Tennessee football: Five best signs from Jeremy Pruitt’s second year with Vols

There are lots of encouraging signs from Tennessee football’s second year under head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Here are the top five for the Volunteers.

He didn’t hit the nine-win mark that is usually the goal for second year coaches. But Jeremy Pruitt handled a lot of things the right way with Tennessee football in 2019, and that’s why everybody is excited about the Vols future under him.

When Phillip Fulmer hired Pruitt back in 2017, there were numerous questions. Given how everybody was first excited about Jon Gruden, Mike Gundy, Jeff Brohm and Mike Leach to replace Butch Jones before Fulmer even took over the athletic department, it’s understandable that people would be skeptical.

However, Pruitt immediately won people over with his thick southern accent and his demand for accountability. Two years later, there are now clear bits of evidence that Tennessee football is on the upswing with him at the helm.

In this post, we’re going to look at those biggest pieces of evidence that came from his second year on the job. We already discussed the drawbacks from Pruitt’s second year, and those should raise red flags. The true fact is that the jury is still out as to how successful he will be.

With that out of the way, though, and before spring practice begins, everybody should keep a bit of optimism about how things are going. Rocky Top probably doesn’t need that much convincing, as Vol Nation is always looking for ways to be excited.

Well, Pruitt gave Big Orange Country plenty to be excited about with the job he did in 2019. Heading into 2020, the expectations have shot up significantly as a result. So now, the pressure is really going to mount.

What stood out the most? Why should fans be that excited? Let’s break all of that down here. These are the five best signs Vols fans should take away from Jeremy Pruitt’s second season as head coach of the Tennessee football program.