US EditionWhy New Tennessee Football Strength Coach Is Likely Highest Paid in Nation
Owings joins Tennessee on a $1.2 million annual contract to boost football strength after Indiana's national title and UT's 2025 physicality struggles, becoming college football's top-paid strength coach.
- University of Tennessee named Derek Owings director of football sports performance on Jan. 20, with a contract paying about $1.2 million per year.
- Heupel pursued Owings to improve Tennessee's physicality after five losses in the 2025 season and Owings helped Curt Cignetti turn Indiana from 3-9 into a national champion.
- Owings signed a three-year contract, which Tennessee provided to Knox News, and spent the previous two seasons at Indiana with prior stops at James Madison, UCF, and Texas Tech.
- Offseason workouts begin on Jan. 21 under Owings, following a staff overhaul that included hiring Jim Knowles on Dec. 11 and defensive additions on Jan. 2.
- Having worked together at UCF in 2018, Kurt Schmidt, former Tennessee strength coach, followed Heupel to Tennessee after his contract expired on Jan. 31, and Owings had previously worked with him at Missouri.
12 Articles
12 Articles
University of Tennessee hires former Indiana strength and conditioning coach
Less than 24 hours after Indiana won the national championship, Tennessee swooped in to hire the Hoosiers' former strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings as the Vols new director of football sports performance, making him the highest paid coach at his position in all of college football.
Josh Heupel comments on Tennessee's hiring of Derek Owings
Josh Heupel and Tennessee made it to the College Football Playoff in 2024, but were unable to do so in 2025. There have been many changes made by the Volunteers to the coaching staff, with new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles being the biggest one. However, the Volunteers made big news on Tuesday, announcing Derek Owings as the program’s next director of football sports performance. On Monday night, Owings was on the sideline in Miami winning a…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
