KNOXVILLE – When Jim Chaney was hired as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator back in January, his reputation alone was enough to have the players intrigued by the potential new look of the offense.
Now that Chaney has had more than seven months to begin implementing his style, the Volunteers have realized that reputation has been well-earned.
Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano spoke recently about how everybody has “tremendous trust and tremendous respect” for Chaney. Receiver Jauan Jennings called him a “great offensive coordinator who knows how to put people in certain matchups to give them opportunities to win.”
Junior offensive lineman Ryan Johnson called him “brilliant.”
“You can see it in a bunch of different places,” Johnson said when asked for examples of Chaney’s brilliance. “One, for example, you’ll be watching film with him and just be watching a play here or there, and he will come out with something that you just haven’t seen before. And it’s just one small minute detail that he can build off of, like a corner’s footwork, and you’re just sitting there like, ‘Man, I’ve never thought of that. Who would have possibly thought of that?’ We’re just looking at inside zone and you’re looking at the corner and saying we can exploit that.