Jimmy Brumbaugh leaving Colorado for Tennessee

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Mel Tucker will be looking to fill an unexpected gap with the announcement of co-defensive coordinator/defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh moving on to a similar position at Tennessee.

The move first reported by Fox Sports reporter Bruce Feldman on Monday comes days after rumors surfaced that Tucker was interviewing to take over for recently retired Mark Dantiono at Michigan State.

This will be the third stint in the SEC for Brumbaugh. He coached as an assistant at LSU in 2006 and 2007, and he most recently was the defensive line coach at Kentucky from 2013 through 2016. The 42-year-old Brumbaugh played his college ball at Auburn where he earned All-SEC honors as a defensive lineman from 1995-99. He went undrafted and played one season in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers in 2000.

The move to Knoxville becomes the ninth stop for Brumbaugh in his coaching career. His highest accomplishment came with a national championship on Les Miles’ staff at LSU in 2007. Tennessee let the contract for former defensive line coach Tracy Rocker expired on January 31st, 2020, which allowed coach Jeremy Pruitt an opportunity to make the change.

There is no word on who Tucker will name as Brumbaugh’s replacement. The Buffs are a little over two months away from the annual Black and Gold Spring Game on Saturday, April 25.