Pruitt vows he will put Volunteers back on top
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach
mission is to get the Volunteers back to the status they enjoyed when his new boss was roaming the sidelines.
Pruitt took over as Tennessee's coach Thursday, capping a tumultuous search in which replaced
as athletic director. Tennessee is coming off one of its most disappointing seasons ever and hasn't won the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division title since 2007, the year before Fulmer was forced out as the Vols' coach.
“There was a time and place that this university was feared among the SEC teams,” said Pruitt, who has spent the last two seasons as Alabama's defensive coor- dinator. “My goal as the head football coach at the University of Tennessee is to get us back to that point.” Nobody's feared Tennessee lately. The Vols opened this season in the Top 25 but finished 4-8 to set a school record for losses , as they went winless in SEC competition for the first time since the league formed in 1933. Those results led to the Nov. 12 firing of who went 34-27 in five seasons.
Tennessee followed up its poor season with a tumultuous coaching search that grew more embarrassing as it dragged on.
Pruitt, who has been an assistant on four different national championship teams, believes he can get Tennessee back to the heights it reached in the 1990s and early 2000s when Fulmer was coaching the team. This marks Tennessee's fourth coaching search since Fulmer's exit.
“Your expectations aren't near what mine are,” Pruitt said. “I'll tell you right now, my expectations are to win every game we play. That's the expectation I have.”
Pruitt, 43, agreed to a six-year deal that will pay him $3.8 million annually plus various benefits such as an expense allowance. winner of the Jim Thorpe Award as the top defensive back, he recorded 52 tackles, seven pass breakups, three quarterback hurries, an interception, a forced fumble and blocked field goal.
Stanford's the Doak Walker winner, leads Power 5 running backs in rushing (164.4 yards per game) and has gone for 100 or more in 11 games this season to tie the school record. Houston defensive tackle
winner of the Outland Trophy, was voted the nation's top interior lineman after making 69 stops from the middle of the Cougars' three-man front. And Oklahoma State's the Biletnikoff winner, is first in the nation with 1,423 receiving yards, and his 20 career 100-yard games are tied for most in school history.
Utah's the Lou Groza winner, leads the nation in most major kicking categories, including a school-record 27 field goals. Texas punter winner of the Ray Guy Award, leads the country with his 48.4-yard average and 44.7-yard net average.
Former UCF coach was named national coach of the year. Iowa won the Disney Spirit Award for its new tradition of nearly everyone in 70,585-seat Kinnick Stadium turning to wave to the pediatric patients watching from across the street inside the Stead Family Children's Hospital at the end of the first quarter. Oklahoma's
won the John Mackey Award as the top tight end. Ohio State's
won the Rimington Award as the outstanding center. Kentucky linebacker won the Wuerffel Trophy for community service.