Three additions complete coaching staff

Willie Mack Garza

Eddie Gran

Frank Wilson

Tennessee hired three assistant football coaches Friday, filling out Lane Kiffin's inaugural staff.

Former Auburn running backs coach Eddie Gran, North Dakota State defensive coordinator Willie Mack Garza and Mississippi State running backs coach Frank Wilson are the latest additions, multiple sources confirmed Friday.

UT also hired Alabama outside linebackers coach Lance Thompson on Thursday, beginning a flurry of activity that finalized the Vols' staff a day later.

Terms of those agreements were not immediately available, and specific positions for those coaches have not been announced.

Wilson was perhaps the most intriguing of Friday's hires.

A member of UT assistant head coach Ed Orgeron's staff at Ole Miss, Wilson spent last year at Southern Miss before joining new Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen's staff in late December.

UT had been in contact with Wilson before he went to Mississippi State, however he appeared to be out of the picture at Tennessee late last week.

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported on its Web site Friday evening that Wilson had signed a letter of understanding - but not a contract - with Mississippi State and that he does not owe the Bulldogs a buyout for leaving.

Wilson has strong ties to the New Orleans area, where he coached high school football and served as the city's public school athletic director before going to Ole Miss.

Gran, who had been with Tommy Tuberville at Ole Miss and Auburn beginning in 1994, also has ties to Orgeron. He served as a graduate assistant for two seasons at Miami while Orgeron coached defensive line there in the early 1990's.

During Gran's time with the Tigers, he coached three running backs who went on to be first-round NFL draft picks: John Avery, Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams.

Gran, who is expected to coach running backs at UT, also coached special teams for the last nine seasons at Auburn.

Garza, a four-year starter at safety and cornerback at Texas from 1992-95, comes to Tennessee after reportedly accepting a job at New Mexico.

He coached defensive backs at TCU for three seasons, although he was suspended from the staff and later replaced after a 2003 misdemeanor arrest for suspicion of driving while intoxicated and failing to render aid to an injured person.

Garza worked his way back to Division I after spending 2004 coaching defensive backs at Tarleton State University and coaching defensive backs at North Dakota State, a Football Championship Subdivision school, from 2005-08.

Garza, who was NDSU's defensive coordinator the last three seasons, is expected to coach defensive backs at Tennessee.

Friday's hires also mean that Tennessee will have an entirely new coaching staff for 2009.

Kiffin cut ties with UT's entire defensive staff and offensive coordinator Dave Clawson before being introduced Dec. 1.

Former UT offensive line coach Greg Adkins left for Syracuse, and former wide receivers coach Latrell Scott became an assistant at Virginia.

Former UT running backs coach Stan Drayton, who remained on staff the last six weeks, apparently will not return.

Kiffin first hired his brother-in-law, David Reaves, from South Carolina before adding former Oakland Raiders offensive line coach James Cregg and St. Louis Rams tight ends coach Jim Chaney in mid-December.

Those hires were followed by the official introduction of his father, longtime Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, and Orgeron on Jan. 2.

Lane Kiffin also hired Mark Smith from South Carolina to become head strength and conditioning coach.

Friday's finishing kick means UT will have its full staff in place this weekend, when the Vols are expected to host eight recruits on official visits.

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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