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Why Tennessee WR coach Kelsey Pope is one of On3's assistant coach rising stars

IMG_3593by: Grant Ramey08/24/23GrantRamey
Kelsey Pope Tennessee Football
(© Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK) Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope during Tennessee football spring practice at Haslam Field in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, April 5, 2022.

Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope was named as one of 30 rising stars among power five assistant coaches in college football, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz. Pope is in his second season as the Vols’ wide receiver coach, after being promoted from his analyst position in May 2022.

Pope last season helped develop a Tennessee wide receiver group with five players that had at least 30 catches, 400 yards and two touchdowns. Jalin Hyatt had a breakout season, catching 67 passes for 1,267 yards and 15 touchdowns.

He became Tennessee’s first Biletnikoff Award winner and the first Tennessee wide receiver to become a unanimous All-American, setting a single-season record for touchdown receptions. He was drafted in the third round of the NFL Draft by the New York Giants in April.

‘He’s a master teacher of the wide receiver position’

“I think Kelsey’s an expert wide receivers coach,” Zenitz wrote, quoting an anonymous college football coaching source. “To me, he’s a master teacher of the receiver position. He played the position at a really high level and he understands the game. The second thing that I think makes him is really good is he’s super relatable. Kids gravitate to him and relate to him. And that’s part of why he got the job at Tennessee because the kids really stood on the table and wanted him to have the job. 

“And you can see the product with his development of Hyatt and landing the No. 1 receiver all-time recruiting-wise at Tennessee. He’s rising quick. First year coaching and you get the Biletnikoff Award winner. That’s pretty good.”

Behind Hyatt, USC transfer Bru McCoy caught 52 passes for 667 yards and four touchdowns. Ramel Keyton had a breakout season in his own right, with 31 catches for 562 yards and five touchdowns.

Cedric Tillman caught 37 passes for 417 yards and three touchdowns in six games while dealing with a high-ankle sprain that sidelined him for half the season. Squirrel White as a freshman caught 30 passes for 481 yards and two touchdowns. 

Hyatt offered some insight into Pope’s success last September, after he caught five passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Akron, in a breakout performance. 

After scoring a touchdown, Hyatt immediately looked for Pope on the sideline to celebrate.

“I went straight to Pope because he was here last year when I was struggling,” Hyatt said, referencing the 2021 season when Pope was an offensive analyst, “when I felt like things weren’t going right for me last year.”

Vols promoted Kelsey Pope after Kodi Burns left for New Orleans Saints

Pope, a Sylacauga, Ala., native, played college football at Samford (he’s the program’s leader in receptions, with 250), and started his coaching career at Ohio Northern in 2017. He later made stops at Shorter University in Georgia (2018-19), Tennessee Tech (2019) and Gardner-Webb (2020) before joining the Tennessee staff as offensive analyst in 2021. 

Pope was promoted when former Tennessee wide receivers coach Kodi Burns left to join the New Orleans Saints coaching staff.

“When (Pope) was here as an analyst he was always there trying to help me get my confidence back, as far as with my game,” Hyatt said last season. “And I’m really grateful for that guy. I think he’s the best receiver coach in the country.”

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