Tennessee football: Patience from Vols fans is a virtue with Jeremy Pruitt
By Colby Howell
Tennessee football fans have suffered under incompetent leaders for years. Now with Phillip Fulmer and Jeremy Pruitt, Volunteers fans must be patient.
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If there’s one thing Tennessee football fans know about, it’s losing. They have been all too familiar with that feeling for the past decade. But, new head coach Jeremy Pruitt has demonstrated incredible leadership. Fans should give him time.
While that may seem rough to hear, the truth of it is that Tennessee football is at the bottom of the SEC. Pruitt is inheriting a program that didn’t win a single conference game in 2017.
Fans were elated to see Butch Jones fired after such an abysmal season. They are even more excited now to see Pruitt take control of the program. However, other fanbases throughout the SEC still give Tennessee football fans heat for being an impatient fanbase.
Some wonder if he will have enough time to build the program before the fans run him off. The answer is quite simple, really.
Look at Pruitt’s. Then, look at Butch Jones’s stats and the amount of time he had to get things right in Knoxville. Yeah, I think Pruitt will have all the patience in the world from the Rocky Top community.
Butch Jones on paper looks a lot better than Butch Jones in real life. And he was given a lot more patience than other people think. There’s no reason you should be winless in SEC play by your fifth year, especially at a place like Tennessee. The peak of Jones’s tenure were his victories over Florida and Georgia in 2015. He did that with a senior quarterback who had a unique set of skills in Joshua Dobbs and future NFL starters Alvin Kamara and Derek Barnett.
Oh, and Florida was in turmoil under Jim McElwain while Georgia was rebuilding in Kirby Smart’s first year.
The rest is history. Tennessee football then lost to South Carolina and Vanderbilt that same season, costing them the East.
Jones found every possible way to sell his program for more than it was. He camouflaged the mediocrity with slogans and cliches, all of which fans were fed up with in 2017. He used a garbage can on the sidelines for turnovers! If that doesn’t scream desperate, I’m not sure what does.
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If you watched Jeremy Pruitt’s press conference, he had most fans ready to charge into war. He didn’t shout or seem nervous. It was a very straightforward approach where he discussed recruiting and dominating the line of scrimmage.
This was incredibly refreshing for Vols fans everywhere since the past five years have been an overwhelming redundancy of phrases.
Pruitt’s resume speaks volumes too. While yes, Jones was able to provide three consecutive bowl victories for UT, Pruitt has been an assistant coach in four national title games with an overall record of 128-31 (as an assistant).
He knows what it means to be at the top. The pressure of a big stage is nothing new to him. I believe he came to the University of Tennessee because he has the demeanor of someone who won’t be bullied around. It’s the moment he’s been waiting for, the chance to run a Power Five school his way.
As soon as his press conference was over, Pruitt was on the phone with recruits and former coaches to build a staff and team. He’s ready. I think most fans are perfectly fine with a six-year contract. Depending on the job he does, they could be begging for an extension.
His first season (2018) however, could go either way. Tennessee football has a lot of talent on the roster. But that schedule is no joke: a four week stretch against Florida, Georgia, Auburn and Alabama. That alone is enough to make everybody sweat. My prediction is they may have an 8-5 season.
However, it’s important that fans trust the process and cheer on the coach and team. It started with John Currie and Greg Schiano. It ended with Phillip Fulmer and Jeremy Pruitt. Vol Nation is strong when they’re united. Now’s the time to sit back and enjoy the ride.