Former Tennessee Vols graduate assistant named one of the top young coaches under 30

A former Tennessee Vols graduate assistant was named this week by 247Sports as the one of the top young coaches under the age of 30.

USF offensive line coach/run game coordinator Tyler Hudanick played college football at UCF under Josh Heupel before joining Heupel's staff in Orlando as a graduate assistant.

Hudanick followed Heupel to Tennessee where he served as a graduate assistant for two seasons before joining former Vols offensive coordinator Alex Golesh's staff at USF (Golesh was named the head coach at USF after the 2022 season).

The former Tennessee graduate assistant is viewed as a rising star in the coaching industry.

From 247Sports : Hudanick picked up a promotion very early into his coaching career, getting a bump to run game coordinator earlier this offseason. A member of Alex Golesh's initial USF staff, Hudanick helped coach an offense that finished 17th nationally in yards per game. Hudanick also showed acumen as a recruiter, finishing 11th in the AAC rankings a year ago while currently ranking second overall in the conference this year. A former UCF offensive lineman, Hudanick worked with Golesh as a GA at both UCF and Tennessee. Said one source of Hudanick: "He's elite."

Heupel's coaching tree is growing at a rapid rate. His graduate assistants and quality control coaches/analysts are seemingly getting promoted/receiving opportunities every offseason. And that's obviously big for Heupel and Tennessee -- it means the program should never have any issues finding assistant coaches as long as Heupel is at the helm.

As for Hudanick, it'll be interesting to see if he crosses paths with Heupel again at some point. Tennessee isn't expected to be in the market for a new offensive line coach anytime soon (Heupel and Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee have a good thing going), but Hudanick could be an option if a need ever arises.

Related: Former Tennessee Vols HC Jeremy Pruitt makes honest admission about returning to coach at the high school level