Tennessee football: Ranking everybody to coach a game for Vols in 2010s

There is still room for Jeremy Pruitt to grow in terms of on-field performance. However, he also inherited a mess in 2018. It’s not what Derek Dooley inherited in 2010, but having to retool the offense and get everybody back from injury thanks to an incompetent medical staff from the year before set back what he could do in 2018.

Through two seasons, Pruitt has significantly overachieved. Yes, there were the two losses to open this year against the Georgia State Panthers and BYU Cougars. Fine. But Tennessee football has been an underdog in 15 of its 16 SEC games. They were underdogs in nine games in 2018 and seven games in 2019.

Simply put, this team was supposed to go 3-9 and 5-7. Instead, they have gone 5-7 and 7-5. That includes three road wins against SEC teams .500 or better, including one against a top 25 team, and two wins over top 25 teams overall. His second season is better than anybody else’s second season on Rocky Top since Fulmer.

Now, there are still some criticisms. Pruitt’s stubbornness with substitutions, his vagueness on his plans each week and his teams’ mental lapses at times are all worthy of criticism. And he could maybe recruit a bit better. But overall, given what he inherited, he still hasn’t shown any reason for Vol Nation to turn on him yet.

Pruitt also gets credit for his staff. He has brought in some high-profile guys and other guys to keep his connection to the high school coaching ranks. Most notably, though, after a couple of major changes after his first year, he managed to bring home Tee Martin and bring back Jim Chaney to run the offense.