Pair of former Tennessee Vols assistant coaches named as candidates for vacant college football head coaching job

Earlier this week, East Carolina fired head football coach Mike Houston after the Pirates got off to a 3-4 start this season after going 2-10 in 2023. 

In the wake of Houston's firing, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman detailed some potential options to fill the now vacant head coaching job at East Carolina. And he pointed out a couple of former Tennessee Vols assistant coaches as options. 

Feldman named former Vols running backs coach Jerry Mack (now the Jacksonville Jaguars' runnings backs coach) and former Vols offensive coordinator Tyson Helton (now the head coach at Western Kentucky) as options to replace Houston in Greenville. 

From The Athletic: Western Kentucky head coach Tyson Helton, a former Tennessee offensive coordinator, has done an outstanding job, going 45-28 and is 31-11 in six seasons in Conference USA play. The Hilltoppers are 5-2 this year with their lone losses coming at Alabama and by one point at Boston College. They also have a nice win over Toledo. The 47-year-old got strong consideration for the Purdue head coaching job a few years ago and is expected to be a strong candidate for the Pirates.

Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach Jerry Mack is another former college head coach who might be in play. Mack, 43, spent the previous three seasons at Tennessee, where he helped Josh Heupel lead that a program out of a messy stretch. Before that, Mack went 31-15 at FCS program North Carolina Central, including a 26-6 run in MEAC play.

Helton spent one season at Tennessee, serving as Jeremy Pruitt's offensive coordinator in 2018, before landing the head coaching gig at Western Kentucky. Helton is 45-28 since taking over at Western Kentucky in 2019. He's had just one losing season with the Hilltoppers. 

Mack, meanwhile, served as the head coach at North Carolina Central (just 90 minutes from East Carolina) from 2014 to 2017. 

The former Tennessee running back coach's familiarity with North Carolina combined with his previous head coaching experience could make him an ideal option to replace Houston. 

If Mack ends up being the hire, and it's far too early to know how serious of a candidate he might be, there's always the possibility that he could call up a few old friends from Knoxville to join his staff at ECU.