Recruiting assistant Keith Pantling, receivers coach Zach Azzanni, grad assistant Cody Kempt, and running backs coach Robert Gillespie watch the Orange and White game Saturday at Neyland Stadium.KNOXVILLE – Two of Tennessee’s assistant coaches have been linked to coordinator openings for the newly hired coaches at Maryland and Miami this week.
According to Dan Wolken of USA Today, Zach Azzanni, the Volunteers’ passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach, could be in play for the offensive coordinator position at Maryland.
Defensive backs coach Willie Martinez could be a factor as Mark Richt’s defensive coordinator with the Hurricanes, according to a 247Sports.com report Thursday.
Both Vols coaches have been on the road visiting with recruits this week as Tennessee awaits its bowl assignment.
D.J. Durkin, Michigan’s defensive coordinator, was introduced Thursday as Maryland’s coach. He and Azzanni worked together as graduate assistants on Urban Meyer’s staff at Bowling Green in 2001 and 2002, and the two were full-time assistants with the Falcons in 2006 and reunited at Florida on Meyer’s staff in 2010.
Azzanni was at Wisconsin when Butch Jones tabbed him to join his staff shortly after he was hired by Tennessee following the 2012 season. During his first two years with the Vols, Azzanni coached receivers and held the title of recruiting coordinator. Last offseason he was elevated to passing game coordinator.
That new title came with a $50,000 raise – the co-highest on Tennessee’s staff along with running backs coach/recruiting coordinator Robert Gillespie – to $350,000, which is tied for the seventh-lowest among the assistants.
Azzanni spent one season as an offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky in 2011 under Willie Taggart, who’s now at South Florida. He was linked to the head-coaching vacancy at Central Michigan after last season.
Martinez’s ties to Richt date back to their playing days at Miami and the nine seasons he spent working on Richt’s staff at Georgia. Martinez was Richt’s secondary coach (2001-04) and defensive coordinator (2005-09). He was fired after the 2009 season and coached at Oklahoma and Auburn before hooking up with Jones at Tennessee.
Also Tennessee’s assistant head coach, Martinez received a $25,000 raise after last season, and his $375,000 salary this year was fifth-highest on the staff. His son, Will, is a freshman walk-on receiver for the Vols.
According to their contracts, each coach would owe Tennessee 33 percent of his annual salary upon resignation.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com