What’s the old saying, “If you can’t beat ‘em, hire ‘em?”
As Vanderbilt’s defensive coordinator from 2011-13, Bob Shoop led the charge in securing the ‘Dores first back-to-back victories over Tennessee since 1925-26. Now, two years later, Butch Jones has hired him to run the Volunteers’ defense.
“We are very excited about the addition of Bob Shoop to our coaching staff,” Jones said in a statement. “Bob has established himself as one of the premier coordinators in all of college football and is very well-respected as a recruiter, football coach and person. He brings a wealth of experience at the highest level and possesses all the qualities we were looking for as we went through this process. He has directed units that have finished in the Top 25 nationally in each of the last five years and he will do a great job of developing our players on the defensive side of the ball.”
Shoop spent the past two seasons working for James Franklin at Penn State, where he helped the Nittany Lions rank third (2014) and 15th (this fall) in yards per play allowed despite not playing with a full deck of scholarships. Penn State placed 42nd nationally in the year prior to his arrival.
“I would like to thank Mr. Hart and Coach Jones for giving me this opportunity,” Shoop said. “I also want to thank Coach Franklin, the Penn State players and coaches and the Penn State community for an incredible two seasons. This was not an easy decision and one that I didn’t take lightly. Over the last 24 hours I had an opportunity to meet with Coach Jones and his staff. It became evident to me that he is building a great program, a program on the rise and certainly one that will compete for an SEC Championship. I’m looking forward to becoming a part of the team.”
Word out of Knoxville says Shoop will make the SEC-coordiantor standard seven figures, but he’ll be responsible for his own $800,000 buyout.
From a source, deal with Shoop is 3 years, $1.15 million and Tennessee is not responsible for his buyout.
— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 10, 2016
My bad. Was typing really fast. It is $1.15 million per year, not over three years. And that's from UT.
— Tennessee Beat (@TennesseeBeat) January 10, 2016
