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Tennessee football: Five reasons Vols should stick with Jeremy Pruitt past 2019

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers shouts to his players from the sideline during the second quarter of their game against the Chattanooga Mockingbirds at Neyland Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - SEPTEMBER 14: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers shouts to his players from the sideline during the second quarter of their game against the Chattanooga Mockingbirds at Neyland Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images /

5. The Vols have lots of young talent.

Yes, this is an excuse for every team that’s rebuilding. And given the fact that Jeremy Pruitt is in his second season, it’s not a valid excuse. But when you fully break down Tennessee football’s situation, it makes more sense.

The Vols opened the season with a true freshman linebacker calling the plays for the entire defense. They also had all new starters on the defensive line, only one of whom had experience playing up there at the FBS level, and they had two to three new starters at any point in the secondary. And that was just the defense.

You may bring up the offense had its entire backfield and receiving corps. back. And yes, on talent they upgraded on the historically bad offensive line. But those upgrades still came with a true freshman running back in Eric Gray who made it into the rotation.

On the offensive line, meanwhile, the Vols had a new starter at center in Brandon Kennedy back from injury, another player in Trey Smith still getting back into rhythm and moving back to guard, and two true freshmen, Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright, in the rotation. Meanwhile, they still had to replace Drew Richmond, Chance Hall and Nathan Niehaus.

Add in the need to replace Darrin Kirkland Jr. on defense and Daniel Bituli not returning until the third game, and the Vols had a rough combination of young talent they had to rely on. This youth will get better over time. But given how they were thrown to the wolves, it’s understandable how much they struggled.

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