Tennessee football: Jeremy Pruitt is ridiculous to hide Vols starting QB

Jeremy Pruitt knows which quarterback will start for Tennessee football at the Missouri Tigers. But he won’t name him. How does this help the Volunteers?

Is this really where we’re at? Are we supposed to believe that there is some stroke of three-dimensional genius by Jeremy Pruitt to not publicize which quarterback will start for Tennessee football on Saturday even though he has made his decision?

This is the most annoying part about sports. Coaches act like their strategy for a football game requires the same intellect that members of the CIA need when toppling dictators. As a result, something like keeping their starting quarterback a secret is their ace in the hole.

Pruitt said as much when he noted on Wednesday that he has decided who will start for Tennessee football at quarterback but won’t tell anyone. Newsflash: This hasn’t worked for the Vols all year.

The last time he did this was against the Georgia Bulldogs, when he didn’t reveal that Brian Maurer had won the starting job over Jarrett Guarantano. Well, Georgia still managed to dominate Rocky Top at Neyland Stadium, covering the spread in the process.

Before that, Pruitt decided to be clever and not name any clear starter on the defensive line ahead of the season. That didn’t stop the Georgia State Panthers from torching them all day on the ground. These types of tricks don’t work.

In fact, based on what we just showed, it could work the other way. By keeping this quiet, it could hurt the psyche of the person he is putting the faith in. Wouldn’t a public display of respect be much more beneficial?

Everybody knows that Jarrett Guarantano has earned the starting job. He was a key player responsible for Tennessee football beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks and Kentucky Wildcats. Despite his early struggles, the guy has earned his starting job. And there’s no doubt Pruitt will be using him the bulk of the game on Saturday.

Does he honestly think starting a different quarterback for a drive will make any difference? Of course it won’t, and he’s already shown that card this year by starting JT Shrout in two games. It’s not like he’s going to fool Barry Odom, who has experience coaching defenses in the SEC.

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Football is not that complicated. Coaches are not discovering the cure for cancer with their strategies. Pruitt is simply drawing out ways to win games for the purpose of entertainment. So not naming a starting quarterback is nothing more than a narcissistic way to prop himself up as some genius hiding his cards. Again, he’s a football coach, and he appears to be a pretty good one.

But he learned from a boss who acts the same way. Nick Saban never hid the fact that Tua Tagovailoa was his starting quarterback this year. But he tried this same cute trick against the LSU Tigers, not being clear on how healthy Tagovailoa was. If I’m not mistaking, the Tigers won that game anyway.

Contrast that with Dabo Swinney last year. He came out after four games and named Trevor Lawrence the starter at quarterback. Then he allowed the other quarterback to transfer and take a redshirt. That quarterback just happens to be Kelly Bryant, who is starting for the Missouri Tigers on Saturday.

How did the up-front honesty work out for Swinney? Well, he went won a national championship by going 15-0 and blowing out Alabama. This year, his team is undefeated again, while Alabama needs a miracle to get to the playoff and Tennessee football is still trying to reach a bowl game.

That seems like pretty strong evidence that this ridiculous gamesmanship doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for Pruitt all year, and it didn’t work for Saban. So not naming Guarantano the starting quarterback when everybody knows he will be the key player is just an annoying trick that literally fools nobody.