The Tennessee Volunteers at Nissan Stadium. NASHVILLE, TN – September 02, 2023 – The Tennessee Volunteers during vol walk before the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, TN. Photo By Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics.
There were two former University of Tennessee football players on the Tennessee Titans coaching staff this season under head coach Brian Callahan. The Titans fired Callahan amidst a disappointing 3-14 season which put Bo Hardegree and Luke Stocker’s future with the franchise in person.
However, new head coach Robert Saleh is retaining Stocker as his tight end’s coach, Paul Kuharsky first reported last week. Kuharski reported that Stocker took on more responsibilities orchestrating the Titans run game later in the season— coinciding with improvements on the ground.
Hardegree was the Titans’ quarterback coach and play caller for much of the 2025-26 season. There have been no official announcements about his future with the franchise but it is believed that he will not be back next season on Saleh’s staff.
Stocker has spent his entire coaching career with the Titans. His career ended following the 2021 season and after taking the 2022 season off, he joined the Titans staff as an offensive assistant in 2023. Stocker became an assistant tight ends coach in 2024 before Callahan promoted him to full-time tight ends coach this past season.
More From RTI: CBS Predicts Former Tennessee Football Star to Sign with Titans in NFL Free Agency
The former Tennessee standout played 11 seasons in the NFL with four teams— Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Atlanta and Minnesota. Stocker spent the first six years of his career with the Bucs before playing the 2017 and ’18 seasons with the Titans. Stocker played for Mike Vrabel during the 2018 season and Vrabel ended up giving him his first coaching job five years later.
A blocking tight end, Stocker caught 85 passes for 705 yards and five touchdowns during his NFL career. His best statistical season came with the Titans in 2018 when he caught 15 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
Stocker played at Tennessee from 2007-10 where he combined to catch 85 passes for 956 yards and eight touchdowns. He caught 29 passes for 389 yards and five touchdowns under Lane Kiffin in 2009 before catching 39 passes for 417 yards and two touchdowns as a senior in 2010.
Tampa Bay drafted Stocker in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft which marked the beginning of his professional career.