James Allen Chaney (born January 12, 1962) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach and former player who is an offensive analyst for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He previously served as an offensive analyst for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Chaney previously served in the same capacity at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

from 2015 to 2018. Chaney also served as the offensive coordinator at

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

from 2013 to 2014 and

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

from 2009 to 2012, assuming the role of interim head coach for the final game of the 2012 season after Derek Dooley was fired. He was also the offensive coordinator at the

from 2019 to 2020, under Head Coach

Jeremy Pruitt Jeremy Pruitt (born May 28, 1974) is an American football coach who most recently was a senior defensive assistant for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at the University of Tenne ...

Coaching career

Chaney served as the offensive coordinator and multiple other assistant positions for other NCAA football programs such as: Purdue,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

, and

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Pen ...

. Between 2006 and 2009, he served as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Rams of the

(NFL), working with the offensive line and tight ends. Chaney was brought to Tennessee in 2009 by

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

. After the hiring of Derek Dooley in January 2010, it was confirmed that Chaney would remain at Tennessee as the offensive coordinator. Tennessee named Chaney as the interim head coach on November 18, 2012, after it fired Dooley. Six days later, Chaney won his only game as interim head coach as Tennessee defeated

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

37–17. On January 8, 2019, Chaney was hired to return to the University of Tennessee to serve as Jeremy Pruitt's Offensive Coordinator.

Offensive philosophy

While at Purdue, Chaney, along with head coach

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...

, became known for using the spread offense – famously dubbed " basketball on grass" – at a time when it was still considered a novelty and not commonly used. The system relied on a strong passing game and Chaney's offense was one of the most potent in the country. This was evidenced by the fact that future Super Bowl-winning quarterback

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...

(starting quarterback from 1997-2000) thrived in Chaney's offense and went on to break and set college,

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

records. When

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

took his first coaching job at Bowling Green, he sought advice from several of the best coaches using the spread offense, including Jim Chaney. After spending a few years in the NFL Chaney gained a newfound appreciation for the pro-style offense. When Chaney came to Tennessee, he and Kiffin fielded a very pro-style offense, very similar to what Kiffin used at USC.

Personal life

Jim is married to Lisa Chaney. The couple have two daughters, Elizabeth Chaney and Sara Chaney.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaney, Jim 1962 births Living people American football defensive tackles Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Cal State Fullerton Titans football coaches Central Missouri Mules football players Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches St. Louis Rams coaches Tennessee Volunteers football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches Wyoming Cowboys football coaches People from Holden, Missouri Players of American football from Missouri