Tennessee football: Why Vols blowout losses under Jeremy Pruitt are concerning

With a 2-3 record, Tennessee football has many issues. But under first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt, the margin of the Volunteers’ losses are concerning.

Let’s be honest. Nobody really expected Tennessee football to do much this year under first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt. He was inheriting too much of a mess, and it was clear the Vols would need time to rebuild their program. So while it’s inevitable that he probably won’t do any better than six or seven wins this season, that alone is no reason for concern. Just look back at history.

Nick Saban went 7-6 his first year with the Alabama Crimson Tide, and Dabo Swinney going 6-7 in his second full season with the Clemson Tigers. Other coaches who won a national title in the BCS era and had seven or fewer wins at a school in a season in before that title include Pete Carroll with the USC Trojans, Jim Tressel with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Bob Stoops with the Oklahoma Sooners, and Bobby Bowden with the Florida State Seminoles. Meanwhile, Tommy Tuberville, who went undefeated with the Auburn Tigers in 2004, went 5-6 his first year, back in 1999.

There are other coaches who competed for a national title or in the College Football Playoff and had seven wins or fewer in a season before that year. They include Chris Petersen with the Washington Huskies, Mark Dantonio with the Michigan State Spartans, and Frank Beamer with the Virginia Tech Hokies.

So should Pruitt finish no better than one game above .500 this year, there are nine other coaches who provide evidence that he can still take Tennessee football where he wants to take them. However, there’s one problem: none of them suffered blowout losses on a consistent basis the way they have start the year.

And margin of victory is where Pruitt stands alone. None of the nine coaches we named suffered more than two losses by more than 20 points in the season that they had seven wins or fewer.  Only one, Tuberville, suffered more than one loss by more than 20 points back in 1999.

Pruitt has suffered three through his first five games. They are also against the only three Power Five teams the Vols have faced, and all are exactly by 26 points. Their two other games have been against an FCS opponent and an FBS opponent that has no wins.

In fact, two of these coaches, Saban and Dantonio, didn’t lose any of the games in the season we’re referring to by more than one possession. Tressel and Carroll each only lost one game by more than one possession.

Simply put, no coach who has seen a level of success during the BCS era that Tennessee football hopes to reach has had a year in which they suffered a season of seven wins or fewer and three blowout losses on that year before hitting their peak. That’s a major problem for Vols fans to worry about under Pruitt.

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Given what we showed you, there is more than enough evidence to prove that no matter what situation you take over, you can avoid what Pruitt avoided to start this season. I concede that he’s taking over a terrible situation on Rocky Top. However, is it worse than what Bowden inherited at Florida State? What about what Beamer inherited at Virginia Tech? Heck, Beamer went 2-9 his first year and still managed to only lose one game by more than 20 points.

That doesn’t even factor in every other coach whose team has played for a national championship or made the College Football Playoff since the start of the BCS era. Unless Pruitt can find a way to eight wins, he will be all alone as a coach who failed to reach that threshold and also suffered three blowout losses.

By the way, to make matters worse, more are on the way. Tennessee football’s next two games are at Auburn and then at home against Alabama. Then they face the South Carolina Gamecocks on the road. Alabama is almost a sure loss by more than 20 points. And does anybody really think the Vols can avoid that margin against BOTH Auburn and South Carolina?

Perhaps it’s possible, but we are almost certain that by the end of October Pruitt will have four such losses on the year. And yes, that’s a major concerning sign. Tennessee football was going to struggle this year under Pruitt. That was evident.

But losing the way they have is not a good sign for the future of the program if you look at the history of other successful coaches at major programs. It doesn’t mean Pruitt won’t succeed, and he’s certainly doing a lot of things right. What it does mean, however, is there is now a clear reason for concern about the program. And it’s why fixing things during the bye week is a huge deal.