How Kendal Briles could affect Jim Chaney, Vols’ coaching staff.
Kendal Briles has been a coach on the rise within college football during the last decade.
Briles is in his first season as Arkansas’ offensive coordinator. He has a one-year contract worth $1 million, as it will expire Feb. 28, 2021. First-year Razorbacks’ head coach Sam Pittman has the option, upon his recommendation, to retain Briles for the next two seasons.
FAYETTEVILLE, AR – NOVEMBER 7: Feleipe Franks #13 and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles of the Arkansas Razorbacks talk on the field before a game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Razorback Stadium on November 7, 2020 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
November is a time within the sport and business of college football in which schools, coaches and agents begin to posture clients for potential jobs when the season ends.
If Briles has an opportunity to continue moving up the coaching ladder following the conclusion of the 2020 season, Pittman would seek to fill his void.
That void could be filled with Tennessee’s offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Chaney and Pittman coached alongside each other at Arkansas from 2013-14. The duo also coached together at Tennessee (2012) and Georgia (2016-18).
Pittman understands at a school like Arkansas, being creative and physical on offense is key in competing with top teams in the Southeastern Conference. Chaney has been able to scheme creatively at various stops, including Purdue where he served as co-offensive coordinator alongside Tim Lappano.
“At the end of the day, he knows you have to be physical. No matter what scheme you are playing, you better be physical, or you are not going to go where you need to go — and it all comes down to that. No matter what system it is, you have to be physical.”
If Chaney were to leave for another position such as Arkansas, he has one year remaining on his Tennessee contract worth $1.7 million. Below is his contract in terms of a buyout.
Tennessee will also be in position to potentially fill four other assistant coaching vacancies on Jeremy Pruitt’s staff following the 2020 season.
Phillip Fulmer, Jeremy Pruitt, Vols’ assistant coach contracts and when they expire.
KNOXVILLE — Four games remain in the 2020 regular season.
Tennessee (2-4, 2-4 SEC) opened the 2020 campaign with wins at South Carolina and against Missouri. The Vols have since lost to Georgia, Kentucky, Alabama and Arkansas.
Ahead of Tennessee’s next contest against Texas A&M at Neyland Stadium Saturday (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN), Vols Wire takes a look at Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer, head coach Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols’ assistant coaches contracts and when they expire. Contracts are provided by the University of Tennessee.
What the Vols can expect from Kirby Smart’s defense.
Kirby Smart has evolved as a play-caller throughout his time coaching in college football.
Leading up to the Tennessee-Georgia game, Vols Wire previews Smart’s defensive looks and what UT can expect.
Smart likes to showcase a boundary-side cornerback blitz, which typically leaves a boundary-side safety playing man coverage on the No. 1 wide receiver, creating a 2-high coverage to the field-side.
In Smart’s defense, CLAMP is where a cornerback plays against the No. 2 wide receiver within five yards to defend the flat.
In 3×1 sets, CLAMP is with the No. 1 and No. 2 wide receivers, and man coverage is on the No. 3 wide receiver that is playing underneath (HOOK). Man coverage happens on the No. 3 wide receiver when he is underneath, except for when the No. 3 wide receiver is running a curl route, or going deep on a crossing route.
Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney has ran 10-personnel with three wide receivers on the field-side during the Vols’ first two games this season.
Smart is known to defend these 3×1 looks by having the HOOK rush with a strong safety and coming down to cover the area. This will be a common look for Smart if Chaney runs his 3×1, 10-personnel set from the far hash-mark against Georgia.
Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
When Tennessee lines up in 11-personnel, on the 3×1 side, Smart will not shy away from running STUBBIE. STUBBIE is when the cornerbacks play tight coverage and are not off the ball. On the weak-side, STUBBIE and STUMP are the same.
The MONEY is the POSTER. The field cornerback will play press coverage on the No. 1 wide receiver. The STAR has the No. 2 wide receiver, six yards off, unless the third wide receiver goes into the flat. If the No. 3 wide receiver enters the flat, the STAR has him. If the No. 2 wide receiver goes underneath, the STAR also has the responsibility for him.
The weakness of STUBBIE is vertical passes and post routes against the safeties.
Propst mentioned “the key to the game is how well Jeremy Pruitt defends Georgia.”
“It’s a chess match,” Propst said. “It’s a chess match between Todd Monken and Jeremy Pruitt, Derrick Ansley and his staff. Then there is a chess match going on with Dan Lanning, Kirby Smart and Jim Chaney that it is going to be fun and kickback and watch it.”
Kirby Smart and Jeremy Pruitt, Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
The Bulldogs have continued to have a strong presence in the running game this season. Georgia totaled 202 yards on 45 attempts in its 27-6 win against Auburn last week.
During the offseason, Georgia had a pair of quarterbacks transfer into its program in JT Daniels (USC) and Jamie Newman (Wake Forest). Ahead of the season, Newman opted out and will not play, while Daniels is still recovering from an ACL injury taking place at USC last year.
Not having Daniels or Newman playing has paved a way for 5-foot-11, 190-pound Stetson Bennett to become Georgia’s signal-caller. In wins against Arkansas and Auburn, Bennett is 37-of-57 for 451 passing yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He has been sacked twice.
Through the first two games, Monken has been able to run Air Raid concepts with Bennett, while maintaining a physical ground game. Monken has featured Y-Cross off play-action instead of in a straight drop back, along with mesh early on this season.
“In the system, whether it be Y-Cross or Y-Sail, it starts with that guy,” Propst said of Air Raid concepts and the signal-caller. “So what they did against Auburn, they did a lot of that off play-action to protect the quarterback and they were wide open. When Auburn had to sell out to stop the run, it left the play-action.
“The scheme stays the same, whether you are in the gun, taking a three-step drop, playing 90-game, or you are under center and play-action — the concepts are not going to change a lot. I did see mesh in a third down deal. There are about seven or eight concepts in the 90-game which is a three-step drop out of shotgun and then it is 60 protection which is quick game stuff. There are tons of things he can do out of that to get the ball out to the wide receivers very fast.”
Safety play is critical when defending Air Raid concepts as they determine if it is needed to come over the top, crash or play down.
In the Air Raid, wide receivers have the ability to post in a direction they feel a safety is not headed. There is a lot of freedom within the Air Raid offense to make these decisions, placing a large burden on defenders as they need to be able to cover in open space.
Freedom in route-running for Georgia’s wide receivers were on display against Auburn last week to go along with the Bulldogs’ running attack.
“Monken did not come in to blow things up, he came in to add bits and pieces to make it better,” Bridgford said. “They have had tremendous success running the ball the past few years with pro-style concepts. They are only going to get better when they are adding these spread-type concepts that Monken brings in.
“Every quarterback loves play-action. There is nothing better than making a play-fake then looking down the field and seeing all of the linebackers that have been brought up from that play-fake because there is actually a threat there. You just have guys that are on crossers, dig routes and running naked because you can just throw the ball in there without having to maneuver around anybody. The spread concepts can still remain with a pro-style-type set under center with play-action – you can still run Y-Cross and Y-Sail. I think it is a good combination for Georgia.”
“Monken has a strong background in coaching wide receivers. He is as good as it gets when it comes to coaching receivers. He obviously played quarterback, so he has that perspective and quarterbacks know what they like. Certain guys give certain indicators better for when they run their routes than others. The best thing he does is teach.” — Allan Bridgford on the freedom wide receivers have under Todd Monken
Jim Chaney, Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Part of the Tennessee-Georgia matchup is Jim Chaney being in his second season as the Vols’ offensive coordinator. Chaney served in the same capacity at Georgia from 2016-18 under Smart.
Since Chaney’s departure from Georgia, Smart has been searching for an answer for his replacement.
After one season without Chaney, Propst viewed Georgia’s offense last year as one that “needed freshening up” with someone like Monken coming in.
“He is a smart guy and knows how to sort of integrate it into what they are doing,” Propst said of Monken arriving at Georgia. “It needed freshening up. I really think Georgia is going to make it very difficult on people to defend them.”
Propst is familiar with both Monken and Pruitt and views Saturday’s matchup as one where Tennessee will have their “work cut out this week” in preparation, as UT “is going to have to determine what Bennett can do in this Air Raid offense that can affect him.”
Pruitt served as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Hoover High School from 2004-06 under Propst. Propst has ran Air Raid principles since his Hoover days, allowing for Pruitt to coach against the scheme before it was widespread throughout the sport.
Propst’s offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey at Hoover (2007) coached under Monken at Southern Miss from 2014-15.
“You take Jeremy Pruitt, I know what defensive strategist he is, he has his work cut out this week,” Propst said of Tennessee preparing for Monken and Georgia. “He is going to have to defend, not only the throw game in the Air Raid stuff that he knows — Jeremy knows it because he went against it in practice, against me, everyday. He knows what hurts it, where you are vulnerable in certain coverages, certain things, how to blitz it, how not to blitz it, whether to drop eight and rush three, whether to rush four, what coverages hurt certain things, but now you have to get all of that stuff taught with run fits.
“There is only a certain amount of time during practice that you can spend on run fits, plus all of the other stuff, as far as whether you are zone blitzing it or man blitzing it, or whatever Jeremy brings. It has only loaded his plate double the amount. Jeremy is not a dummy, I promise you that. He has been knowing this quite sometime when Todd was hired.”
The entire show with Bridgford and Propst can be listened to here or below.
Analysis: Jim Chaney’s play-calling performance at South Carolina, how Vols can improve
COLUMBIA — Tennessee opened the 2020 season by defeating South Carolina, 31-27, at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The victory extended Tennessee’s win streak to seven consecutive games. Following a Week 1 win over the Gamecocks, Vols Wire looks at how Tennessee can improve going into its second contest of 2020 against Missouri.
One area that Tennessee can improve on is in the running game. The Vols totaled 394 yards at South Carolina, as 133 came on the ground.
Against South Carolina, Vols’ offensive coordinator Jim Chaney did a good job disguising 10-personnel for 11-personnel, and 11-personnel for 12-personnel. This helped Tennessee’s running game throughout the contest since the Vols were unable to establish consistency on the ground in a true 10-personnel grouping against South Carolina’s defense.
Sep 26, 2020; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks linebacker Jordan Burch (3) brings down Tennessee Volunteers running back Eric Gray (3) at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
To have a consistent offense this season in a 10-game SEC-only schedule, the Vols will need to be able to run the ball with a true 10-personnel grouping going forward.
Against South Carolina, Chaney did a good job trying to establish a running game with a 10-personnel grouping in the second half.
He opened the third quarter by running the ball in 11-personnel with Ty Chandler three consecutive times. He then opened the passing game with a 10-yard completion to Josh Palmer in an 11-personnel, trips-right formation.
Chaney then flipped to trips-left in 10-personnel, and the result was an 11-yard run by Chandler. Chaney, again, went back to trips-left in 10-personnel and Chandler rushed for four more yards. His play-calling set up quarterback Jarrett Guarantano to rush for 19-yards, again in 11-personnel with tight end Jacob Warren in a passing route. The end result of Tennessee’s second-half opening drive was Eric Gray scoring on a 12-yard run in a trips-right, 11-personnel grouping that gave the Vols’ a 21-7 lead.
Sep 26, 2020; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Jarrett Guarantano (2) runs against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Williams-Brice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Tennessee ended the third quarter with back-to-back plays running in 10-personnel, again trying to establish a true ground game. Chaney started the fourth quarter in 10-personnel with Gray in pass-protection and then in an empty set on third down. The result was a Vols’ punt.
Chaney did an excellent job working with an offensive line unit that had an expectation of transfer Cade Mays playing upfront immediately. The second-year offensive coordinator under Pruitt was able to adapt in disguising looks upfront against South Carolina, but the Vols will have to get better running in 10-personnel throughout a 10-game SEC-only schedule this season. The second-half against South Carolina was apparent of this, as Chaney tried to establish offensive production on the ground in 10-personnel.
Cedric Tillman ‘should be a very productive player’ for Vols in 2020.
KNOXVILLE — Cedric Tillman enters his redshirt sophomore season in 2020.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound wide receiver has appeared in 15 games for the Vols over the last two seasons. He has totaled five receptions, 57 yards and scored one touchdown.
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
During the second week of fall training camp, Tennessee offensive coordinator discussed Tillman’s growth this offseason.
“He’s fine,” Chaney said of Tillman on a Zoom call with reporters. “He’s been battling a little hamstring early on, but he’s doing what he needs to do. Cedric’s a big, strong kid with strong hands.
“I feel like he should be a very productive player for us this fall. I’m pleased with Ced. The kids laugh, Ced is one of my favorites. Ced is my man. So, Ced and I are tight, and I get a kick out of our relationship. I like the young man. He’s getting better and better every day he walks out on the field.”
Jim Chaney discusses Vols’ tight ends unit having ‘a lot of competition’
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s tight ends unit is headlined by senior Austin Pope in 2020.
Pope announced he underwent back surgery on July 16. Following Tennessee’s third practice of fall training camp, third-year UT head coach Jeremy Pruitt mentioned that Pope has been practicing and “should be ready to play for the opener” at South Carolina on Sept. 26.
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney discussed the Vols’ tight ends unit on a Zoom call with reporters during there second week of fall training camp.
“Austin is that, he’s a stabilizing force,” Chaney said. “He’s a good kid, been around football a long time. We like what he brings to the table. He will always be that consistent kid that we like.
“Behind him, we have Princeton Fant, who is a young man who bounced around a lot early in his career. We feel real comfortable where we have him right now doing what he needs to be doing. Jacob Warren is doing a fine job. There is a lot of competition in the room. They all have a little different skill set it seems like, it’s interesting to me. Behind him you have Jordan Allen and you got Sean Brown. You got some other guys that are just mixing around. There’s a lot of competition there, waiting on someone to jump above the other ones and emerge as a solid football player. They’re just continually learning. You’re talking about guys that haven’t played a lot of football for us in those five. That is a position that we are trying to force feed real fast on development and we are doing it, hopefully, through competition.”
KNOXVILLE, TN – AUGUST 26, 2020 – Tight end Princeton Fant #88 of the Tennessee Volunteers during 2020 Fall Camp practice on Haslam Field in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Caleb Jones/Tennessee Athletics
Jim Chaney discusses Vols’ offensive line having ‘a lot of moving parts’
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney returns for his second season under Jeremy Pruitt and his sixth overall at UT.
Chaney will have an experienced offensive line to work with this season, and one that now has quality depth.
KNOXVILLE, TN – AUGUST 25, 2020 – Offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy #55 of the Tennessee Volunteers during 2020 Fall Camp practice on Robert E. White indoor field in the Anderson Training Center in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
During the second week of fall training camp, Chaney discussed the offensive line unit and moving players around to get an understanding of who can play different positions upfront.
“Early in camps we tend to try and move people around as much as we can to try and kind of force some uncomfortable stuff with them, try to find out how many kids we feel we can line up at tackle and play with, how many centers we possibly have, how many guards we have,” Chaney said on a Zoom call with reporters. “So, there’s a lot of stuff moving around. We have a lot of moving parts now. I will say this, Will (Friend) has done a good job with these guys and technically they’re getting better every day. It’s just keeping that pressure on them, and we have more competition at positions, which inevitably should make you better as we work our way through it, so I’m pleased with that.
“Am I pleased with everything we’re getting done? No. I’m not just talking about the line. Every day it seems like we’ll take two or three steps forward and take a step back, so we got to get some consistency is the word we’re looking for in just how we perform and how we practice. Just overall practice habits, we’ve got to continue to get better at that and focus on that when we go out on the football field.”
Vols’ receivers: Jim Chaney discusses if newcomers can be involved early like Justin Hunter, Cordarrelle Patterson, Da’Rick Rogers
KNOXVILLE — Jim Chaney enters his seventh season as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.
He held the position under UT head coaches Lane Kiffin (2009), Derek Dooley (2010-12) and Jeremy Pruitt (2019-present).
During the second week of fall training camp, Chaney discussed how the incoming wide receivers are learning the offense.
“We’ll get to that game-week situation where we finally hone it down to game plans and making sure they’re fitting in the pieces where we think they can help us at within the structure of what we are trying to do to win that game,” Chaney said on a Zoom call with reporters. “I see them doing that. Forcing the overall learning curve, it’s tough. Tee (Martin) is on their butt constantly, just about learning. I think some of these kids have just been given the ball a lot of times, but there is so much learning, it’s like you’re teaching them how to learn an offense.
“It’s a whole different way of doing business, a whole different language they have to learn, and it is tough on them sometimes. These kids are having to learn a lot. Tee is doing a good job of getting the boys to figure out what they’re doing.”
Vols’ newcomers at wide receiver
Dee Beckwith (freshman)
Jimmy Calloway (freshman)
Jimmy Holiday (freshman)
Jalin Hyatt (freshman)
Velus Jones Jr. (redshirt senior transfer)
Malachi Wideman (freshman)
Chaney discussed if there is a comparison with the Vols’ freshmen receiving class to that of a decade ago and getting them involved this season, much like he did under Dooley with Justin Hunter, Cordarrelle Patterson and Da’Rick Rogers.
“I speculate that’ll it be similar to like Justin,” Chaney said. “They’ll eventually learn and get on the field more and more just like Da’Rick did. CP (Cordarrelle Patterson) was a different story. He was a junior college kid when he got here, but the other two that you mentioned would be similar to that.
“We feed them in. They have skill sets that we can definitely utilize. They will play specific things, I’m certain, as the season comes along. But I sure like what we are seeing right now.”
Fall training camp: Ty Chandler, Eric Gray ‘practicing with purpose’
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee returns Ty Chandler and Eric Gray to its backfield in 2020.
The duo combined for 1,194 rushing yards, seven touchdowns on the ground, 178 receiving yards and one touchdown through the air.
KNOXVILLE, TN – AUGUST 21, 2020 – Running back Ty Chandler #8 of the Tennessee Volunteers during 2020 Fall Camp practice on Haslam Field in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney discussed the duo during the second week of fall training camp.
“I like them both,” Chaney said of Chandler and Gray. “They’re both very competitive kids. They both are determined to have good seasons. You can just see there’s an air of maturity about those two kids when they walk out on the field. They do their business. They’re real professional in how they look at it. They’re trying to get better at specific things as they go on the football field.”
KNOXVILLE, TN – AUGUST 21, 2020 – Running back Eric Gray #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers during 2020 Fall Camp practice on Haslam Field in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
The running back unit is coached by former Vol Jay Graham this season.
Chaney mentioned that Graham “has done a good job identifying things” that Chandler and Gray need to work on.
“They’re out there practicing with purpose,” Chaney said. “They’re to a point in their careers, you’re not coaching effort, you’re not coaching alignment, you’re coaching the nuances, the things that make a difference on a play with those two young men. They’re really driven to be successful.
“They’re fun to be around and they’re practicing very hard and Eric’s done a good job, as has Ty. Real pleased with those two.”
