Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ex-Dawg QB doubts Vols’ hire
ATLANTA — The Tennessee-Georgia rivalry received extra bite this season after new Volunteers Coach Jeremy Pruitt had to defend himself from accusations made by former Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray.
Murray, now an analyst for CBS Sports Radio, recently questioned whether Pruitt — a former defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama — has the temperament to run his own program.
“I don’t know if his personality is fit to be a head coach,” Murray said during a radio appearance on The Game in Nashville, Tenn. “As a head coach, there’s so many things that go into it.
“It’s not just going out there and coaching. You have to deal with the front office. You’ve got to go talk with the president of the university. You have to deal with boosters. You have to deal with the offense, the defense. It’s not just going in there and dealing with the kids and scheming up. There’s a lot that goes into it.
“I don’t think he’s the right guy to kind of be the CEO of a corporation. He’s really good managing just a defense and being a defensive coordinator. He needs to prove to me that he can handle the whole ship.”
Murray played at Georgia from 2009-2013 before Pruitt became the team’s defensive coordinator in 2014. The former quarterback’s criticism stemmed from reports about harsh words Pruitt had at times for Bulldogs Coach Mark Richt.
Pruitt answered questions about Murray’s comments during an interview session with Tennessee reporters at SEC football media days last week.
“I look at it like this: 15 years ago, I was a kindergarten teacher, and today I’m the head coach at Tennessee,” Pruitt said. “So you probably don’t make that ascension unless you know how to treat people.”
Pruitt said he doesn’t know Murray but respects what he did as a player.