National Championship: Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt outcoached former Vols OC Jim Chaney
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt outcoached Jim Chaney as the Alabama Crimson Tide beat the Georgia Bulldogs in the national championship.
As we said earlier in the day, Tennessee football had a unique stake in the national championship game. The Vols had their future head coach in Jeremy Pruitt serving as Alabama’s defensive coordinator. They had their future defensive coordinator in Kevin Sherrer serving as Georgia’s linebackers coach.
And their former offensive coordinator under Derek Dooley, Jim Chaney, is the Dawgs’ offensive coordinator. This game came down to Pruitt against Chaney in the second half. To the delight of Vols fans everywhere, their future head coach flat-out shut down their previous offensive coordinator.
In the first half, with Jalen Hurts unable to get anything going on offense, Pruitt looked like he was struggling a bit as Georgia’s defensive coordinator. That’s because the Tide couldn’t stay on the field, so his unit got tired.
Saban made the switch from Hurts to Tua Tagovailoa in the second half. All of a sudden, the Tide were able to keep the ball a bit longer. That’s all Pruitt needed.
With the exception of one big play to Mecole Hardman for a touchdown, Pruitt shut down Georgia’s offense in the second half. In fact, he called a nearly flawless game then and in overtime.
Meanwhile, Chaney reverted back to what Vols fans always hated about him in Knoxville. He became predictable when it counted.
Remember that 2012 season? Tennessee put up record offensive numbers throughout the year. But they still finished 5-7. Why? Because as great as the offense would be, they would stall at the end.
Tennessee lost to Georgia by a touchdown, South Carolina by a field goal and Missouri in double-overtime. All three games, they had a chance to tie or win on a final drive in regulation. And all three times they blew it.
Now yes, you can blame the terrible defense that year for many things as well. But in pivotal moments to close out a game, Chaney always came up short. He did the same with Georgia and cost the Dawgs a national championship in the process.
Meanwhile, Pruitt was everything Vols fans have been begging for. He got his guys not to quit, made incredible in-game adjustments, and with just a little bit of help was unstoppable in the second half. This has to raise his profile even further.
To make matters more interesting, Tennessee almost hired Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker over Pruitt. After seeing the way Tucker could not adjust to the switch to Tagovailoa, Vols fans should be ecstatic that Phillip Fulmer chose Pruitt.
On top of that, the final touchdown pass in overtime from near midfield was too reminiscent of what Bob Shoop or Jon Jancek combined with Butch Jones were always guilty of in Tennessee. On second and 26, all Georgia has to do is make sure it plays soft coverage and keeps the corners deep. Instead, Tucker played a base cover-two and let DeVonta Smith get behind the secondary for the game-winning touchdown.
Sure, you can blame that on the player, but the defensive call was horrendous. As a result, that’s more reason for Vols fans to be happy about the Pruitt hire.
Simply put, by the end of the night, fans on Rocky Top are more than willing to swallow another national championship for Alabama. That’s because it came in no small part due to the great second half coaching of Pruitt. And Pruitt is now in Knoxville.
Meanwhile, Vols fans get to say good riddance to Jim Chaney one more time. If the national championship was any indication, it looks like they finally have a situational coach who actually knows how to come through in big moments.