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Tennessee football: How did Vols coaching candidates in 2017 fare in 2018?

By Caleb Calhoun

EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Mike Leach of the Washington State Cougars looks up at the video screen during the third quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OR - OCTOBER 10: Head coach Mike Leach of the Washington State Cougars looks up at the video screen during the third quarter of the game against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium on October 10, 2015 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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As we said, we were going to include Jeremy Pruitt in this list and compare him to the other coaching candidates. It may seem a bit odd to put Pruitt ahead of Mike Gundy. After all, against their one common opponent, the West Virginia Mountaineers Gundy’s team won by four while Pruitt’s team lost by 26.

However, Tennessee football played WVU in the first game of the year, while Oklahoma State had them in their next to last game. On top of that, although Gundy’s team had a better record, they played a significantly easier schedule. That’s not up for debate.

Both teams played one FCS program. The Vols, however, played two FBS programs with a losing record on top of that. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, played four FBS programs with a losing record. Meanwhile, Tennessee football played eight Power Five teams with a winning record. Oklahoma State played four plus a Group of Five team with a winning record.

The Vols played six teams who are currently in the Top 25, Oklahoma State played five. By every measure, UT has played a tougher schedule and by a significant margin. Yet they only finished one game worse, and Pruitt had a bigger mess to work with. So it’s safe to say he did a better coaching job this year than Gundy.

Put it this way, they beat the same number of teams with winning records and the same number of Power Five teams. Meanwhile, the Vols did not lose to any team with a losing record, while Oklahoma State lost to two. So Tennessee football did better by every measure, but a tougher schedule made them suffer a worse record by one game.

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