Tennessee expected to hire defensive backs coach with NFL and Power Five experience as analyst

Tennessee is set to add to a defensive backs coach with NFL and Power Five secondary coach to its coaching staff.

The Vols are expected to hire Cory Robinson as an analyst, sources tell On3.

Robinson worked for the New Orleans Saints the last three seasons, most recently as the team’s assistant defensive backs coach.

The Saints ranked second in the NFL in pass defense last season and fifth-best in 2020.

Before New Orleans, Robinson was previously a Power Five secondary coach at Maryland and Rutgers.

Robinson, who has a background as a high school coach in Maryland, has also worked as a defensive backs coach at the college level at Temple and Toledo.

Tennessee is entering its third season with Josh Heupel as its head coach. The Vols finished last season 11-2, their highest win total since 2001.

Tennessee opens its 2023 season against Virginia Sept. 2.

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The 2022-23 coaching cycle

For the seventh time in the last eight coaching cycles, there were more than 20 head coaching changes at the FBS level.

The only exception during this stretch that dates back to the 2015-16 coaching cycle was following the COVID season in 2020, when there were 18 FBS head coaching changes.

During the 2022-23 cycle, there were 24 head coaching changes. That includes 11 at the Power Five level, headlined by hires such as Deion Sanders at Colorado, Matt Rhule at Nebraska, Hugh Freeze at Auburn and Luke Fickell at Wisconsin.

Other Power Five head coaching changes came at places such at Arizona State, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Mississippi State, Purdue and Stanford.

It came after there were 30 head coaching changes during the 2021-22 coaching cycle, which included Lincoln Riley being hired at USC, Brian Kelly being tabbed as the new head coach at LSU and Marcus Freeman then being selected as his replacement for the Fighting Irish. 

There were also other moves like Billy Napier replacing Dan Mullen at Florida, Brent Venables being hired at Oklahoma following Riley’s departure, Mario Cristobal leaving Oregon for Miami and Dan Lanning being hired as Cristobal’s replacement at Oregon after helping Georgia win the national championship as the defensive coordinator of the Bulldogs’ dominant defense.

The only other recent coaching cycles with more than 24 head coaching changes were the 2018-19 cycle with 28 and the 2015-16 cycle with 29.