KNOXVILLE — Terry Fair is leaving Tennessee’s football staff for a full-time position coaching cornerbacks on new coach Mike Bobo’s staff at Colorado State, according to a report from Sports Illustrated on Tuesday night.
A star former defensive back and punt returner for the Volunteers, Fair served as a defensive quality control coach for Tennessee the past two seasons. He joined the staff when Butch Jones was hired as head coach two years ago. Fair primarily helped secondary coach Willie Martinez, like Bobo a longtime assistant coach at Georgia, with Tennessee’s defensive backs.
During his 1994-97 Tennessee playing career, Fair was a two-time All-SEC selection and played on the Vols’ SEC championship team his senior season in 1997. The Detroit Lions drafted him in the first round (20th overall) of the 1998 draft, and Fair played six seasons with Detroit, Carolina and St. Louis. He was an All-Pro selection as a rookie.
Fair’s college career coincided with Bobo’s, who played quarterback at Georgia, and the Vols won all four of those head-to-head meetings with the Bulldogs.
Bobo was hired by the Rams last month after 14 seasons at Georgia, including the last seven as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator, to replace Jim McElwain, now the head coach at Florida.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.