The Tennessee Vols had hit Rocky Botttom. They now have back to back losing seasons and really haven't been shit since the Phillip Fulmer era. In Phil's sixteen years as head coach he led Tennessee to one national championship, two SEC championships, seven bowl wins, and eight double digit win seasons. Butch Jones had no double digit win seasons and versus Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Auburn, and LSU went 3-14. Thats how he ended up as Bama's intern thing. So where did the Vols go from there?
During their search for a new head coach their were rumors of Gruden, Scott Frost, Dan Mullen, and most notoriously Greg Schiano. Heres how the Schiano whispers went:
The Volunteers absolutely castrated their AD John Currie who basically had Schiano as a done deal. After campus outcry, an apology from the Chancellor, and even a statement from the White House press secretary, the crybaby fan base got their wash. I mean wish. What do you do to shut up a rowdy fan base? Hire an Alabama assistant of course.
Jeremy Pruitt first came to Alabama in 2007 as a player development analyst or something like that. He was then promoted to DB coach were he spun out first round talents like Mark Barron, Dre Kirkpatrick, and Dee Milliner. After being named the 2012 Recruiter of the Year by 247Sports he was picked up by FSU as Defensive Coordinator. He won a national championship with FSU then skipped over to Georgia for two years as DC, and then returned to Daddy in 2016 as Alabama's DC to win the 2016 national championship. So he was a little defensive coordinator slut for a couple years. Always the bridesmaid but never the bride, until 2018 when Tennessee announced him as their new head coach.
So how did Tennessee fair with their new head coach? No so great. They finished 5-7 on the year. However, Pruitt showed some serious progress with a team of guys that weren't his recruits. Vols defeated a good Kentucky Wildcats team that finished the year ranked 12th overall in the AP Poll. And more importantly Pruitt led the Vols to their first SEC West win since 2010 vs Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Here's what Mel Kiper had to say on Good Ole Rocky Top's class this year, "Jeremy Pruitt, the recruiting class coming in this year, is outstanding. The recruits that are coming in are going to get back to Tennessee having a lot of early-round picks." So even though Finebaum guaranteed they wouldn't win a title in his life time the Vols are on the come up. Imagine Paul just died if they went to the Rose Bowl. Anyway, last year 247Sports had Tennessee's recruiting class ranked as 21st overall. This year they're 12th. So strap up your overalls Tennessee cause you got a Bama man at the helm now.
p.s. Tennessee will always be low down, dirty snitches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mor3ZBsKINI
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