This off-season, Levorn Harbin was named the outside linebackers coach at Tennessee.

There's a better chance you know Harbin by his nickname, though. He is called 'Coach Chop' by players, recruits, coaches and really anyone who knows him.

This all started when Harbin was a graduate assistant at Auburn in 1999 under Tommy Tuberville.

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"That came when I was a coach, a GA, at Auburn," Harbin said. "Senator Tommy Tuberville gave me that nickname, so that is where it comes from. Everybody back then was close knit. Everybody had a nickname. My name was Chop, short for pork chop. So, there we go."

In a separate, more recent, stint at Auburn, Harbin was coaching alongside Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner.

When Garner joined Josh Heupel's staff, Harbin quickly followed. While that familiarity certainly helps, it was his daughter that sold him. She always had an affection to the University of Tennessee and is now a student.

"Honestly, it was my daughter," Harbin said. "I had a chance to go to Tennessee or go somewhere else. I also had a lot of friends that had taken a job here about a month before me. But really, my daughter, for whatever reason, she always loved Tennessee. I didn't know, she just wanted to go to school here, so she is a student here. We love it here. The people have been great to me and my family. Coach Heupel is great to work for. Coach (Tim) Banks is great to work for. So, it's been awesome."

While Harbin is proving himself as an on-the-field coach, his calling card comes back to his recruiting. He's considered one of the best in the country and has continued to land top prospects at Tennessee.

This won't change at all now that he's the outside linebackers coach and not just an analyst. Instead of taking most of his time at practice helping other coaches on the staff, including former outside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler, it's his respsonsibility.

On the trail, it's the same recruiting as always.

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"Recruiting, no," Harbin said on if his responsibilities changed. "The coaching part is more on me now. I used to assist with Coach Garner and Coach Ekeler and then also my part, so the defense for Coach Banks. So there has been a little bit more with that. The recruiting part, that doesn't stop. I'm still going to do what I do."

What makes Harbin such an elite recruiter is his relationships he builds with prospects. This came from his mentor, Terry Price, a former Texas A&M player and assistant coach.

He told him he's only as good as the players in his room and that stuck with him. From there, he just tries to be genuine which has paid dividends. There's no different 'masks' or veils he puts on to lure in players, it's just the same Coach Chop.

Sometimes that means fun and outgoing, sometimes that's tough conversations with recruits and their families. This realness is key.

"He does a great job with it. He is relentless," Garner said. "He does a great job building relationships. He works at it. He builds trust. He adds value. That is a thing that is sort of getting lost in today's new age of different ways of recruiting. He does a great job of building relationships and building trust and having the opportunity to close on guys in the end."

As outside linebackers coach, Harbin's primary responsibility is the LEO position. As a hybrid between an edge rushing defensive lineman and linebacker, it's a unique and extremely important position in Tennessee's defense.

This is the spot that Byron Young and James Pearce Jr. have previously caused havoc in the Vols' defense.

This year, it's another strong group. Led by senior Joshua Josephs, other notable names in the room include junior Caleb Herring and sophomore Jordan Ross.

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