Tennessee football: Five best arguments for Vols to fire Jeremy Pruitt immediately

4. Player development lacking

In 2018, Jeremy Pruitt was all in on Jarrett Guarantano despite Tennessee football adding graduate transfer Keller Chryst. Two years later, Guarantano is making the same mistakes, and fans are calling for a backup quarterback. The issue? Two of the backups, Brian Maurer and J.T. Shrout, look worse despite starting games last year. Freshman Harrison Bailey isn’t ready.

This has been an ongoing theme for the Vols. Players have not gotten better under Pruitt. Bryce Thompson still hasn’t been able to replicate the success he had his freshman year, and the defensive line in 2020 is somehow worse despite having everybody back from last year. That ties into the staff attrition we mentioned on the previous slide, but it’s still an issue.

Another big reason for the hype behind this year was two freshman offensive tackles in Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright and a freshman safety in Jaylen McCollough who all started last year and were ready to burst onto the scene. They all have looked worse.

We ridiculed Butch Jones for the lack of development among players, and it’s time that Pruitt receive the same scrutiny. Henry To’o To’o is the only guy Pruitt recruited and signed who has shown substantial improvement. Now, injuries and the pandemic have changed things a bit, and that’s why this is No. 4. It’s still a legitimate reason, though, and it should concern everybody.