KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Kellie Harper reconnected with a respected and trusted colleague for her latest hire at Tennessee, announcing Bryan Tatum as the director of basketball sports performance for the Lady Vols.
Tatum has spent the past seven years as an assistant athletic performance coach at Auburn, working with the Tiger football team. He replaces Tyler Watson, who departed UT to accept a sports performance position with the St. John’s University men’s basketball program.
Harper and Tatum worked together previously at two stops along her coaching path. He was on her staff from 2008-10 at Western Carolina and provided his expertise at NC State from 2011-13.
“I am very happy to welcome Bryan Tatum and his family to the Lady Vol program,” Harper said. “I know that Bryan will continue the strong culture in our weight room that Tyler built and push our players to be the best they can be and to compete for championships.
“Bryan is a passionate, hard-working and intelligent coach with high character who connects well with student-athletes. He is extremely competitive and is already asking where we will hang our next championship banner. I am excited for him to get started.”
Joining the Auburn football staff in 2014, Tatum possesses 15 years of collegiate coaching experience with a mindset of growth and development meshed with a slight-edge philosophy. That viewpoint, which holds that “consistently repeated daily actions, plus time, equal unconquerable results,” comes from the book “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson.
“I am really excited to be part of the incredible legacy of Lady Vol basketball,” Tatum said. “It doesn’t feel real yet. It gives me chills to think about having some part of building onto that tradition, adding to the culture and empowering young women to unlock their potential and to not only be successful on the court but in life as well.
“My first full-time job was working with Kellie and Jon, and I have so much respect for them. They are as good as it gets, and I look forward to working alongside them and Casi (Dailey) again, the entire staff and a terrific group of student-athletes.”
Tatum arrived at Auburn from NC State, where he was an assistant strength and conditioning coach for three years from 2011-14, working with women’s basketball, wrestling, men’s and women’s golf, and rifle.
Prior to his time in Raleigh, he was the assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at Western Carolina (2008-2010), assisting with football and coordinating women’s basketball, women’s soccer, softball, volleyball, women’s tennis, men’s and women’s cross country, track and field and cheerleading.
Tatum spent two years as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coordinator at Western Kentucky (2006-2008), assisting with football while coordinating men’s and women’s soccer. He completed a master’s degree in exercise physiology from WKU in 2008.
He played football at West Liberty (W. Va.) State College and earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology with a minor in physical therapy in 2005. A team captain as a junior and senior, he was part of the 2000 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champions. In 2002, he was an All-WVIAC selection at defensive back.
Following graduation, Tatum completed an internship at Notre Dame before returning to his alma mater as a strength and conditioning coach while also serving as an assistant football and co-head track and field coach.
Tatum holds a number of professional certifications, including RSCC, CSCS, USAW, USATF, ISSC, SAQ, FMS, CES, MAT, RPR-2, FRCMS and TPI. He is married to the former Alison Poe of Barboursville, West Virginia, and they have four children: Jaxson, Jett, Hensley and Jude.
-UT Athletics
