KNOXVILLE — Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt has suffered the most turnover on his defensive staff since taking over in Knoxville, and one of the latest was the departure of co-defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach Chris Rumph to the Houston Texans.
Rumph is replaced by Akron outside linebackers coach and former Tennessee defensive quality control analyst Shelton Felton.
Felton is still in the early stages of his coaching career, and returns to Knoxville as a familiar face for Tennessee’s program. Before his off-field role at Tennessee in 2018, Felton was the outside linebackers coach at Chattanooga for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Felton coached in the high school ranks before entering the college game, as the head coach at Crisp County High School. A Cordele, Ga. native, Felton also spent time as a defensive assistant under Jeremy Pruitt’s former mentor Rush Propst at Colquitt County High School. Felton was part of a team that won the 6A Georgia State Championship at Colquitt County in 2014.
Tennessee gets a young, aspiring coach in Felton that knows the personnel of the linebacking core after spending just one season away from Knoxville.