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Tennessee football ends year with more uncertainty than ever; Five questions

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Smokey the live Tennessee Volunteers mascot on the sidelines during the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 22: Smokey the live Tennessee Volunteers mascot on the sidelines during the game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida won the game 47-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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JACKSONVILLE, FL – JANUARY 02: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on in the first half of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers at TIAA Bank Field on January 2, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL – JANUARY 02: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on in the first half of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers at TIAA Bank Field on January 2, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

1. Will Jeremy Pruitt keep his job?

Before the investigation even broke, this was always going to be the biggest story surrounding the end to Tennessee football’s season. What will happen with Jeremy Pruitt after a disappointing third year on the job?

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Obviously, going 3-7 in his third season despite starting the year in the top 25 is a bad look. A wave of decommitments that took all the momentum away from UT’s 2021 recruiting class took away another selling point for Pruitt as well. However, the COVID-related issues this year give him a major excuse at the same time.

Brad Crawford of 247Sports reported before Saturday’s game that College Football Insider Bruce Feldman said Pruitt’s job was safe unless the game against he Texas A&M Aggies went south. We don’t know what going south means, but the Vols did lose 34-13 in a game that wasn’t even that close. It was total domination by Jimbo Fisher’s team.

Beyond that loss, though, comes the investigation that we brought up on the previous slide. Combine that with the hedging of the A&M game and the fact that this was a disappointing season in general, and you have a lot of reasons to believe that Pruitt could end up being fired within the coming days.

Next. Five takeaways from Vols' 34-13 loss to Aggies. dark

At the same time, Pruitt is Phillip Fulmer’s hire, and Fulmer is desperate to be proven right. That alone is why Tennessee football could stick it out with Pruitt for another year and maybe even beyond that. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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