The BottomLine: Coaching Hot Board Edition

With the latest departure of defensive line coach, Lance Thompson, Derek Dooley is now faced with the task of replacing a 6th coach on his staff. And, I will somewhat back off of my stance in my latest blog. After reading some more on Sal Sunseri, I still wouldn't call his hiring a homerun, but I think we have definitely upgraded from a recruiting standpoint. As for the so-called "trade" between Tennessee and Alabama, it seems obvious to me that Tennessee has won the trade. Lance Thompson has really done nothing of note at Tennessee, and his vast recruiting prowess that was touted upon his arrival has never come to fruition at Tennessee. Now, let's look at some possible replacements that are being tossed around on the interwebs.

Special Teams/TE Coach

1.) Rich Bisaccia: This would obviously be a fantastic hire for Derek Dooley, and he's supposedly still mulling over an offer on the table that would pay him in excess of $400,000 to coach at Tennessee. He has an impressive resume that includes being the Associate Head Coach and Special Teams Coordinator for Jon Gruden and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He held this position when the Bucs won Superbowl XXXVII. He is currently Special Teams Coach for the San Diego Chargers. It should be noted that Tennessee has tried, and failed, at luring Bissacia to Tennessee twice before. And, the longer Dooley goes without an answer from Bisacia, one would have to think the chances of landing him continue to decrease.

Wide Receivers Coach

There is still some speculation that Derek Dooley will coach Special Teams and, instead, hire a wide receivers coach. I think this is unlikely.

1.) Tee Martin: If Dooley does, however, elect to go this route, Tee Martin's name will immediately come up as a possible choice. Tee has been rated as a Top 25 Recruiter according to Rivals. However, it's unclear why anyone would think he would be a good coach. When asked why his receivers were having so many drops this year at UK, Tee's response was, "I don't know. I've never played the position." That doesn't exactly scream competence. Therefore, I, like many others, hope Tennessee elects to not go this route.

Defensive Coaches

Because newly hired Sal Sunseri is expected to coach a position as well as serve as defensive coordinator, it's impossible at this point to precisely determine what positions the prospective coaches will serve. There are several possibilities.

1.) Kevin Steele: Fresh off of his Orange Bowl disaster with Clemson, Steele now finds himself unemployed. John Brice of VolQuest noted that, "I think Kevin would love to come back and coach at Tennessee." Assuming that's true, Derek Dooley would be insane to not capitalize on that. While Steele would have been a terrible choice as defensive coordinator, he would be an equally fantastic hire as a position coach. He is an elite recruiter.

2.) Rodney Garner: Must say there would seem to be little to no chance of this happening, but it may be worth a phone call from Derek Dooley. Everyone knows the story on Garner. He's another guy that's an absolute beast on the recruiting trail. I've seen his name tossed around a little. It would be a huge surprise to lure him from Georgia.

3.) Tosh Lupoi: If Dooley wants to really make a statement, he should pursue Tosh Lupoi and offer to make him the highest paid defensive line coach in the country. This guy is quite possibly the best recruiter in the nation. This would be the "dream hire" out of all the possibilities. He opens up a huge new area of recruiting, and by all accounts, he's a fantastic coach and even better recruiter. It's definitely worth a phone call for Coach Dooley.

Now, there are a couple of sentimental favorites that might come up.

1.) Marion Hobby: Marion was a defensive end at Tennessee from 1986-89 and is currently the defensive ends coach at Clemson. Hobby was a longtime Cutcliffe assistant, who followed him from Mississippi to Duke. He also served as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints, where he coached defensive end Will Smith, who made the Pro Bowl.

2.) Dale Jones: Obviously, Dale was an absolute hell of a player at Tennessee. He was an All-American and two time All-SEC performer at linebacker. He is a long-time assistant coach at Appalachian State University. He's been there for 16 years. He's served as the defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach for the past two seasons. The list of players he has coached at the FCS level is impressive. He's coached 16 All-Conference performers, 9 All-Americans, and three SoCon Defensive Players of the Year.

That's all I have for now. Go Vols!