Tennessee football: Jeremy Pruitt looks bad in situation with Quart’e Sapp

Tennessee football head coach Jeremy Pruitt does not come out looking good when it comes to the situation revolving around Vols linebacker Quart’e Sapp.

We don’t know if it’s a misunderstanding or who is being completely truthful. But something doesn’t add up when it comes to the dispute between Jeremy Pruitt and Quart’e Sapp during Tennessee football’s loss to the Florida Gators.

Pruitt said Saturday night that he told Sapp to leave the game because Sapp refused to go in when he was asked to. However, Sapp said on Twitter the next day that he was never asked and never refused to go into the game. He added there was a sideline confrontation.

Then came Monday, and Pruitt said in his weekly press conference that Sapp will remain on the team and not be suspended. He said that the two talked it out on Sunday and agreed it would be handled internally, and he added that Sapp has been a great leader for the team.

Here’s the issue. If Pruitt was telling the truth on Saturday night, and Sapp didn’t have that post on social media the next day, this story would be believable. But Sapp’s Twitter post implied that Pruitt was flat-out lying Saturday night.

If that’s the case, Sapp’s actions would seem to warrant more than some internal discipline. That would definitely call for a suspension. What coach would let a player do what Pruitt claims Sapp did Saturday and then let that same player get away with making a post Sunday flat-out disputing the coach’s comments?

Tennessee football could be undergoing more drama than we thought. On Monday, Pruitt implied it was one mistake, but again, if he was telling the truth Saturday night, Sapp would’ve made two mistakes, the second one being his social media post.

The only other logical explanation is that Pruitt was on the wrong side of a misunderstanding Saturday night and threw Sapp under the bus without fully knowing the facts. But if that’s the case, it looks really bad on him.

After all, what Pruitt said about Sapp Saturday is embarrassing. And he didn’t even try to walk it back on Monday, which is also not a good look. Simply put, something doesn’t make sense here, and Pruitt is the one not looking good in all of it.

The last Tennessee football coaching staff routinely lied to fans and media. It gets pretty easy to see through that over time. We’re not even out of September in Pruitt’s first year, and already something isn’t adding up with him. Was this just a mistake, or will it be a trend? We have no way of knowing, but what’s clear is the Sapp situation was mishandled somewhere.