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The Pruitt Dilemma

Marky Billson
6 min readDec 20, 2020

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Everyone knows Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Jeremy Pruitt is in over his head. But it’s not that easy to move on from him.

Marky Billson

Usually when a report comes out that a college football program is investigated by the NCAA, the fan base panics at the impending ruin their favorite team is about to be put in to.

But with the Tennessee Volunteers 3–7, their fan base is actually somewhat excited at the story Trey Wallace broke early in the Vols’ 34–13 loss to Texas A & M on Saturday Tennessee was under investigation by the NCAA and university compliance department for alleged recruiting violations and impermissible benefits.

“Maybe head coach Jeremy Pruitt can be fired for cause,” the Big Orange rooters think. “Then the Vols wouldn’t have to pay his buyout.”

A buyout that, after Pruitt signed a contract extension through 2025 at the start of the season, would cost Tennessee $12.8 million, or roughly $4 million more than they have had to pay former head coach Butch Jones.

On top of what the Vols would pay a new coach. As well as whatever Arkansas State isn’t covering to Jones, who the Red Wolves recently hired to coach their football team and was still due to be paid by the Volunteers through February.

Regardless, when the fan base is excited about the possibility of going on major probation to rid themselves of a coach, then you know that coach is a disaster.

When asked about the report in his post-game news conference Pruitt said, “I hadn’t seen no article. Anytime in college athletics, you’re going to have typical compliance stuff and that’s all I know.”

Ignoring the grammar that makes Pruitt look as if he is coaching in bare feet, if it’s “typical compliance stuff,” similar to when Pruitt broke a petty NCAA rule by tweeting congratulations to his high school alma mater for winning a championship, then why did running back Eric Gray, quarterback Brian Mauer, and assistant coaches Derrick Ansley and Jay Graham all miss the game?

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Marky Billson
Marky Billson

Written by Marky Billson

Innovative sports media personality.

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