Tennessee hires Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop

Tennessee has hired Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop in the same role.

Tennessee has hired Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop in the same role, the school announced Saturday.

“We are very excited about the addition of Bob Shoop to our coaching staff,” Tennessee head coach Butch Jones said in a statement. “Bob has established himself as one of the premier coordinators in all of college football and is very well-respected as a recruiter, football coach and person. He brings a wealth of experience at the highest level and possesses all the qualities we were looking for as we went through this process. He has directed units that have finished in the Top 25 nationally in each of the last five years and he will do a great job of developing our players on the defensive side of the ball.”

Shoop, 49, coached Penn State’s defense the last two seasons under James Franklin, who he also coached under at Vanderbilt from 2011–2013. The Commodores finished in the top 25 in total defense in each of Shoop’s seasons in the SEC. He has 27 years of college coaching experience, also spending three seasons as Columbia’s head coach from 2003–2005.

Penn State ranked second in yards allowed per game in 2014 and 15th in 2015.

“I would like to thank Mr. Hart and Coach Jones for giving me this opportunity,” Shoop said in a statement. “I also want to thank Coach Franklin, the Penn State players and coaches and the Penn State community for an incredible two seasons. This was not an easy decision and one that I didn’t take lightly. Over the last 24 hours I had an opportunity with meet with Coach Jones and his staff. It became evident to me that he is building a great program, a program on the rise and certainly one that will compete for an SEC Championship. I’m looking forward to becoming a part of the team.”

Shoop replaces John Jancek, who parted ways with Tennessee on a mutual basis earlier this week. The Vols went 9–4 in 2015, winning 45–6 over Northwestern in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day.