x
Tennessee Vols reportedly lose assistant coach to College Football Playoff team
Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Tennessee Vols are reportedly losing an assistant coach to a school that just competed in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

According to CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz, James Madison is hiring Vols assistant offensive line coach Phil Serchia as the program's new tight ends coach.

James Madison, which lost to the Oregon Ducks in the first round of the playoff this past weekend, recently hired former Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier to replace Bob Chesney as the Dukes' head coach.

Serchia served as an offensive assistant for the Los Angeles Chargers for two years before joining Tennessee's coaching staff ahead of the 2025 season. He played college football at Colorado State.

Tennessee could see some more coaching staff change in the coming weeks. New Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles is expected to make a couple of hires, but it's unclear at that this point which defensive assistants will be replaced and which will be retained.


window.addEventListener('message', function (event) {if (event.data.totalpoll && event.data.totalpoll.action === 'resizeHeight') {document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-1476').height = event.data.totalpoll.value;}}, false);document.querySelector('#totalpoll-iframe-1476').contentWindow.postMessage({totalpoll: {action: 'requestHeight'}}, '*');

This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Dec 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the Nashville section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

Yardbarker +

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!