In Defense of Jeremy Pruitt

by Brendan Paschal 

There’s no defending Jeremy Pruitt for the losses to either Georgia State or BYU. There is no denying it, Tennessee is in a bad place right now. After the 2017 debacle Vols fans thought the worst was behind them. Sure, there would be some growing pains with a new coach and athletic director, but Phil Fulmer was a familiar face and he brought back so many happy memories for Tennessee fans. Fulmer seemed to regain control of a struggling program and press reset. After hiring Pruitt Tennessee fans started to regain hope for their team.

In his first season Pruitt showed glimpses of promise. Upsetting (21) Auburn and (12) Kentucky was encouraging. Those wins signified that Tennessee was on the upswing. It was the only thing making those hard losses to Vanderbilt and South Carolina, and finishing last in the SEC bearable.

Jeremy Pruitt in 2019

But now Tennessee has taken a step backward. They were supposed to start out 3-0. Facing Georgia State, BYU, and Chattanooga all at home. These were supposed to be easy victories – an encouraging start for a team that has taken so many punches over the years. That didn’t happen. Many are already turning on Pruitt. They claim he wasn’t ready to be a head coach; this team lacks basic fundamentals; he didn’t know what asparagus was (he didn’t, that’s fair). Dave Hooker at Saturday Down South titled, It’s time to buy out Jeremy Pruitt and turn to a familiar face to resurrect Tennessee football. Understandably Hooker has zero faith in Pruitt’s ability to figure a way out of this situation. But I’m here to say let’s take a step back, take a deep breath, and look at the situation as a whole.

What to Do?

I full heartedly agree with Hooker that the answer lies in Fulmer. However, not as the next head coach. Fulmer is the only person in the entire athletic department that Tennessee fans trust. But if he were to buyout Pruitt for $10 million and announce declare himself coach of Tennessee he would lose all that trust. That would be the most diabolical move since Emperor Palpatine.

Even if Fulmer decided not to coach it would still be a bad move to fire Pruitt. The University of Tennessee is nowhere near finishing their buyout payment of Butch Jones. When Jones was fired the university agreed to honor the contract and pay him the full $8.25 million owed. UT must continue to pay Jones over $200,000 a month until February 28, 2021. That is not cheap. And Pruitt’s contract is even larger. Imagine having to pay two ex-coaches on top of another coach for another three years. The university would have to pay over half a million a month or around seven million a year for head coaches alone. That’s ridiculous.

Give Jeremy Pruitt a Chance

Instead Fulmer needs to double down on Pruitt. He needs the administration, players, and fans alike to know that Pruitt is his guy. There are rough storms ahead, but if Fulmer truly backs Pruitt it settles him down and allows him to coach.

Vols fans, face it, 2019 is already a bust. Pruitt should take this year to focus on the fundamentals. Coach these guys to hold onto the ball, lineup in the right formation, tackle properly. The little things all add up into something better. One of my high school coaches always said “if I can’t trust you to do the little things how can I trust you to do the big things?” Recruiting won’t be easy, but with Fulmer’s support and influence Pruitt can go out and get the right guys he needs. Tennessee is currently in the Top 25 for the 2020 recruiting class.

Vols fans, I understand that you are desperate for a decent year. But please, don’t jump ship just yet. All good things come with time. Jeremy Pruitt is not Butch Jones. There’s still a lot of opportunity to improve.