KNOXVILLE – Tyson Helton was born in Gainesville, Fla., where his dad worked as Florida’s offensive line coach in the 1970s.
But the dialect of Tennessee’s new offensive coordinator hints at the fact he’s well-traveled.
On a staff loaded with coaches who have spent most of their careers in the footprint of the Southeastern Conference, Helton’s voice lacks the Southern twang many of the Volunteers’ assistant coaches displayed when they introduced themselves to Tennessee fans Wednesday night.
Helton’s linchpin philosophy will sound familiar to SEC fans, however.
“Being the offensive coordinator, there’s one thing we’re looking for our offense,” Helton said at Wednesday night’s signing day celebration in Knoxville. “We’re a team that’s got to run to win. We’re going to run to win. At some point in time, you’ve to put the ball down and everybody knows you’re running the rock.”
Helton played quarterback at Houston, earned his coaching start at Hawaii in June Jones’ pass-crazed scheme and made a name for himself while coordinating a Western Kentucky offense that threw the football an average of 41 times per game in 2014 and 2015.
Yet running the football was what Helton talked about first Wednesday as he shared the essentials of Tennessee’s new offensive scheme.
“That’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “When it’s time to run it, we’re going to run it and stick it up in there, and we’re going to be good at it.”
Helton, who will make $1.2 million annually, is also coaching Tennessee’s quarterbacks after spending the past two seasons as passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Southern California. Though SEC experience is in his bloodline, this is Helton’s first coordinator’s job with a Power Five conference program and his first time on an SEC staff.
Helton, 40, also has coached at Memphis, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Cincinnati.
“For you as the fans, I think you’re going to see an offense that is an exciting offense that is going to pound it out, that is going to run the ball and be a big-play offense,” he said. “And that quarterback that we just signed can help us do that. The young man that we’re coaching here, I’m very, very excited to coach those young men.”
That quarterback, J.T. Shrout from California, will enter a quarterback competition that includes Jarrett Guarantano and Will McBride, who will be sophomores next season. The Vols could still add a graduate transfer at the position.
“You’ve got to be a thrower first,” Helton said. “At some point in time, you’re going to have to make a great throw to make a big-time play to win the game. That’s what we look for. You’ve got to be a thrower first. You’ve got to be a field general. You’ve got to be a guy who can get us out of trouble, a guy that’s savvy and can move around in the pocket and do all those things and make plays.”
Though it was running the football that Helton talked about first, he described an offense that will also take deep shots in the passing game.
“Whether we catch it or not, we’re throwing that sucker down there,” Helton said. “We’re going to try and be an explosive play team. We’re going to do a great job of managing the game and making sure we put our players in good situations to be successful. That’s what we’re looking for from our offense.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.