What Pruitt learned from Vols fans on caravan
KNOXVILLE – Five Big Orange Caravan stops in two weeks didn’t leave Vols football coach Jeremy Pruitt with a singular comment from a fan that stood out above the rest.
But the first-year coach did leave the tour with a strong comprehensive impression from the fan base.
“I think everybody at Tennessee is extremely hungry,” Pruitt said before the final stop in Kingsport on Thursday. “We all want the same things.”
After stops in Chattanooga, Memphis, Nashville and Atlanta, Tennessee wrapped up the Big Orange Caravan in the Tri-Cities. Pruitt, naturally, drew plenty of attention from fans, as the new coach brought on in December to start a fresh era.
“Everybody is talking about, ‘Well, we just want this or we want that,’” Pruitt said. “I think maybe we need to raise our standards a little bit as a fan base.”
Tennessee is coming off one of its worst seasons in recent memory. The Vols slumped to 4-8, coach Butch Jones was fired before the end of the season and then a chaotic coaching search drew national headlines for weeks.
The world has calmed for now around the Vols, with Pruitt completing his first spring football session on April 21.
But the memories of last season linger. The very mention of last season’s winless SEC slate irked athletic director Phillip Fulmer on Thursday.
“Every time somebody says 0-8 it sickens my stomach, to be honest with you,” Fulmer said. “I know what Tennessee athletics should be in all sports, but Tennessee football, particularly. That gets the juices going. We have the most passionate fans that you could ever imagine. …
“We will get this football thing fixed. It’s just going to take a little bit of time.”
Pruitt quipped that he “could sit here and talk for a week about things we need to improve on” Thursday, reminding that the improvement for Tennessee won’t take place overnight.
He likened spring football to working with “100 true freshmen” as the UT coaches installed a new system and worked on changing the program culture. But Pruitt also praised his players for being willing to learn and expressed excitement about the coming summer practices.
Many responses drew large cheers from the fans on hand, serving as a reminder of that hunger that Pruitt saw at the first four stops of the Big Orange Caravan.
“What we have been through in the past 10 years, you cannot question the passion and support of the Tennessee fans and Tennessee families,” Fulmer said. “That’s one of our greatest strengths. We have lots of history and tradition and all of that, but one of our greatest strengths is our fans.”