Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tyson Helton, left, confers with Jarrett Guarantano and head coach Jeremy Pruitt during the Orange and White Game in April.KNOXVILLE – According to an ESPN report published Sunday night, Tennessee offensive coordinator Tyson Helton has emerged as the top candidate for the head coaching vacancy at Western Kentucky University.
WKU announced Mike Sanford’s firing Sunday, a day after the Hilltoppers finished their season with a 3-9 record. Sanford was 9-16 in two years at the school, including a 27-17 loss to Georgia State in the 2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl.
Helton was the Hilltoppers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2014 and ’15, leading an offense that averaged 373.2 passing yards and 530.4 total yards per game in that span.
A report from FootballScoop.com surfaced late Saturday evening that Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt was looking to move on from Helton after the Volunteers lost 38-13 to Vanderbilt and finished the regular season 5-7, short of bowl eligibility. Pruitt was hired by Tennessee last December and brought Helton – who worked as the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at Southern California in 2016 and ’17 – on board his first staff.
The Tennessee offense – which struggled with inconsistency, injuries and lack of production on the offensive line this year – ranked at or near the bottom of all offensive categories this season in the 14-team Southeastern Conference. The Vols had per-game averages of 325.5 offensive yards (last), 129.1 rushing yards (last), 22.8 points (13th) and 196.42 passing yards (11th).
Earlier Sunday, both Tennessee and Pruitt denied he intended to make a change at offensive coordinator, according to multiple media reports.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.