Two New Assistant Coaches
After the news of Aaron Ausmus leaving for USC this past week, Vol nation needed their spirits boosted.
Tonight, we learned that Coach Dooley has made a ‘splash hire’ in the form of two assistant coaches: Harry Hiestand and Bennie Wylie.
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Harry Hiestand has coached at Toledo, USC, Penn, East Strousburg University, Cincinnati, and Illinois, and Missouri. He’s been a part of conference championship teams at five of those seven stops, including being on the USC staff at the 1998 Rose Bowl.
Hiestand was hired by the Chicago Bears in 2005, and there he has had tremendous success coaching their offensive line.
At Tennessee, Hiestand will most likely be coaching the Vol OL, though no formal announcement has been made yet.
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Bennie Wylie has been the Texas Tech strength and conditioning coach for the past five years, and there he was highly regarded by the Tech players. He was also the Dallas Cowboys assistant strength and conditioning coach for four seasons prior to his tenure at Texas Tech.
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Both of these guys are big hires for Tennessee. A great strength and conditioning coach is underrated, and Ausmus was well-liked by the players. Wylie should be, too.
Hiestand could be a better OL coach than Cregg was, and with us scraping together an offensive line for next year, he will be a huge factor.
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In other news…
Markeith Ambles is in Knoxville this weekend. The guy knows he is wanted and is making the most of it, you really can’t blame him. The Vols would love to have him, but if we can get Rogers then Ambles may not be as big of a factor. Still, good news that he’s made it here.
Nash Nance and Da’Rick Rogers will be around for the Florida basketball game tomorrow. This could be big news for Vols if they’re hoping to secure Rogers along with Nance in this class.
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