Jeremy Pruitt again is bolstering his Tennessee coaching staff with a strong hire.

This time it's on the defensive side of the ball.

Sources told GoVols247 on Friday afternoon that the Vols are expected to hire Oakland Raiders defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley, a former assistant coach at Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama, to the coaching staff, barring any unforeseen circumstance.

Ansley could have a co-defensive coordinator role with the Vols, according to sources.

Ansley had two separate stints working with Pruitt at Alabama, first as a graduate assistant in 2010 and 2011 when Pruitt was the defensive backs coach and again in 2016 and 2017 as the defensive backs coach when Pruitt was the Crimson Tide's defensive coordinator.

The Alabama native spent the 2012 season as Tennessee's cornerbacks coach on Derek Dooley's staff before spending the next three seasons at Kentucky, where he coached the cornerbacks in 2014 and 2015 and oversaw the entire secondary in 2015.

Ansley left the collegiate coaching ranks last year to become an NFL assistant on Jon Gruden's staff in Oakland.

He played at Troy (2001-04) and finished among the nation's interceptions leaders as a junior in 2003, and Ansley got his start in coaching at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala., where he spent five seasons (2005-09) coaching the defensive backs.

The Vols will need Ansley's experience and expertise in coaching defensive backs after losing the two assistant who split duties with the defensive backs in 2018. Last month when safeties coach and special teams coordinator Charles Kelly, the former Florida State defensive coordinator who was a valued member of Pruitt's defensive staff, left Tennessee to join Alabama's staff. Tennessee and cornerbacks coach Terry Fair, the former Tennessee star who joined the Vols from Colorado State, parted ways on Friday.

Pruitt is a defensive backs coach by trade and will be involved in the daily coaching of the position, but in Ansley he's hiring a proven assistant coach he trusts.

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Ansley will be the third new addition to Tennessee's coaching staff. Pruitt last month tabbed Georgia's Jim Chaney to be Tennessee's new offensive coordinator. He also hired Tee Martin, the former national championship-winning quarterback for the Vols who spent the past seven seasons, including the past three as offensive coordinator, coaching the wide receivers at Southern California.

Kevin Sherrer currently holds the title of defensive coordinator and Chris Rumph has a co-coordinator title, though Pruitt was the primary play-caller for Tennessee's defense in 2018.

Tennessee also is adding another quality recruiter in Ansley, who was ranked the No. 15 recruiter in the nation in 2017 when he helped Alabama bring in four top-100 recruits, including offensive lineman Jedrick Wills, safety Xavier McKinney and wide receiver Henry Ruggs, and also landed top junior college cornerback Saivion Smith in 2018.