Unstable Vols turn to Pruitt
Tenth in a series previewing the 2018 SEC football season
ATLANTA — The failed experiment with Butch Jones at Tennessee led to an embarrassing coaching search, which led to the hiring of defensive whiz Jeremy Pruitt away from rival Alabama.
Athletic director John Currie’s attempt to hire Greg Schiano as head coach touched off a public mini-revolt from a segment of the fan base and wound up with longtime Volunteers coach
Phillip Fulmer taking over Currie’s AD seat, followed by his selection of Pruitt.
The Volunteers, in essence, hired a Nick Saban protege in an attempt to beat Saban and Alabama, and also to reclaim a seat among the top 25 of college football. Tennessee had nine 10-victory seasons, including a 13-0 run to the
first BCS national championship in 1998, and just two losing seasons in 16-plus years under Fulmer (151-52-1).
In the nine years since his departure, the Vols are 57-56 with no 10-victory seasons and a high-water mark of back-to-back 9-4 records under Jones in 2015 and 2016.
After playing in 15 bowl games, 13 of them on New Year’s Day or later, under Fulmer, Tennessee has played in five in the past nine years under Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley and Jones.
Pruitt understands where the Volunteers believe they belong.
“When I chose to go to Tennessee, and our staff chose to go to Tennessee, our number one goal is to build a championship program,” Pruitt said. “To do that, it takes commitment, and it takes resources.
“When you talk about commitment, you can look at the Tennessee fan base. I’ve been all over the state. I’ve been all over the southeast. The passion, you can feel it. We’re hungry. They’re hungry. Everybody’s hungry. We’re excited to get started.”
Receiver Marquez Callaway recalled Pruitt’s message in the first team meeting in December.
“Coach Pruitt told us that he remembered Tennessee being the top team in the SEC and in the country,” Callaway said. “He kept telling us he planned on bringing the university back to where it belongs.”
Said tight end Eli Wolf:
“He said, ‘We will win.’ Coming from a place that has won championships, we all just have to buy into what he says, and I believe we will win.”
Pruitt’s involvement with championship programs at Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012, 2017) and Florida State (2013) and on the high school level is extensive.
He has studied under the Bobby Bowden tree, with two seasons (2014-2015) as defensive coordinator at Georgia under Bowden pupil Mark Richt; and under the Saban tree, which is fast populating the SEC with head coaches and assistants.
“Just knowing the track record he has and putting multiple players on to the next level, and all the championships he won as a defensive coordinator or assistant coach, it has definitely given me and my teammates a lot of confidence,” Vols defensive lineman Kyle Phillips said.
Pruitt is ready to work for Fulmer, who had a 10-5-1 record against Alabama.
“The easiest way to look at it is this: If you told me I was going to be the head coach at Tennessee and I could choose who the athletic director was
going to be, I would choose Coach Fulmer,” Pruitt said. “All of the things that helped make Tennessee great, he knows what it took to get there. When there’s a bump in the road, he probably knows the things that can help steer me away from it.”
Pruitt, a native of Rainsville, Ala., who was named the national recruiter of the year in 2012 by 247Sports, also appears to be facing a rebuild.
He inherited a program that lacked an identity on either side of the ball and has lost 11 consecutive games to Alabama and two in a row, as well as four of the past six, to Vanderbilt. Tennessee won 22 in a row against Vanderbilt, and 28 of 29, before a 41-18 loss in 2012.
The Vols also have excelled at finding creative ways to lose to Florida, such as last year’s 63-yard touchdown pass on the game’s final play from Feleipe Franks to Tyrie Cleveland. The Gators have won 12 of the past 13 games to take a 27-20 series lead.
The Volunteers were not sound on either side of the ball in 2017. They ranked 124th nationally in total offense with 291.1 yards per game, 81st in total defense (412.9) and were one of the worst teams in the country in run defense, ranking 125th by allowing 251.3 yards per game.
They will enter camp with their quarterback situation unsettled for new coordinator Tyson Helton. Sophomore Jarrett Guarantano is back after completing 86 of 139 passes (61.9 percent) for 997 yards, with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, but he will face competition from
sophomore Will McBride and transfer senior Keller Chryst, a 6-5, 234-pounder who struggled to stay healthy during his career at Stanford. Pruitt said freshman signee J.T. Shrout, a longtime commitment to Cal who flipped to the Vols in December, will also be in the mix.
“I think it’s going to be important for us as a staff to start whittling it down pretty fast so we can kind of create rhythm and timing and a little bit of chemistry on offense and figure out who our guys are going to be,” Pruitt said.
The Volunteers return six starters on offense, including receivers Callaway, Brandon Johnson and Josh Palmer; and seven starters on defense, including linebackers Daniel Bituli, Quart’e Sapp, Jonathan Kongbo and Darrell Taylor, and junior defensive back Nigel Warrior.
Pruitt expressed confidence in his coaching staff, which features coordinators Helton and Kevin Sherrer, former Outland Trophy winner and University of Arkansas, Fayetteville assistant Tracy Rocker, and former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke.
At SEC football media days last week, Pruitt was asked to assess the state of the program after 10 years of subpar performances.
“The only thing I can assess is the last six months,” he said. “I wasn’t at Tennessee the last 10 years. I’ve been there for six months. Right now I’d say that from the top down, from the boosters, the fan base, the players, everybody involved in the program, we’re all running in the same direction, and we’re running as fast as we can.”