Tennessee RB coach DeRail Sims after beating ETSU on Sept. 6, 2025. (Photo via Ryan Sylvia | RTI)

Miami football is searching for its next running backs coach, coming off an appearance in the national championship game. This comes after Matt Merritt, the Hurricanes’ previous position coach, took a job in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals.

This could directly impact Tennessee football. Quickly, CaneSport reported that Vols running backs coach De’Rail Sims is ‘in the mix’ to take the job at Miami.

This would be a blow to UT’s staff for the second time this offseason. Recently, newly hired cornerbacks Michael Hunter Jr. took a job in the NFL, as well. He was promptly replaced with Derek Jones, who most recently coached at Virginia Tech and owns prior experience under Jim Knowles.

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Sims joined Tennessee for the 2024 season to replace the departing Jerry Mack. Mack went to the NFL for a season before taking the job as the Kennesaw State head coach, where he won a conference title in his first year and was named the CUSA Coach of the Year.

In Sims’ first year, he inherited Dylan Sampson, who proved to be one of the best backs in the conference. Sampson earned SEC Offensive Player of the Year honors as he paced a struggling offense on a Vols’ team that made the 12-team College Football Playoffs.

This past year, Sims rode DeSean Bishop to another 1,000-yard season for a UT back. That was the third-straight season with a 1,000+ rusher for the Vols, dating back to Jaylen Wright before Sims got to campus.

If Sims does return, he’ll have a room that features Bishop, Tulane transfer Javin Gordon, rising sophomores Daune Morris and Justin Baker and incoming three-star freshman Will Rajecki.