College football insider details the coaching staff openings that Tennessee Football could have this offseason

The Tennessee Vols aren't expected to have a significant amount of turnover on their coaching staff this offseason, but there could be a couple of openings according to a college football insider. 

Football Scoop's John Brice, a longtime Vols/college football insider, joined The Tony Basilio Show on Tuesday and he detailed two potential openings that Tennessee could have this offseason. 

Brice noted that Vols running backs coach Jerry Mack is a candidate to become the new head coach at Middle Tennessee State. He also suggested that Tennessee cornerbacks coach Willie Martinez, who has been an assistant coach at the collegiate level since 1985, could retire this offseason. 

"I very strongly believe that Jerry Mack is involved in the MTSU (search)," said Brice. "He's already been a head coach at the collegiate level. He won three conference championships at North Carolina Central. He very much endeavors to be a head coach...I think Jerry Mack is absolutely involved with the MSTU search and it would not surprise me at all to see Jerry Mack get an interview and be further involved with the search." 

"His contract expires at the end of December, or the end of January? I think Willie's had a really long distinguished career and done a lot and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Willie hang it up," added Brice when asked about Martinez. 

Brice noted that for now, he doesn't see any other staff changes happening for Tennessee this offseason (and it's not a certainty that Mack and Martinez won't be back -- those are just the two legitimate possibilities). 

Who does Tennessee hire if Jerry Mack and Willie Martinez leave?

If Mack leaves for MTSU, then a coach that Brice also mentioned as a possibility for the MTSU job, TCU running backs coach Anthony Jones, could be an interesting option for the Vols. 

Jones, who has been on TCU's staff the last two seasons, played college football at Chattanooga. He was on staff at Memphis from 2018 to 2021 and he's also coached at the high school level in Memphis. Mack has strong Memphis connections which are important for Tennessee. Replacing Mack with Jones would help preserve some of those connections for the Vols. 

As for Martinez, the ideal scenario would be to hire former LSU/Florida secondary coach Corey Raymond, who is an elite recruiter/talent developer. Raymond was recently let go by Florida. Tennessee would have to move fast to hire Raymond, who will be a very in-demand assistant.