KNOXVILLE – Charlton Warren has spent most of his football coaching career out West, but his recruiting ties to his native Georgia made him an attractive option for Tennessee.
The new defensive backs coach for the Volunteers grew up in Atlanta and attended Forest Park High School – which also produced former University of Georgia and NFL star Hines Ward – before going on to the Air Force Academy.
During his coaching stops at Air Force, Nebraska and North Carolina, Warren maintained his contacts in Georgia, where Tennessee focuses so much of its recruiting.
“I’m a guy that’s recruited that state for 14 years,” Warren said earlier this month. “I was raised in that state. I know coaches. I know players. I know former coaches of mine that are now coaches down there. I know former players of mine. I think in this recruiting business, relationships are huge.
“I think anytime you can go into an area that you know well, you know the back roads, you know the youth programs, you know where guys are coming up – I think that’s huge, and I just want to have a chance to get down there and recruit for Tennessee and bring the best players we can bring here.”
Warren’s recruiting roots and the success he had working for a couple of reputable defensive coaches overcame his lack of direct ties to Tennessee coach Butch Jones and defensive coordinator Bob Shoop.
Some initially expected the Vols to pursue North Carolina State’s George Barlow, who worked with Shoop at Vanderbilt, and Colorado State’s Terry Fair, the former Tennessee star who was on Jones’ support staff his first two seasons in Knoxville, as potential replacements for Willie Martinez. But Warren’s impressive meeting with Jones and Shoop landed him the job.
While Warren may not have known them personally, he said that “from a football standpoint, without a doubt I’ve known about them and heard about them and respected their work.”
Warren was hired at Nebraska by Bo Pelini and joined North Carolina’s staff the year the Tar Heels made drastic improvements on defense in their first season under new coordinator Gene Chizik, the former championship-winning Auburn coach.
Though he has never worked with Shoop, Warren said he watched his successful coordinator stints at Vanderbilt and Penn State from a distance, and the two coaches crossed paths recruiting some of the same players in Georgia while Warren was at Air Force and Shoop was at William & Mary.
There was a lack of familiarity among Tennessee’s defensive coaches entering last season after Jones hired Shoop in January 2016 and integrated him into the existing staff. Martinez had a close relationship with John Jancek, who was ousted after the 2015 season. Shoop had also never worked with linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen and defensive line coach Steve Stripling.
Shoop never worked with Warren either, but he was involved in hiring him.
“The first time I met him and had a chance to talk with him about ball, I was blown away by how smart he was,” Warren said. “Obviously I knew his body of work over the last 10 to 15 years of his career, but I was very impressed with his demeanor. I was very impressed with his football knowledge. I’m very excited to learn from him, to work with him and help implement the defense here at Tennessee.”
Warren hit the road to recruit after being hired, and his first priority was meeting with Tennessee’s five defensive back commitments: cornerbacks Cheyenne Labruzza, Terrell Bailey and Shawn Shamburger, and safeties Theo Jackson and Maleik Gray.
“Being a guy from Georgia and growing up in the South and being in SEC country, you’ve always known the history and tradition of Tennessee football,” Warren said. “You know about the fan base. You know about the national titles, the legacy of great players, the resources and the tools you can go out (and recruit with) and the kind of player you can attract.
“For me, just as you go through where would you want to coach, being in the SEC, the SEC East and having the chance to compete against the best, recruit against the best – those are the things that really drew me to the University of Tennessee, on top of having the chance to work with and learn from Coach Shoop, work with and learn from Coach Jones. I thought it was just a tremendous opportunity for myself and my family to be able to come to the SEC, come to the University of Tennessee and hopefully be a critical member of this program.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.