Paul Finebaum high on Tennessee football, Jeremy Pruitt, Phillip Fulmer
Voice of the South Paul Finebaum of ESPN’s SEC Network is high on the Tennessee football Volunteers.
Despite his reputation as a broadcaster in Alabama, Paul Finebaum is still a Tennessee football graduate, and he seems to be very high on his alma mater going forward. In what is not a surprise to anybody, this is based on his love for the current head coach and athletic director.
Finebaum went on the 247Sports Social Distance YouTube podcast Monday to discuss a range of topics. Included in those topics was the state of the Vols and what their future looks like, and the Voice of the South had high praise.
Although he touted Pruitt’s recruiting and the way Tennessee football turned things around in 2019, Finebaum’s direct praise was for Fulmer. It’s clear that the school’s athletic director is the main reason he thinks Pruitt will “get it done.” He said specifically that he thinks Fulmer, UT’s last successful coach, saved the program.
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Of course, Finebaum still noted that the Vols have to, as he says, “break down barriers” to get back to national prominence. The most notable barrier in his eyes is beating the Florida Gators, a team they have only beaten once since 2005.
The Alabama Crimson Tide, Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners are still brutal parts of the schedule, but Tennessee-Florida was THE game in the SEC when the Vols were at their peak, so being able to get back there means being able to beat that team. Given the fact that Dan Mullen’s team heads to Knoxville this year, that’s possible.
Is there a chance Finebaum is speaking from his own biases? After all, the last time Rocky Top had lasting success on the gridiron was under Fulmer, and he did see Pruitt first-hand as defensive backs coach and then defensive coordinator under Nick Saban.
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That’s possible. But nothing he said was untrue. Tennessee football has to figure out a way to get past Florida and one day, when the program declines under Saban, Alabama once again. But it seems that Finebaum at least has faith in them, and given his scathing criticism of Butch Jones in 2018, he’s still clearly passionate about his alma mater, even if he is more known in Alabama.