Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel isn't one to dawdle when it comes to replacing his assistants.
After losing running backs coach Jerry Mack to the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars last Monday and after losing linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary to Michigan last Thursday, the fourth-year coach of the Volunteers filled both vacancies Monday.
Replacing Mack will be De'Rail Sims, who spent last year coaching running backs for the Cincinnati Bearcats, and replacing Jean-Mary will be William Inge, who has spent the past two years as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for the Washington Huskies. Inge reportedly accepted a role on the defensive staff of new Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer two weeks ago, but that hiring had yet to be announced by the school.
Tennessee made the hiring of Sims official Tuesday.
"De'Rail is an exceptionally bright coach with a track record of developing outstanding running back rooms and building relationships with his players," Heupel said in a release. "Our run game has been vital to who we are as a program, and I expect him to make a seamless transition in helping us continue that success. De'Rail also has the experience and knowledge of our recruiting footprint surrounding Tennessee.
"We look forward to him making an impact in our recruiting efforts."
Inge not only coached under DeBoer at Washington but also at Fresno State, where he served as his defensive coordinator during the 2020-21 seasons. The Bulldogs ranked 82nd nationally in total defense in 2019, the season before Inge took the reins of that unit, and they improved to 20th in 2021 before Inge followed DeBoer to Seattle.
Alabama is reportedly hiring former Georgia linebacker Christian Robinson as outside linebackers coach to fill the void left by Inge. Robinson has coached linebackers at Florida and Auburn and was most recently at Baylor.
Sims helped Scott Satterfield's Bearcats rank sixth nationally in rushing offense this past season, averaging 217.1 yards per game. Sims worked under Satterfield at Louisville as well in the 2021-22 seasons, with the Cardinals averaging 212.9 and 201.0 rushing yards per game in those years, respectively.
Before his days working at Power Five programs, Sims was the running backs coach at Division II Carson-Newman in 2012 and at FCS member Western Carolina in 2013-15.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.