Vols set to look for new RB coach as David Johnson will join Florida State's Staff

On the heels of their comeback bowl victory, it appears that Tennessee is going to lose running backs coach David Johnson to Florida State. The news comes from Bruce Feldman, who first released it on Twitter.

Johnson has been rumored as the last member of Mike Norvell's staff for some time, but it appeared that the Vols might weather the storm. Johnson previously served under Norvell during the 2016 and 2017 seasons at Memphis before joining Jeremy Pruitt's staff in Knoxville. Johnson served as the receivers coach and passing game coordinator during his first stint under Norvell. Johnson was key in the development of Anthony Miller who would go on to be a consensus All-American.

Johnson's strong ties to the Memphis area paid dividends for the Vols on the recruiting trail during his time in Knoxville. He was a key player in keeping Tennessee in the race for Eric Gray during the 2019 class. However, it was 2020 that he hit paydirt when he helped Tennessee land Omari Thomas, Jabari Small, Martavius French, Tamarion McDonald, and Bryson Eason from the area.

If Johnson does leave for Florida State, Tennessee will be able to take their time with this hire, as they have already signed their running backs haul for the class. Jeremy Pruitt has shown that he has the ability to make home-run hires and does not care what kind of timeline it takes to do so. However, the hire may come internally in the form of Joe Osovet. Osovet currently holds the title of director of programming for football. Osovet's background is in the junior college ranks where he became known as one of the innovators of the trending run-pass option (RPO).

The other big name that will likely emerge around the Tennessee fan base is former Vol Jay Graham. Graham currently has a salary of 550k, which is 50k more than Tennessee was paying Johnson annually.