Tennessee football: Vols fan base will never forget ‘Schiano Revolution’
By Colby Howell
Jeremy Pruitt has Tennessee football back on track for recruiting. By avoiding Greg Schiano, let’s reflect on the greatest prevention in Volunteers history.
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In light of Jeremy Pruitt’s recent recruiting success, Tennessee football fans feel a sense of pride. They were called toxic and immature after the coaching search disaster. But the victory of the Vols fan base won’t be forgotten.
When bad things that happen in Tennessee football, fans will be the first to tell you, “It’s time to move on.” No one in Knoxville likes to dwell on matters longer than they have to. When the Vols lost to South Carolina in 2016 amid SEC East title hopes, “Move on!” they said.
When losing to Vanderbilt in that same season, fans were infuriated but ultimately believed in the coach (at the time, Butch Jones). He was assembling a decent recruiting class and was working on the #4 class in the country for 2018.
However, the salesman’s pitch only lasts so long until something goes wrong. Boy, did it ever go wrong. I wrote a piece not too long ago about how fans finally got the last laugh with Jeremy Pruitt being hired as head coach. To be clear, this isn’t another tangent about Butch Jones. It’s well-deserved recognition of the Tennessee fanbase.
I still can’t help but consider where Tennessee football almost ended up. In case you’ve suppressed it into the deepest depths of your memory you actually can’t remember, Greg Schiano. That is who the Vols almost ended up with at head coach.
ESPN and Paul Finebaum himself couldn’t contain themselves. They lashed out on the fanbase for stopping what could’ve possibly been the worst move in Tennessee football history. What usually happens when you fire a head coach, you hire someone with better credentials. You hire up, not across.
While coaching the Cincinnati Bearcats, Butch Jones put up 69 points on Greg Schiano’s Rutgers program. Not to mention, that was indeed Schiano’s 10th season with the Scarlet Knights.
Recruits read, see and hear fans consistently.
As if Jeremy Pruitt didn’t already have enough of himself to sell, the Vols fan base is in a national spotlight. One could say they’re seen as babies who didn’t get there way. Vols fans see it as standing up to the man.
It speaks volumes to today’s society that if you raise your voice hard enough, you can indeed make a change. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that Jeremy Pruitt is selling the UT fanbase to his recruits. “Did you see what happened with this program? Aight? These fans are pumped up now. Aight? They want you here. Aight? Let’s get’m a championship.”
You can’t help but wonder what he says. He definitely has the facilities and personal stats to sell UT’s program. Tennessee football’s worst season in history was still met with 100,000 fans in the stands cheering them on. Fans would show up if Tennessee played against a high school team. Why?
Passion.
The University was granted a favor by the passionate fan base. A little more than a month ago, John Currie was running the show and Butch Jones was coaching. Now? Hall of Fame coach Phillip Fulmer is AD and Jeremy Pruitt is head coach.
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Nobody knows how long it will take to restore Tennessee to dominance. But now more than ever, fans will have patience because this is a hire they invested in. They supported a man (Fulmer) who lead the program in its prime to make the best hire for the University. And that? That’s something to be admired.