Tennessee Hires Cincinnati’s De’Rail Sims as RB Coach
While the Cincinnati Bearcats coaching staff retained most of their up-and-coming coaches this offseason, assistant coach De’Rail Sims will not be one of them.
According to a report from 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz, Sims was hired to take over as the running backs coach at Tennessee after helping lead the nation’s fifth-ranked rushing attack in 2023.
Sims was a valuable member of the Cincinnati coaching staff, as he had spent the previous three seasons under Scott Satterfield at both UC and Louisville. Sims has led his running back room to three straight nationwide top 25 rankings over the last three seasons, including this past season at Cincinnati, where the team finished fifth in the nation with 217.1 yards per game. Â
De’Rail Sims has succeeded at each of his stops during his 10-year coaching period, including stints at East Carolina, James Madison, Western Carolina, Carson-Newman, and more before joining Scott Satterfield at Louisville.
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Sims helped running back Corey Kiner put together a career year as a junior, totaling 1,047 rushing yards on 192 carries. According to the university’s website, Kiner’s season was the 20th 1,000-yard season in program history and the 16th-most rushing yards ever by a Bearcat running back.
Cincinnati will now look for a new running backs coach ahead of the 2024 season in hopes of continuing to find success on the ground.
