Tennessee revealed Friday head strength and conditioning coach Dave Lawson is no longer with the program. Team spokesman Ryan Robinson classified the departure to the Knoxville News Sentinel as neither a firing or a resigning, instead saying Lawson and his superiors had “philosophical differences.”
Lawson oversaw the entire Tennessee athletics department’s strength efforts with Mike Szerszen handling the football team on a day-to-day basis. But Lawson was a longtime lieutenant for Jones, first working with him at Central Michigan in 2007, then following the head coach to Cincinnati and Tennessee.
For a “philosophical difference” to pop up now, after nearly 10 years together, strikes one as pretty odd.
Lawson’s departure figures to be a boon for Szerszen in more ways than one. Lawson will continue to receive his $200,000 salary through February, with mitigation involved should he get another job between now and then, but the Vols do not plan to hire someone to replace Lawson’s position as overall strength director. Szerszen, meanwhile, made $66,000 last year, so it seems he’s due for a substantial raise in the not too distant future.
