Tennessee fills its open running backs coach position on staff
According to Austin Price of On3’s Volquest, Tennessee hired former Cincinnati running backs coach De’Rail Sims to replace Jerry Mack, who recently left for the same position with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Sims, a South Carolina native, leaves the Bearcats after two seasons following spending the two previous seasons at Louisville, all with current Cinci coach Scott Satterfield. Before that, he spent time coaching RBs at East Carolina, James Madison, Western Carolina and Carson Newman.
The last three years, Sims oversaw his teams’ rushing attacks finish inside the NCAA’s top-25 with Louisville ranking second in the ACC in rushing the past two seasons. The Cardinals topped 200 yards on the ground per-game in 2021 and 2022, scoring 25 and 29 TDs, respectively. Sims has led prolific ground games at each of his stops during his still relatively young coaching career — while with the Cardinals, he coached conference rookie of the year Rahjai Harris to 600-plus yards and four TDs in eight games. Prior to that, he spent three seasons at James Madison, where the team went 28-2 during that span, won an FCS title in 2016 and finished second in 2017.
The offense was propelled by the team’s rushing attack — one that ranked fourth in the country in TDs with 108, sixth in yards with more than 9,400 and 13th in yards per-game at nearly 220 during Sims’ tenure.
Madison was particularly successful in 2016:
“During the 2016 season, the Dukes rushed for a CAA-record 4,125 rushing yards and held FCS ranks of second in scoring (46.7 ppg), fourth in third-down conversions (50.0 percent), fifth in rushing average (275.0 ypg) and sixth in fewest fumbles lost (4). His unit turned in 18 individual 100-yard rushing performances, including 11 by All-America selection and Sports Network FCS National Player-of-the-Year Khalid Abdullah, who finished the season with 1,809 yards and 22 TDs – both school single-season records.”
After three years at James Madison, Sims made the leap from FCS to the FBS level, where he spent three seasons as ECU’s running backs coach.
- Appointed to direct the Pirates’ running backs unit on Dec. 7, 2018 …
- During first year at East Carolina, guided his corps to their highest single-season rushing yardage total (1,696) since 2014 …
- Developed rookie Demetrius Mauney, whose team-high 446 rushing yards marked the second-highest ground total ever tallied by a Pirate true freshman (Chris Johnson/561 in ‘04) …
- Ball security emphasis resulted in only three combined lost fumbles by entire RB unit during the 2019 season …
- Helped JMU’s offense net 2,383 rushing yards (183.3 ypg) in 2018, which stood fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association and 45th nationally …
- In 2017, James Madison was 25th nationally with 194.3 rushing yards per game, turned in a pair of 400-plus-yard outings (472 vs. Norfolk State, 410 vs. ECU) and accounted for at least three ground scores in five contests …
- Guided his unit to a CAA-record 4,125 rushing yards in 2016 and held FCS ranks of second in scoring (46.7 ppg), fourth in third-down conversions (50.0 percent), fifth in rushing average (275.0 ypg) and sixth in fewest fumbles lost (4) …
- Coached a group that turned in 18 individual 100-yard rushing performances in ‘16, including 11 by All-America selection and Sports Network FCS National Player-of-the-Year Khalid Abdullah (who finished the season with 1,809 yards and 22 TDs – both school single-season records) …
- Spent the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons at Western Carolina as the Catamounts’ running back coach and director of player development …
- Directed a pair of WCU running backs to All-Southern Conference honors – Detrez Newsome and Darius Ramsey …
- Helped the Eagles to a 9-3 record and the NCAA II playoffs before finishing the campaign with a nation-leading 380.0 rushing average and 52 ground scores …
Cincinnati’s 247 site said this about Sims’ recruiting and coaching prowess:
Sims helped coach Louisville great Jawhar Jordan, East Carolina AAC Rookie of the Year Rahjai Harris, and Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner who rushed for over 1,000 yards on the season.
Known as a great recruiter, Sims helped land class of 2024 ball carrier Jakorion Caffey out of Avon High School in Ohio and class of 2025 speedster Zion Johnson out of Georgia. Given Cincinnati’s zone run scheme, the Bearcats running back coach is an important and rather unique position that Sims had given them stability and proven success.
Caffey is a 3-star recruit from Ohio, while Johnson is a 3-star recruit from Georgia with posted 100-meter times of 10.88, 11.00 and 11.06. Overall, Sims is credited with seven commitments in which he was the primary or secondary recruiter, with all seven prospects rated as 3-star players.
Allegedly, the first call Sims made as a member of the staff was to Justin Baker, a 2025, 3-star running back from GA., whose main recruiters were Jerry Mack and Brian Jean-Mary.