WHO’S BACK?

Butch Jones returns to Tennessee for his fifth season — the longest he’s ever been at any stop during his coaching career.

While much of the staff has been overhauled, the Vols do return running backs coach Robert Gillespie, linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen and defensive coordinator Bob Shoop.

Larry Scott, who coached the tight ends in 2016, was promoted to offensive coordinator.

WHO’S NEW?

After squandering a golden opportunity to win the SEC East, Jones opted to shakeup his staff this offseason, firing assistants Willie Martinez (secondary) and Don Mahoney (offensive line). Walt Wells, a longtime coach in college football, was promoted from last year’s role as an offensive line quality control assistant, while Tennessee tabbed Charlton Warren to take over the secondary and coordinate special teams.

Scott, who replaces Mike DeBord after the veteran OC left for the same position at Indiana to be closer to his family, targeted a pair of former co-workers from previous stops to shore up Tennessee’s offensive staff.

Mike Canales was hired to coach quarterbacks and Kevin Beard, along with quality control analyst and former NFL assistant Tony Sorrentino, will coach receivers.

With Steve Stripling moving to an off the field role, Jones pegged former head coach Brady Hoke to manage UT’s defensive line.

Finally — and perhaps most importantly — Jones hired his longtime friend and 17-year NFL veteran Rock Gullickson to overhaul the Vols’ strength and conditioning program.

BIGGEST STRENGTH

Without a doubt, experience. Jones is certainly pushing his chips to the table with this staff, going all in on a group that’s filled with former coordinators and head coaches. It's only the offseason, but it certainly looks like he's built his best and most complete staff since he's been on Rocky Top.

Hoke has an impressive pedigree, but he’s hardly the only one. Jones has used many of his assistants as sounding boards this offseason, even changing his approach in spring practice (hello less megaphone bluster) and altering his stance against 7-on-7 work this summer.

It may be Year 5, but Jones is showing signs of evolving as a head coach.

Now, let’s see if he continues his more measured approach this fall when the real football calendar starts.

Other staff strengths include its recruiting acumen (especially the work by Walt Wells, Robert Gillespie and Mike Canales) and having a full-time quarterbacks coach.

As Shoop recently said, “This is a big league staff. … I really like this staff. Not that I didn’t like the previous staff, but this is a good staff.”

BIGGEST QUESTION?

Continuity. Easy.

Last year, Jones made a couple changes, but the staff didn’t exactly gel — especially defensively.

Despite so many changes, actual chemistry shouldn’t be a real issue for the offensive group, as Scott has worked with Beard, Wells, Canales and now Gillespie at various stops. Still, the new group will have to get on the same page quickly if they hope to continue the Vols’ recent offensive success. Scott hasn’t called plays since he coached at Sebring High (Fla.) in 2004 and now he’s tasked with finding a new quarterback, too.

Defensively, this is now Shoop’s defense. He was on board with both the Warren and Hoke hires, but he hasn’t worked with either coach before. Unlike last season, can the defensive staff all march to the same beat?