Tennessee football: Jeremy Pruitt, Butch Jones were neighbors in Knoxville

Two former Tennessee football head coaches have put their homes on the market within the last year. Both are still for sale. Also, both are on the same side of the same street in Knoxville, Tenn. and were off the market at the same time.

According to Riley Gates of 247Sports, Jeremy Pruitt’s West Knoxville house at 1917 Oakleigh Way. That house was listed for sale by Zillow on Feb. 4 for $3,399,000 and was sold on April 29, 2018 for $3,200,000.

Pruitt replaced Butch Jones as Tennessee football’s head coach. We reported on Jones’ home being for sale last summer. Jones initially bought his home on March 17, 2013 for $3,212,500 and initially put it on the market on June 30, 2020 for $3,795,000, according to Zillow. That home is still on the market, and there was a $200,000 price cut to $3,595,000 on Jan. 24.

Here’s the crazy part. According to Google Maps, these two houses are on the same side of Oakleigh Way in this gated community, and only one home is between them. Also, from April 29, 2018 to June 30, 2020, nearly two years, both homes were off the market.

That means they had to be neighbors. Jones obviously spent time in Alabama during that period, but does this mean they crossed paths? You have to think they did, and we know that Jones’ kids still went to school in Knoxville.

Here’s something crazier, though. Derek Dooley did not live far away from either of them. According to CBS Sports, Dooley’s home was at 2130 Duncan Rd. and, according to Google Maps, that was less than a mile away from Jones’ house.

However, Dooley and Jones were not really neighbors, as according to Zillow, his house was listed on the market on March 8, 2013 for $2.9 million. That was nine days before Jones appears to have bought his house in Knoxville.

Dooley’s house stayed on the market and dropped in price on Sept. 8, 2013 to $2.495 million.  Zillow reports that home’s listing was removed nearly a year later, on Oct. 1, 2014 before selling on Oct. 12, 2014 for just $1.69 million, a significant price drop from what it was initially listed for.

What stands out, though, is Tennessee football coaches clearly like this neighborhood. Hey, if you look at the homes, they are all beautiful, stately homes. Unfortunately for all three coaches, that didn’t translate to success on the field. It’ll be interesting to see where Josh Heupel decides to live and what type of success it translates to.