KNOXVILLE – Tennessee will have a new defensive coordinator next season.
After speculation began about John Jancek’s future late last week before the Outback Bowl, the Volunteers and their defensive coordinator “mutually agreed to part ways,” the program said in a release Wednesday afternoon.
Tennessee had a new offensive coordinator this season after Mike Bajakian left for the NFL and was replaced by Mike DeBord, and the Vols will have a new leader on defense for the 2016 schedule.
“John and I had a long discussion this morning, and we both came to the conclusion that it was best to part ways,” Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said in a statement.
“I want to thank Coach Jancek for his contributions to the University of Tennessee football program the past three years. His hard work and dedication to this program played a major role in our back-to-back bowl wins. These decisions are never easy, especially for someone I have worked with at three different schools.
“We feel strongly about the direction our program is headed and will work diligently to find the best person available to lead our defense.”
Tennessee ranked 11th in the Southeastern Conference and 84th nationally in total defense during Jancek’s first season as coordinator in 2013 before rising in those categories in 2014 (eighth and 37th) and 2015 (eighth and 36th).
The Vols allowed an average of 29 points per game in 2013 and 24.2 in 2014, but in 2015 Tennessee was seventh in the SEC in scoring defense (20 points per game) and eighth in total defense (allowing an average of 370.7 yards per game) and had the nation’s No. 3 third-down defense.
In losses to Oklahoma and Florida, though, the defense couldn’t make fourth-quarter leads stand up.
But the improvement the Vols made under Jancek suggest there’s more to the change than job performance.
Jancek, who has been the defensive coordinator for Jones the past six seasons at Cincinnati and Tennessee, received a $40,000 raise last offseason, and his $515,000 salary in 2015 ranked 26th among SEC assistants.
According to a program official, Tennessee owes Jancek the final 14 months of his contract, which ran through February 2017, but what he receives from the Vols as a buyout could be mitigated if he lands another job.
One possibility is Colorado State, where he would reunite with Mike Bobo. The two spent years on staff together at Georgia. Tyson Summers left his post as the Rams’ defensive coordinator last month to become Georgia Southern’s new head coach.
Tennessee’s primary target to replace Jancek may be Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop. There is mutual interest between the Vols and Shoop, who has been James Franklin’s defensive coordinator for the past five seasons dating back to his tenure at Vanderbilt.
Shoop was courted by LSU after last season – when former longtime Tennessee assistant John Chavis left his post as defensive coordinator at LSU to take the same position at Texas A&M – and his decision to stay with the Nittany Lions came with a new three-year deal and a raise that put his salary in the $1 million range, so he would come with a hefty price tag.
Last month he was linked to the defensive coordinator opening at Auburn, and he was asked after one of Penn State’s TaxSlayer Bowl practices about that speculation and if he had interviewed for any other jobs.
“This isn’t really the time to talk about that,” Shoop told reporters. “No is the answer to that question. That’s the simple answer to that question. I don’t plan on going anywhere, but this is really a time for our team and I’m looking forward to being out there Saturday with these guys.
“I hope Penn State will have me forever and ever and ever. I love being a part of Coach Franklin’s program. I love what we’re building here.”
Other possible replacements for Jancek include Vols secondary coach Willie Martinez – who spent five seasons as Georgia’s defensive coordinator – North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik or Clemson co-defensive coordinator/defensive ends coach Marion Hobby.
Chizik turned around North Carolina’s defense – the Tar Heels allowed 24.5 points per game under Chizik this season after surrendering 39 in 2014 – and he has ties to two Tennessee assistants: Martinez and linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen, who worked under him when he was the head coach at Auburn.
Hobby was an assistant strength coach when the Vols won the national title for the 1998 season, coached on David Cutcliffe’s staff at both Ole Miss and Duke and spent two seasons in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints before joining Clemson’s staff in 2011.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.