderbilt in 2011, has never coached with Pruitt, but he did go to college at East Tennessee State.

Some of the names that Beatty has coached include Percy Harvin (in high school), Tavon Austin, Stedman Bailey, Jordan Matthews and Jared Abbrederis.

Tony Ball

Ball and Pruitt coached together at Georgia in 2014. Ball has been on Georgia and LSU’s staff as a wide receivers coach. He also served as a wide receivers coach at Virginia Tech under Frank Beamer. Ball is currently on staff at Louisiana Tech as a running backs coach.

This wouldn’t be the most inspiring choice, as Ball seems to be on the backside of his coaching career, but he would bring plenty of SEC experience.