Tag: De’Rail Sims

De’Rail Sims was hired as Tennessee’s running backs coach on Feb. 19.

Sims met with media on Monday for the first time while at Tennessee. He discussed his perception of Josh Heupel’s offense.

“My perception of the offense is that it’s always dynamic and physical in terms of the running game,” Sims said. “You sit here and you look at all of the different parts that go with it and the mechanics that make up this offense. It was always one of those ones that gave the defense issues from a lot of different areas.

“I know a lot of people just look at it from the tempo standpoint, but there are a lot of things that go into it that make it hard for the defense to have to defend. It was one of those ones that I wanted to learn, get used to and get comfortable with as well.”

READ: Everything De’Rail Sims said about Tennessee football ahead of spring practices

De’Rail Sims was hired as Tennessee’s running backs coach on Monday.

He comes to Tennessee after serving in the same capacity at Cincinnati in 2023.

“We are excited to welcome De’Rail, his wife Lauren and his daughters Amayah and Alivia into the Tennessee football family,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. “De’Rail is an exceptionally bright coach with a track record of developing outstanding running back rooms and building relationships with his players.

“Our run game has been vital to who we are as a program, and I expect him to make a seamless transition in helping us continue that success. De’Rail also has the experience and knowledge of our recruiting footprint surrounding Tennessee. We look forward to him making an impact in our recruiting efforts.”

Sims also served as running backs coach at Louisville (2021-22), East Carolina (2019-20), James Madison (2016-18), Western Carolina (2013-15), Carson-Newman (2012) and Pikeville (2011).

PHOTOS: Tennessee running backs through the years