The Tennessee Volunteers football program will begin spring practices in just a few weeks. When they do, they will have three coaches in new positions. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel announced on Feb. 18 that he has promoted Levorn Harbin and Evan Crabtree to new roles and hired John Bonamego to the Volunteers coaching staff. Harbin will coach outside linebackers while Crabtree and Bonamego will coach together on special teams.
Crabtree will be Tennessee’s new special teams coordinator while Bonamego will be an assistant on that unit. Harbin and Crabtree were on Tennessee’s coaching staff last season as graduate assistants and analysts. Bonamego will come to Knoxville with three and a half decades of coaching experience. “We are excited about the cohesiveness of our coaching staff,” Heupel said. “Chop and Evan understand the culture and standard of excellence that we have built here over the past four years.
Both have strong relationships with our players, and it will make for a seamless transition as we get ready for spring practice. Chop has been a valuable part of our recruiting efforts. “We have taken great pride in our special teams units being among the best in the country since we arrived here. Evan has played a pivotal role in that success. John owns nearly two decades of coaching special teams at the highest level. As a former head coach, he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge into our program.”
Harbin and Crabtree are replacing Mike Ekeler, who coached outside linebackers and coordinated the special teams unit in Tennessee last season. Ekeler left this offseason for a job at Nebraska.
