Finally, Tennessee and defensive assistant Kevin Steele have parted ways officially. The veteran coach and former Volunteer was hired by Phillip Fulmer and Jeremy Pruitt after Auburn didn’t retain him. The strange thing was, Pruitt was in the midst of an ongoing recruiting investigation — one that eventually led to his firing.
Steele was named the acting head coach and there was some thought that he could stick around for 2021 in that role, but that idea quickly went out the window when Fulmer opted to retire. New athletics director Danny White hired Josh Heupel from UCF, who then hired Tim Banks as his defensive coordinator.