Latest Vols WR Coach Hot Board

Kodi Burns's departure to the New Orleans Saints left Josh Heupel with the task of filling his first position coach vacancy since becoming the head coach at the

Kodi Burns's departure to the New Orleans Saints left Josh Heupel with the task of filling his first position coach vacancy since becoming the head coach at the University of Tennessee. Since the job became available earlier this week, new names have emerged behind the scenes, and we look at some of the top candidates here in no particular order. 

Mike Bellamy

Currently serving as the running backs coach at Illinois, Bellamy has spent the majority of his career as a wide receiver coach. He was drafted in the second round of the 1990 NFL Draft as a wide receiver by the Philadelphia Eagles, and it just seems to be a matter of time until he lands a premier job. He has coached with Alex Golesh in the past at Illinois. He also has ties to the Southeast as he spent time as a coach in Atlanta and at Mississippi State. In talking with people in the industry, they feel like Bellamy is a rising star, and it is hard to argue his success to this point. We feel like he is a name to monitor at this stage.

Trooper Taylor

As we reported on Monday, Taylor's name was immediately associated with the job. He had a successful stint in Knoxville and has an interest in returning. There has at least been some communication between both sides as Tennessee is vetting possible candidates. Taylor coached Tennessee's last first-round draft pick at the position, Robert Meachum, when he was in Knoxville initially, so he understands where the program standard is for receivers and how to get back to it. Cordarelle Patterson was picked in the first round as well but was viewed as a specialist.  We feel Taylor remains a name to monitor, but other candidates emerging have certainly made this a more intriguing hire. 

David Johnson

The former Tennessee running backs and wide receivers coach continues to generate some buzz behind the scenes. Johnson was on Jeremy Pruitt's first two staffs, initially serving as wide receivers coach in 2018 before moving to running backs coach in 2019. He left in to re-join Mike Norvell once FSU hired him away from Memphis. His heart is with coaching receivers, but he has been highly successful in everything he does. He was an excellent recruiter for the Vols, as he helped them secure multiple commits during his time, and most importantly, his name is clean of the NCAA investigation, which would allow a return. There is some initial mutual interest, but we will see how far it goes. We expect Tennessee to communicate more with him heading into the next week. Johnson's relationship with Norvell could be hard to overcome, but his family enjoyed Knoxville the first time around. If Johnson ended up willing to leave Tallahassee, he would be one of the clear front-runners for this job.

Grant Heard

Heard is currently serving as the co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach. Before coming to Indiana, Heard was at Ole Miss as the wide receivers coach. He boasts an impressive track record of recruiting and playing a part in the development of A.J. Brown, DK Metcalf, Van Jefferson, and Laquon Treadwell. He has won some impressive recruiting battles during his time at Indiana as well. He played the position and remains relatable to current prospects. If he wants to be, he will be back in the SEC before a matter of time. He continues to draw interest from Major Power Five programs as positions become available. He is a name we have heard mentioned as possibilty, so we will watch to see where he factors into this equation.

In our initial 'Potential Replacement' article, which, as we mentioned at the time, was based on availability and sensible fits, we suggested Billy Gonzales, Montario Hardesty, Andy Hill, and Darrell Wyatt as potential. We knew Darrell Wyatt was looking to make a move from UCF, and it appears he will be taking a position at Boston College. We have not heard any more intel to suggest that Billy Gonzales is a realistic candidate yet. However, given the fact he is a free agent, you can never rule out a circle back. Hardesty appears to be comfortable with his role at South Carolina and a return to Tennessee does not appear to be in the picture at this stage. One other name we have heard but not as frequently as the four mentioned is Andre Coleman. Coleman was most recently the wide receivers coach at Texas. 

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