Josh Heupel stresses importance of stability on coaching staff

Josh Heupel has retained nearly all of his coaching staff since arriving at Tennessee in 2021.

After the Vols’ immense success in 2022 in particular — it’s surpising more coaches on his staff weren’t looked at as targets for jobs at other programs. He lost all but two — OC/TE coach Alex Golesh this offseason and WR coach Kodi Burns before 2022.

Heupel revealed his philosophy on staff retention and how he plans to make Tennessee a destination for top-notch assistants for years to come.

“You try to create a culture that coaches want to be a part of; they feel like they are part of the process,” Heupel said on Thursday during SEC Media Days. “You want to create a culture where families get a chance to be part of the process as well. I grew up the son of a coach and those are the greatest memories of my childhood, and so I think it’s really important that they are a part of it.

“If you do those things and you have the resources that we have at Tennessee, you’re able to have some stability within your staff, which is vitally critical to your players; them understanding what they are walking into every single day, not having to rebuild an entire relationship from the ground up.”

Heupel wished both Golesh (who is now the head coach at USF) and Burns (New Orleans Saints WR coach) the best of luck in their future endeavors, but isn’t just replacing them for with the next best thing. Heupel is replacing them with top-notch coaching talent that he already has a relationship with.

“Guys are not just leaving to take another job, either. So we have actually been able to promote from within because they were the right guys,” Heupel said. “There’s so much consistency. All the things that we were navigating as you take over a program, and in year 1 and in year 2, I think was vitally important that we’ve been able to have that, and it’s a big part of our continued growth this off-season here in ’23.”

Golesh will be replaced with Heupel’s longtime right-hand-man, Joey Halzle. Burns was replaced ahead of last season by Kelsey Pope, who served as an offensive analyst the season before.

It ended up being the right move as Pope coached Jalin Hyatt to a Biletnikoff Award and saw the Vols become one of the most lethal vertical threats in the country. Heupel will hope Halzle has similar success in his first season in Knoxville