Former UTC assistant Jeremiah Wilson set to join Vols

Jeremiah Wilson coaches UTC players during the Mocs' first spring practice of 2018 last February. He is expected to become a defensive quality control assistant at Tennessee.
Jeremiah Wilson coaches UTC players during the Mocs' first spring practice of 2018 last February. He is expected to become a defensive quality control assistant at Tennessee.
photo Jeremiah Wilson

KNOXVILLE - Jeremiah Wilson, who spent last season as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's defensive backs coach, is expected to become a defensive quality control assistant at Tennessee, a source told the Times Free Press.

The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made, but that is expected to happen next week.

Wilson worked in a similar position under current Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt at Florida State in 2013, when Pruitt was the defensive coordinator and the Seminoles won the final BCS national championship. Wilson spent four more seasons on Florida State's staff in various roles before being hired last February by Tom Arth, UTC's head coach at the time.

With the Volunteers, Wilson would return to the Football Bowl Subdivision after one season in the Football Championship Subdivision and his lone year as an on-field assistant at the collegiate level. In December, Arth left UTC to become coach at Akron and Rusty Wright was hired to lead the Mocs.

Last season UTC finished second in the Southern Conference in scoring defense, allowing an average of 21.0 points per game, and second in defensive pass efficiency (120.4 passing yards per game). The Mocs intercepted 11 passes, which ranked fourth in the league, but turned those picks into 284 return yards for an average of 25.8 per interception, which ranked fifth in the FCS and second for teams with at least 10 interceptions.

UTC cornerback Kareem Orr and safety Brandon Dowdell made the All-SoCon first team.

Wilson played at Chattooga High School in northwest Georgia and spent a year at Division II member Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory, North Carolina, before finishing his career at Division III Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. He started his coaching career there, then moved to Amos P. Godby High School in Tallahassee, Florida, where he coached defensive backs and was the recruiting coordinator for college programs scouting Godby players.

Wilson would become the Vols' second new quality control assistant, joining Michael Colosimo, who recently announced he would be joining the staff.

Tennessee's staff has changed quite a bit since Pruitt's first season in Knoxville finished in November.

Pruitt replaced offensive coordinator Tyson Helton, who left to become head coach at Western Kentucky, with Jim Chaney, a former Vols offensive coordinator who most recently held the same title at Georgia. Pruitt also brought back Tee Martin, the quarterback of the Tennessee team that won the 1998 national championship, as an assistant. His role hasn't been confirmed by the school, but he will serve as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, according to his Facebook page.

The Vols lost Charles Kelly, who coached safeties and coordinated special teams, to Alabama. Tino Sunseri, a quality control analyst last season, left for a similar position at Alabama, where his father - former Vols defensive coordinator Sal - and his brother Vinnie have joined the staff.

Shelton Felton left to coach inside linebackers at Akron - Felton worked for Arth at UTC before going to Knoxville as a quality control analyst last summer - while Montario Hardesty initially left to be the running backs coach at Western Kentucky under Helton. He has since accepted a position as wide receivers coach at Charlotte.

John Lilly, a former Florida State and Georgia tight ends coach who spent 2018 with the title of executive assistant to the head coach, left to become tight ends coach for the NFL's Cleveland Browns.

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.

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