Jerry Mack, Volunteer State native, former conference championship-winning head coach and one of college football's undisputed rising assistant coaches, is exiting Rocky Top.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Mack, among Josh Heupel's initial hires three years ago on Rocky Top, is expected to leave the program for a job in the NFL.
Per sources, Mack and the Jacksonville Jaguars are trying to finalize an agreement to have Mack joined the Jags's coaching staff of head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor.
Though no deal has been completed, sources with direct knowledge said that "things are trending positively" and a deal could be finalized as early as Friday night, perhaps no later than Saturday.
Matt Zenitz of 247Sports first reported that Mack had emerged as a top target.
Mack's impact on the Tennessee offense was immediate, but it was never more evident than in the 2023 season.
In charge of the running backs for a Vols offense that paced the SEC in rushing and ranked No. 9 nationally, Mack helped coach Jaylen Wright to an thousand-yard season even though Wright played in only 12 of Tennessee's 14 games.
Mack's work with the running backs was all the more crucial during a 2023 season in which Heupel's aerial attack saw its production dip by 83 yards per game -- down to just 243 ypg -- in the transition from Hendon Hooker to Joe Milton III.
Tennessee's top three tailbacks under Mack last year -- Wright, Dylan Sampson, Jabar Small -- combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. In Sampson, Mack helped the Vols secure one of their biggest recruiting wins in the 2022 class, and Sampson has averaged more than 6 yards per carry in already topping 1,000 career yards.
Mack's work in 2023 with the Tennessee backfield helped him in being named the Our Coaching Network's 2023 SEC Running Backs Coach of the Year.
Prior to Tennessee, Mack served as an offensive coordinator and associated head coach during a four-year stint at Rice.
Already, Mack has proved to be an accomplished head coach; he won three MEAC championships in just four seasons as head coach at North Carolina Central.
A Memphis native who spent the first year of his playing career at Jackson State and then closed out as a three-year contributor at Arkansas State, Mack has coached at the University of Memphis in addition to garnering FCS and junior college experience in his coaching climb.