Coaching options for Tennessee in replacing Alex Golesh
Josh Heupel has guided Tennessee to 17 regular-season wins in two seasons.
Heupel had one coaching staff change following the 2021 season. Wide receivers coach Kodi Burns joined the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff in the same capacity.
Kelsey Pope was promoted from an offensive analyst in 2021, replacing Burns under Heupel.
This year, Heupel has to replace one coach already. Tennessee offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh will be the new head coach at South Florida, according to multiple reports.
Following Golesh’s departure for USF, Vols Wire looks at ideal coaching candidates to replace him.
Heupel could shuffle his on-field staff to fill the offensive coordinator vacancy, add a certain coach currently outside the program or promote someone already at Tennessee from an off-field capacity.
Heupel’s current on-field staff consists of Pope, quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle, offensive line coach Glen Elarbee and running backs coach Jerry Mack.
Individuals already within Tennessee’s program in an off-field capacity include offensive support staff personnel Alec Abeln, Kody Cook, Alex Fagan, Charlie High, Tyler Hudanick, Mitch Militello, Jared Peery, Jack Taylor, Max Thurmond and Aston Walter.
Below are coaches who are outside of Tennessee’s program who would be ideal in joining Heupel’s staff.
Kevin Decker
Decker has served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Fordham since 2019.
Decker installed Heupel’s offense during Fordham’s downtime during the coronavirus shutdown. In 2022, Fordham’s quarterback Tim DeMorat leads the Football Championship Subdivision in passing yards (4,891). The Rams averaged 608.9 yards per game in 2022.
“In 2019 we would study it, but wouldn’t run it,” Decker said of studying and installing Heupel’s offense at Fordham. “Then COVID happened and we were still able to get in 10 practices in the fall without a season. I said this is an opportune time to get this stuff on film and see how it looks. It’s really different, but the biggest thing to stress to your guys is to don’t overthink it, run fast and make full speed decisions, you’re always right and run to green grass — that’s it. Our kids really loved it, and because it allowed them to play fast and to play without thinking.
“We kind of made the full blown adjustments and we obviously reaped the benefits with some success this year. I love it, and as a play-caller, when you spread a team out wide, you really get to see what their attention is.”
Note: Old Dominion hired Decker as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach
David Weeks
Weeks came to Fordham after serving as a student assistant quarterbacks coach from 2018-19 at UCF under Heupel. At UCF under Heupel, Weeks was responsible for helping provide input and breaking down opponent and self-scout film, creating cutups of opponents and self-scout specific film, creating weekly post-game packets and charts, a weekly red zone report, and drawing weekly installs. He was hired by Decker and Fordham to install Heupel’s offense for the Rams.
Walt Bell
Rich Janzaruk/USA TODAY NETWORK
Bell, from Dickson, Tennessee, played at Middle Tennessee State from 2003-06.
The Tennessee native launched his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2007 at Louisiana–Lafayette during the spring. He joined Memphis’ staff in the fall of 2007 as a graduate assistant, a position he held through 2008 before becoming a quality control coach at Oklahoma State (2009).
Bell earned his first position coaching opportunity at Southern Miss in 2011, overseeing wide receivers. The opportunity came after serving as a graduate assistant with the Golden Eagles in 2010.
He was tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at North Carolina (2012-13) before becoming an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas State from 2014-15. At Arkansas State, Bell was co-offensive coordinator with current Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee. Elarbee also served as a graduate assistant (2003-04) and tight ends coach (2005) at Middle Tennessee State when Bell played wide receiver.
Bell became an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the Power Five level with Maryland (2016-17) and Florida State (2018) before serving as head coach at UMass (2019-21). He is in his first season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Indiana.
Joe Jon Finley
Bryan Terry/USA TODAY Network
Finley was a tight end for Oklahoma when Heupel was the Sooners’ quarterbacks coach. Finley graduated in 2008 and went on to play in the NFL for San Francisco, Detroit and Carolina between 2008-12.
Following his professional playing career, Finley delved into coaching, beginning as an offensive line coach at Los Fresnos High School in Texas.
He served as a graduate assistant for the Sooners between 2012-13.
After returning to Los Fresnos for one season in 2014, he was a quality control coach at Baylor in 2015.
Heupel was hired as Missouri’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2016. He brought in Finley to serve as the Tigers’ tight ends coach under him. With Finley on staff, Heupel began to install Baylor’s veer and shoot offense.
Finley is serving as Oklahoma’s tight ends coach under offensive coordinator and former Heupel assistant Jeff Lebby.
Jon Cooper
AP Photo/The Daily Oklahoman, Bryan Terry
Cooper played on the offensive line at Oklahoma from 2005-08 when Heupel served as the Sooners’ quarterbacks coach.
While Heupel was co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Oklahoma from 2010-14, Cooper served as a graduate assistant from 2013-14. Cooper followed Heupel to Utah State as a graduate assistant (2015), offensive analyst at Missouri (2016-17) and tight ends coach at UCF (2018-19).
After one season as Arkansas’ tight ends coach in 2020, Cooper served as offensive line coach at Western Carolina. He is an offensive analyst at Oklahoma under offensive coordinator and former Heupel assistant Jeff Lebby.
Tre Lamb
David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports
Lamb was hired as Gardner–Webb’s head coach in Dec. 2019.
He came to Gardner–Webb from Tennessee Tech, where he was offensive coordinator from 2018-19. In 2019, Kelsey Pope served as Lamb’s wide receivers coach at Tennessee Tech.
Lamb hired Pope to serve as his passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at Gardner-Webb. Pope departed Gardner-Webb when Heupel hired him as an offensive analyst at Tennessee. Pope was promoted as the Vols’ wide receivers coach in 2022.
Lamb served as quarterbacks coach at Mercer from 2014-17 and in the same capacity at Tennessee Tech in 2013. He played quarterback at Tennessee Tech from 2008-12 for head coach Watson Brown.
Brian Hartline
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Hartline is serving as Ohio State’s passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2022. Hartline was the Buckeyes’ wide receivers coach from 2018-21 after serving as Ohio State’s offensive quality control assistant in 2017.
Hartline played wide receiver for Ohio State from 2005-08. Golesh was at Ohio State as a student assistant from 2004-05.
Andrew Sowder
Sowder serves as Kent State’s offensive coordinator. He played and coached at Baylor.
Sowder served as a student assistant coach at Baylor from 2009-10. He and Kent State executes similar schemes as Tennessee under Heupel, stemming from Baylor’s veer and shoot.
Kent State is 42nd nationally in total yards (5,015) in 2022.
Anthony Tucker
Tucker is in his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Utah State. He coached under Heupel as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach in 2020, passing game coordinator and running backs coach in 2019 and running backs coach during the 2018 campaign at UCF.
Tucker served as running backs coach at Maryland from 2016-17 under Walt Bell. He also served as running backs and wide receivers coach at Arkansas State from 2013-15 under Bell and Vols’ assistant Glen Elarbee.
Utah State and Tucker played at Alabama in Week 1 this season and provided a blueprint for Heupel’s offensive system to have success against the Crimson Tide.
Joe Scelfo
Mike Comer/Getty Images
Scelfo is in his second season as run game coordinator and offensive line coach at Garder-Webb under Tre Lamb.
Scelfo spent the previous two seasons coaching guards and centers at Southeastern Louisiana.
He played at North Carolina State and South Alabama. With the Wolfpack, Scelfo played for then-offensive coordinator and current Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz.
Zach Kittley
Annie Rice/USA TODAY NETWORK
Kittley returned to Texas Tech in 2022 as the Red Raiders’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He previously coached at Texas Tech from 2013-17 under then-head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Like Heupel, Kingsbury also played quarterback for Mike Leach.
Kittley has coached quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Bailey Zappe.
Nick Charlton
Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images
Chartlon is in his first season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UConn.
He served as Maine’s head coach from 2019-21.
Charlton coached alongside Ryan Day from 2012-14 as a graduate assistant at Boston College. The current Ohio State head coach was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach alongside Charlton.
Charlton’s offense is a lot like Day’s, attacking the middle and has shallow crossing routes. His offense also features a physical running game that allows for two tight end sets. The offense also has power and zone-gap run schemes.
Jeff Lebby
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Lebby is in his first season as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He served in the same capacity at Ole Miss (2020-21) and UCF (2019) under Heupel. Lebby also served as Heupel’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator in 2018 with the Knights. Lebby was an assistant at Baylor from 2008-16.
Philip Montgomery
Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports
Montgomery served as Tulsa’s head coach from 2015-22. He was Baylor’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2012-14 and the Bears’ co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and running backs coach from 2008-11.
Kendal Briles
Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
Briles is in his third season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas. He served in the same capacity at Florida State (2019), Houston (2018), FAU (2017) and Baylor (2015-16). He was Baylor’s wide receivers coach from 2008-14.
Jake Thornton
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Thornton is in his second season as Ole Miss’ offensive line coach. He came to Ole Miss after serving as running game coordinator and offensive line coach at Gardner-Webb (2020) and Tennessee Tech (2018-19) under Tre Lamb and alongside Kelsey Pope.
Brad Willard
The veer and shoot offensive scheme is also having success at the high school level in Texas with head coach Brad Willard at Mount Vernon.
Willard comes from Baylor’s coaching staff when the Bears experienced success with quarterbacks Robert Griffin III and Bryce Petty in the veer and shoot offense that Heupel executes at Tennessee.
Willard coached alongside Joe Jon Finley at Baylor as an offensive graduate assistant. He worked with tight ends alongside Finley exclusively. Willard played running back for the Bears before coaching.
Seth Littrell
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Littrell served as North Texas’ head coach from 2016-22. He served as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at North Carolina (2014-15), replacing Walt Bell who departed for his first offensive coordinator position at Arkansas State. Littrell also served as offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at Indiana (2012-13) and Arizona (2010-11). He was running backs coach under Mike Leach at Texas Tech (2005-08).
Littrell played running back at Oklahoma (1997-2000) alongside Heupel.
Joe Osovet
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Osovet completed his first season as Heritage High School’s (Maryville, Tennessee) head coach in 2022. Osovet served as director of player development (2018) and director of football programming (2019) at Tennessee. He was tight ends coach for the Vols in 2020.
In 2001, Joe Osovet started running an offensive scheme called a manipulation within his Bolt offense at Nassau Community College in New York.
Twenty-plus years later, manipulation plays are executed throughout the sport and are known as RPOs.
