Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker almost became the head coach at Tennessee this offseason, but just missed out. However, he did parlay that flirtation with the Volunteers into quite a hefty pay day for him. Tucker was making $900,000 in the 2017 season and it appears that he will be making $1.5 million, according to Jason Butt of The Telegraph.
Georgia allowed an average of 16.4 points per game last season, which was about eight points better than the season prior. The redzone defense also improved under Tucker, holding opponents to a 77 percent conversion rate in that area, which is down from over 90 percent in 2016.
Tucker certainly deserved a raise for improving his defensive unit so dramatically from year one to year two, but it probably helped that he interviewed with Tennessee a couple times. That's called using leverage and it works just as well for coaches as it does for professional players who get more money thanks to what they can negotiate.
[h/t Saturday Down South]
