Tennessee football: Vol Twitter wrecks Brian Niedermeyer after Carnell Tate tweet

Losing out on Carnell Tate, a highly touted receiver who committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes, was a gut punch for Tennessee football Monday but one they could accept. However, the wounds from the trouble that the Jeremy Pruitt era brought haven’t been quite as forgiven yet.

That was made clear when former UT assistant Brian Niedermeyer, who coached tight ends and then inside linebackers under Pruitt, tweeted about Tate’s commitment. Niedermeyer is now an assistant at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where Tate attended.

All Niedermeyer did was quote tweet Tate’s commitment video  Monday in a celebratory fashion about one of his players going to a premiere FBS program. On the surface, doing so seems harmless. Here’s a look at the tweet.

Well, Tennessee football fans took that personally. It’s clear that Tate committed to Ohio State over the Vols, and Vol fans felt like Niedermeyer’s tweet was a shot at them. Fair or not, they have a reason to still be angry at Niedermeyer.

Remember, Niedermeyer was the main target of the accusations about the Vols illegally paying players under Pruitt, which got him fired and brought tons of trouble on the program. Part of those accusations were paying players with cash in McDonald’s bags. As a result, Vol Twitter couldn’t resist responding, and McDonald’s jokes were a huge part of it.

Before you think Rocky Top went over the line, it’s worth noting that trouble brought upon the Vols by those recruiting violations under Pruitt and Niedermeyer has hampered Heupel’s recruitment his first couple years due to an ongoing investigation. It may be a reason Tate didn’t commit.

As a result, the ire from Tennessee football is not at Tate at all. Heck, the Vols had an uphill battle to lure him away from Ohio State to begin with. However, they were playing from behind the whole time, and that was due to Niedermeyer. This is why UT fans went at him so far.