In a season of unprecedented injuries for Tennessee football, particularly along the defensive side of the ball, numerous sources have told 247Sports/GoVols247 that fourth-year coach Butch Jones has made plans to again overhaul his strength and conditioning program.

After parting ways earlier this year with veteran strength coach Dave Lawson, Jones per multiple sources has reached out to longtime friend and NFL strength coach Rock Gullickson about becoming the Vols’ director of strength and conditioning.

Gullickson is finishing his seventh season with the NFL’s Rams franchise, which is nearing the end of its first season in Los Angeles after previously being in St. Louis.

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So where do the paths of Gullickson and Jones trace their origins? That’s from Jones’ days as a graduate assistant at Rutgers and Gullickson’s three years there as strength and conditioning coach. Gullickson not only has a tie to Jones but also to redshirt-freshman quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, whose father Jim is a Rutgers alum from that era.

Owning experience from five decades in the strength and conditioning profession, Gullickson owns 17 years’ NFL experience with stints for the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers, as well as collegiate stops at both the University of Texas and Louisville.

Tennessee, awaiting its formal invitation this weekend to the postseason, is winding down a once-promising season that includes a 5-0 start and 3-4 finish. The Vols won’t have injured starters Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Kahlil McKenzie, Shy Tuttle for the bowl game, all lost with season-ending injuries, and likewise are not expecting to have right tackle Chance Hall, either. Backup linebacker Quart'e Sapp also is done for the year after an ACL injury.

Lawson still is on the Vols’ payroll through February, and Mike Szerszen is Tennessee’s current top strength coach.