Penn State’s Shoop to Tennesee

Tennessee fired its defensive coordinator, John Jancek, earlier this week with designs on pursuing Shoop to do the same job.

Penn State’s brilliant defensive coordinator is heading to Knoxville.

Shoop and Tennessee agreed to a three-year deal worth $1.15 million per year. “I also want to thank Coach Franklin, the Penn State players and coaches and the Penn State community for an incredible two seasons”. This season as injuries piled up Shoop’s defense finished 14th in total defense and was highlighted by a defensive line where three of the front four are National Football League bound. With extensive ties to the Nashville area after working at Vanderbilt from 2011-13, Shoop has connections that should pay dividends for the Vols. And his reputation as a top defensive mind should also help the Vols as they look to close on some defensive targets such as safety Nigel Warrior, defensive tackle Derrick Brown and others in the weeks leading up to signing day. In a released statement, HC Butch Jones said, “Bob has established himself as one of the premier coordinators in all of college football and is very well-respected as a recruiter, football coach and person”.

James Franklin’s coaching staff hasn’t changed much the past five seasons. That year three projection Franklin put in place – the year where he expected to team to move past NCAA sanctions, understand how the program is run and have everything in place- certainly isn’t lining up with where he thought this program would be at this point. The reason the Vols parted ways with Jancek is because the Tennessee defense just wasn’t playing well enough. His 2014 defense ranked second in total defense (278 per game) and seventh in scoring defense. The defensive coordinator is leaving Penn State for Tennessee. Shoop’s buyout at Penn State is believed to be in the $800,000 range, and he likely would require a seven-figure salary. It will be worked out between Shoop and Penn State. Brent Pry, Penn State’s highly-regarded linebackers coach and assistant head coach, acted as Shoop’s co-defensive coordinator.

“I hope Penn State will have me forever and ever and ever”, he said leading up to the TaxSlayer Bowl. I love what we’re building here…. “We play in the best division in the best conference in college football, and that’s really exciting”. Not terrible numbers, but still somewhat middle-of-the-road as far as the SEC is concerned, and if you’re going to win in the SEC, you need an elite defense.