Tennessee football: No reason to knock Jeremy Pruitt’s coaching with Vols yet
By Colby Howell
Some Tennessee football fans blamed Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt after their loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers. Here’s why that’s absurd.
Tennessee football fans are considered to be one of the most passionate fan bases in the country. While it was tough for many of them to stomach what happened against West Virginia, there’s no reason to blame coach Jeremy Pruitt and staff.
Scrolling through Vol twitter can get pretty ugly, no doubt. However, I had to draw the line when I saw some fans express their desire for Butch Jones over Jeremy Pruitt.
This is an unreasonable, and quite frankly moronic statement. Butch Jones was a terrible head coach. He’s why Tennessee football is in the state that it’s in. Consider what Pruitt has accomplished. As highly as his defenses have been ranked, you think he’s ok with what happened in Charlotte?
Absolutely not. One thing I couldn’t help but notice is he had to have been coaching for the future. Perhaps, subconsciously, maybe he knew he didn’t have the tools to measure up to an elite West Virginia offense. Why else would he play two true freshman at the corner position? Coach them up, give them experience to turn them into the next Cam Sutton.
West Virginia is much better than Vol Nation gave them credit for. Will Grier is a Heisman candidate. They don’t just go give those out on the street. He’s expected to be a first-round pick in the draft. Those receivers are well coached and the defense had improved.
They’re not No. 17 for no reason. They’ll move up in the polls for sure after that sound victory over the Vols. Despite how hard it might have been to watch, there were some positives!
The offense improved significantly.
Tim Jordan. TIM JORDAN. This was a running back that previous coach Butch Jones refused to use to his fullest capacity. This kid runs with grit and he will have a breakout season. He’s off to a hot start by rushing for 100+ yards against the #17 team. Also, bear in mind, he’s a sophomore.
Jarrett Guarantano looked as poised as I’ve ever seen. He looked calm, made perfect reads, took a few hits and most of his throws were on the money. Keep in mind, he’s a sophomore too.
Which leads me to my next point….Tim Jordan, sophomore. Trey Smith, sophomore. Jarrett Guarantano, sophomore. Alontae Taylor, freshman. Trevon Flowers, freshman. Greg Emerson, freshman. Jeremy Banks, freshman. The list goes on.
There is a lot of youth on this Tennessee football team in pivotal roles. This is an excellent building block for Pruitt and staff, one that he’s utilizing on purpose. What happened Saturday is exactly why Pruitt was hired. His defenses have always ranked in the top 10.
The last thing we should all remember, Nick Saban lost to Louisiana-Monroe in his first year at Alabama. Kirby Smart was blown out by unranked Ole Miss in his first year at Georgia. These kinds of losses happen anytime there’s a coaching change.
dark. Next. 5 takeaways from Vols loss to West Virginia
There’s no reason to worry because if you look at the 2019 Composite Rankings, Pruitt has literally recruited every position that was weak against WVU. The Vols’ No. 9 class will only get better. Tennessee football fans, understand it is on the way up. Let Pruitt steer the ship. Once the Vols smoke ETSU and UTEP in these next 2 weeks, fans will be back to singing Pruitt’s praises and saying they’re ready for Florida.