University of Tennessee Athletics
Ansley Back on Rocky Top to Help Guide Experienced Staff
August 02, 2019 | Football
The Tallassee, Ala. native enters his ninth season in the SEC as an assistant this time in a new role
Seven years after his first stint with Tennessee as a defensive backs coach, Derrick Ansley is back on Rocky Top with a new addition to his title, defensive coordinator.
Ansley came back to the place where he got his first full-time FBS coaching position. Although in a new role, he is familiar with the SEC offenses he is going to face. Ansley enters his ninth season as a coach in the conference with a one-year hiatus from the college game, serving as the defensive backs coach for the Oakland Raiders in 2018.
A Tallassee, Ala., native and former defensive back at Troy, Ansley has spent nearly his entire life in the southeastern United States and has been in the college game since 2001 outside of his one year on the west coast.
"Derrick's heart is in college football," head coach Jeremy Pruitt said. "He is a tremendous recruiter. He has passion for young people and is a very good teacher. He had a lot of opportunities to leave the Oakland Raiders this offseason and he chose to stay. The opportunity to be the defensive coordinator here and to work with the men on our staff is something he could not turn down."
Over the course of his career, Ansley has worked with six members of the current Tennessee staff while also playing for Troy at the same time Tracy Rocker served as the defensive line coach.
In 2011, Ansley was on the same staff at Alabama with Pruitt, Co-Defensive Coordinator and Outside Linebackers Coach Chris Rumph and Special Teams Coordinator and Inside Linebackers Coach Kevin Sheerer, helping lead the Crimson Tide to a national championship. He reunited with Pruitt at Alabama in 2016 and helped the Tide win another national championship in 2017 with current Tennessee coaches Brian Niedermeyer (tight ends) and Chris Weinke (quarterbacks) also on the staff.Â
That championship pedigree and comradery Ansley had with the Tennessee staff was one of the reasons he wanted to make his was back to Rocky Top.
"That was one of the draws for me to come take this job," Ansley said. "It was very glamorous because the staff did have a lot of experience and they know how to do it in this league. They've done it before. They're proven veterans and they're good men. So, that was very attractive for me when I decided to take the job."
The Vols coaching staff has been part of 16 national championships as players or staff members, coached more than 200 NFL draft picks, won 29 conference championships and mentored 66 All-Americans.
The 16 national championships are the most of any staff in the SEC.
Ansley himself has been a part of two National Championship teams while producing 13 draft picks at the defensive back position. Six of those players were chosen in the first round including two-time All-Americans Minkah Fitzpatrick and Mark Barron.
While at Tennessee in 2012, he helped groom future Super Bowl champion Justin Coleman into an NFL talent. Now, Ansley is looking to mold the next group of Tennessee defensive backs, a group that is hungry to get back onto the field.
"We have a lot of competition at the cornerback position, the star position and the safety position. These guys want to come into camp and attack the right way, and we're going to see who rises to the top."
In the defensive backs corps, the Vols bring back plenty of experience including three-year starting safety Nigel Warrior. Since 2016, Warrior has played in 36 games for Tennessee with 169 total tackles and three forced fumbles.
The Vols also return the starting cornerback tandem of Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson, who enter their second seasons on Rocky Top. Thompson, a FWAA Freshman All-American, led Tennessee with 10 passes defended, seven breakups and three interceptions last season.
Despite having plenty of experience returning, Ansley believes there will still be plenty of competition on the backend of the Vols defense entering fall camp.
"We've got a lot of competition. We've got a lot of guys that have played some ball. There are some guys that have proven themselves, but we've also got a bunch of other guys that are coming up that are eager to put their foot on the field and make their imprint on the defense."
As a first-time defensive coordinator, Ansley himself will be making his own imprint on the Tennessee defense this season. He will have plenty of experience on the field including returning SEC sack leader Darrell Taylor coming off the edge.
Not only will the experience be on the field, but on the sidelines as well, coaching alongside one of the most experienced staffs in the country. One in which that has proven they can win not only in the SEC, but also on the national stage.
Ansley came back to the place where he got his first full-time FBS coaching position. Although in a new role, he is familiar with the SEC offenses he is going to face. Ansley enters his ninth season as a coach in the conference with a one-year hiatus from the college game, serving as the defensive backs coach for the Oakland Raiders in 2018.
A Tallassee, Ala., native and former defensive back at Troy, Ansley has spent nearly his entire life in the southeastern United States and has been in the college game since 2001 outside of his one year on the west coast.
"Derrick's heart is in college football," head coach Jeremy Pruitt said. "He is a tremendous recruiter. He has passion for young people and is a very good teacher. He had a lot of opportunities to leave the Oakland Raiders this offseason and he chose to stay. The opportunity to be the defensive coordinator here and to work with the men on our staff is something he could not turn down."
Over the course of his career, Ansley has worked with six members of the current Tennessee staff while also playing for Troy at the same time Tracy Rocker served as the defensive line coach.
In 2011, Ansley was on the same staff at Alabama with Pruitt, Co-Defensive Coordinator and Outside Linebackers Coach Chris Rumph and Special Teams Coordinator and Inside Linebackers Coach Kevin Sheerer, helping lead the Crimson Tide to a national championship. He reunited with Pruitt at Alabama in 2016 and helped the Tide win another national championship in 2017 with current Tennessee coaches Brian Niedermeyer (tight ends) and Chris Weinke (quarterbacks) also on the staff.Â
That championship pedigree and comradery Ansley had with the Tennessee staff was one of the reasons he wanted to make his was back to Rocky Top.
"That was one of the draws for me to come take this job," Ansley said. "It was very glamorous because the staff did have a lot of experience and they know how to do it in this league. They've done it before. They're proven veterans and they're good men. So, that was very attractive for me when I decided to take the job."
The Vols coaching staff has been part of 16 national championships as players or staff members, coached more than 200 NFL draft picks, won 29 conference championships and mentored 66 All-Americans.
The 16 national championships are the most of any staff in the SEC.
Ansley himself has been a part of two National Championship teams while producing 13 draft picks at the defensive back position. Six of those players were chosen in the first round including two-time All-Americans Minkah Fitzpatrick and Mark Barron.
While at Tennessee in 2012, he helped groom future Super Bowl champion Justin Coleman into an NFL talent. Now, Ansley is looking to mold the next group of Tennessee defensive backs, a group that is hungry to get back onto the field.
"We have a lot of competition at the cornerback position, the star position and the safety position. These guys want to come into camp and attack the right way, and we're going to see who rises to the top."
In the defensive backs corps, the Vols bring back plenty of experience including three-year starting safety Nigel Warrior. Since 2016, Warrior has played in 36 games for Tennessee with 169 total tackles and three forced fumbles.
The Vols also return the starting cornerback tandem of Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson, who enter their second seasons on Rocky Top. Thompson, a FWAA Freshman All-American, led Tennessee with 10 passes defended, seven breakups and three interceptions last season.
Despite having plenty of experience returning, Ansley believes there will still be plenty of competition on the backend of the Vols defense entering fall camp.
"We've got a lot of competition. We've got a lot of guys that have played some ball. There are some guys that have proven themselves, but we've also got a bunch of other guys that are coming up that are eager to put their foot on the field and make their imprint on the defense."
As a first-time defensive coordinator, Ansley himself will be making his own imprint on the Tennessee defense this season. He will have plenty of experience on the field including returning SEC sack leader Darrell Taylor coming off the edge.
Not only will the experience be on the field, but on the sidelines as well, coaching alongside one of the most experienced staffs in the country. One in which that has proven they can win not only in the SEC, but also on the national stage.
Players Mentioned
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