Tennessee’s Pruitt says he sees ‘lots of progress’
KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s on-field momentum screeched to a halt in an embarrassing home loss to Florida last Saturday, but first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt offered a defense of his football program Wednesday.
“See lots of progress when it comes to doing things right on the field, off the field, learning how to practice, learning our expectations, becoming a team,” Pruitt said on the SEC teleconference. “So I’m excited about that.”
The Volunteers (2-2, 0-1) travel to face second-ranked Georgia (4-0, 2-0) on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference Eastern Division matchup the Bulldogs are favored to win by nearly five touchdowns. The 3:30 p.m. game will be televised by CBS.
It’s the beginning of a tough threegame stretch for Tennessee against opponents ranked in the top 10, and reaching bowl eligibility this season appears far-fetched for the Vols.
A win over West Virginia in the opener or against Florida this past weekend would have boosted Tennessee’s postseason hopes dramatically. Instead, lopsided losses in those games deflated the belief Pruitt could
“Right now, we’re 2-2 and we need to do a little bit better job on game day. But when you look at where we’re at today compared to where we were nine or 10 months ago, we’re in a lot better shape” – JEREMY PRUITT, UT COACH
improve on the Vols’ 4-8 record last season in his first year as a head coach.
Still, the former Alabama, Florida State and Georgia defensive coordinator struck an optimistic tone as he prepared to face former coworker Kirby Smart, who is thriving in his third year as head coach at Georgia.
“In this business, everybody is judged off wins and losses,” Pruitt said. “Right now, we’re 2-2 and we need to do a little bit better job on game day. But when you look at where we’re at today compared to where we were nine or 10 months ago, we’re in a lot better shape.”
Smart inherited a talented Georgia program that won 10 games in back-to-back seasons with Pruitt as its defensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015 before Smart went from being Alabama’s defensive coordinator to the head coach at his alma mater. The Bulldogs went 8-5 in the 2016 season but last season finished 13-2, won the SEC title and reached the national championship game.
Pruitt’s championship aspirations will be more dependent on the talent he recruits after the Vols languished to a program-worst win-loss record last season, their fifth and final under coach Butch Jones. But even after a disappointing start, Pruitt is claiming progress with the players he inherited when he was hired last December.
“Well, I’ll tell you in the last 10 months or nine months, however long it’s been,” Pruitt said, “our kids have really worked hard to do what we’ve asked them to do.”
Asked Tuesday about the patience required for building a program after a career spent working for title-contending teams, Pruitt said, “What I want everybody in our program to do is to be at their best all the time.”
“If we’re our best all the time, then the rest of it will take care of itself. That’s what we’re working to do every single day. So I know where we want to go. I know where our players want to go. But you don’t get what you want. You get what you earn. So we’ve got to continue to do that.”
Redshirt ruminations
A handful of college football players around the country have announced their intentions to transfer over the past two weeks in a trend that appears to correlate with a new NCAA rule that allows players to appear in up to four games in a season and still receive a redshirt.
Clemson senior quarterback Kelly Bryant announced he intends to transfer after Clemson coach Dabo Swinney named freshman Trevor Lawrence the team’s starting quarterback this week. Bryant led the Tigers to the College Football Playoff last season and started the first four games this season but would have a full season to play next year.
Pruitt was asked about the impact of the rule on his program.
“Well, I think after four games, there’s been things brought to my attention that’s happened nationally,” Pruitt said. “I think you’ve got to kind of adjust to what the rules are. We’ve been really focused on trying to improve our team. Obviously, we couldn’t bring anybody in right now. I’ve not focused on bringing anybody in. I’m worried about getting the team we’ve got right now going.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb.