3 UCF Assistants Join Heupel At Tennessee

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Tennessee's new head football coach Josh Heupel announced three UCF offensive assistants will be joining him in Knoxville.

Heupel, who coached UCF from 2018 to 2020, announced six of his assistant coaches on Monday.

Offensive line coach Glen Elarbee, offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh, and quarterbacks coach Joey Halzale joined Heupel on his journey from Central Florida to Tennessee.

Golesh, who served as UCF's co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach in 2020, previously spent four seasons as Iowa State's tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.

Yahoo Sports reports Golesh's contract runs through Jan. 31, 2024, and will make $750,000 per year.

Elarbee arrives at Tennessee having worked alongside Heupel for the last five seasons. He previously held coaching positions at LSU and Missouri.

Tennessee's other new assistants have contracts running through Jan. 31, 2023, Yahoo reports. Elarbee will make $750,000 annually, while Halzle will earn $350,000 per year.

Halzle, a former three-time Big 12 Conference champion quarterback at Oklahoma, begins his first season as quarterbacks coach at Tennessee and his 13th alongside Josh Heupel.

Elarbee, Golesh, and Halzle were all part of Heupel's offenses at UCF that saw the Knights rank No. 2 in the FBS in total offense (568.1), No. 4 in passing offense (357.4), and No. 8 in scoring offense (42.2).

Additionally, Kodi Burns will be joining the staff on Rocky Top as the wide receivers coach. This will be his seventh season in the league as an assistant coach.

Jerry Mack will join the staff as the running backs coach after four seasons at North Carolina Central and, most recently, as the offensive coordinator at Rice for the last three seasons.

"We look forward to bringing an exciting brand of uptempo offense to Rocky Top," Heupel said. "I am thrilled about the offensive staff we have assembled. They understand what it takes to maximize our potential offensively and will give our student-athletes the proper path to success and development on and off the field. Their energy will be infectious with our current players and in recruiting as well."