STAFF
STEVE STRIPLING
ASSOC. HEAD COACH / DEF. LINE COACH
SECOND SEASON AT TENNESSEE COLORADO ‘76 • Veteran of more than 30 years in coaching, playing or coaching in 22 bowl games in his career • Helped teams to six conference championships, including four in the last seven years • Has already rewritten the record books in his first season at Tennessee, coaching Corey Miller to the single-game sacks record (4.5), besting Reggie White’s 20-year record of 4.0 set in 1983 • Spent the 2010-12 seasons at Cincinnati, working as the assistant head coach and defensive line coach; added responsibility of defensive rungame coordinator for 2011-12 • Coached the Bearcats to a 48-34 win over Duke in the 2012 Belk Bowl serving as Cincinnati’s interim head coach after Butch Jones left UC for Tennessee • Guided Bearcats to one of the nation’s most improved defense’s in 2011, as UC led NCAA in tackles for loss (8.62), finished second overall in sacks (3.46) and placed sixth in rushing defense (96.23 yards per game) • Cincinnati finished in the top 20 in the NCAA in scoring defense in 2011 and 2012 • Coached at Central Michigan in 2009 as the associate head coach-defense, working with the defensive ends • Coached the Chippewas to the 2010 GMAC Bowl Championship as interim head coach after Jones left CMU to take over at Cincinnati • Coached the defensive line at Michigan from 2005-07, mentoring All-American and Lombardi Award winner LaMarr Woodley, who currently stars for the Pittsburgh Steelers • In 2006, the Wolverines led the NCAA in rushing defense, allowing just 43.3 yards per game • Coached in the Big Ten for a total of 22 years with stints at Michigan State (2003-04), Minnesota (1997-2000) and Indiana (1984-96), where he was the defensive coordinator in 1996 • Also coached at Louisville in 2001 and 2002, coaching Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year Dewayne White, who was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ top draft pick in 2003
COACHING CAREER Year Team 1977-78 Colorado 1979 North Carolina 1980-83 Northern Illinois 1984-89 Indiana 1990-95 Indiana 1996 Indiana 1997-00 Minnesota 2001-02 Louisville 2003-04 Michigan State 2005-07 Michigan 2009 Central Michigan 2010-12 Cincinnati 2013- Tennessee
Position Graduate Assistant Recruiting Coach Offensive Line Offensive Line Defensive Line Defensive Coordinator Linebackers/ Recruiting Coordinator Defensive Line Defensive Line Defensive Line Interim Head Coach/ Assoc. Head Coach/ Defensive Ends Interim Head Coach/ Asst. Head Coach/ Defensive Line Assoc. Head Coach/ Defensive Line
• First full-time coaching job came at Northern Illinois from 1980-83, as he helped Huskies to the 1983 Mid-American championship as the team’s offensive line coach • Served as recruiting coach at North Carolina in 1979 after two seasons as a graduate assistant as his alma mater, Colorado in 1977-78 • Played in three bowls as an offensive lineman at Colorado, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Boulder • Signed a free-agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons in 1976 • Stripling and his wife, Gayle, have three children, Cody and Chad live in Cincinnati while daughter Christy and grandchildren Calista and Seth live in Knoxville
MIKE BAJAKIAN
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR / QUARTERBACKS
SECOND SEASON AT TENNESSEE WILLIAMS COLLEGE (MASS.) ‘96 • Coached in seven bowl games, helped teams to six conference championships • Won two NFL division titles and coached in four NFL Playoff games, including Super Bowl XLI • In his first season at Tennessee, the Vols rushed for 2,261 yards, the most since 2004 and the third-most in the last 16 seasons since 1998 • Readied true freshman QB Josh Dobbs to a starting role in 2013, just the eighth true freshman to start at QB at UT • Spent three seasons as Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks from 2010-12 • Previously spent three seasons in the same position at Central Michigan (2007-09) and three seasons with the Chicago Bears of the NFL (2004-06) • Was on the Bears coaching staff during Super Bowl XLI in Miami • His offenses have scored 30-plus points in 52.7% of his
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TENNESSEE FOOTBALL // 2014 FOOTBALL
career games • In 2012, the Bearcats led the Big East in scoring offense, rushing offense, and yards per play • Running back George Winn, led the conference in rushing yards (1,334), touchdowns and rushing TDs • Under Bajakian, quarterback Zach Collaros became only the second passer in school history to reach the 6,000-yard and 50-touchdown milestone. He left Cincinnati with a 62% completion percentage, 6,278 yards passing, and 51 touchdowns • The Bearcats won conference titles in each of the last two seasons, scoring an average of 33.3 points per game and 385 yards per game in 2011 • In 2012, Travis Kelce set the UC single-season mark for receptions (45), yards receiving (722) and touchdowns (8) by a tight end besting current Philadelphia Eagle Brent