Member-only story
Vols Problem: Jeremy Pruitt is Dumb
He’s not articulate, that’s for sure. Is this really the coach you wish to be the face of the Tennessee football program?
Jeremy Pruitt is dumb.
I almost hesitate to say that, because it sounds simplistic, sensational, and sour.
But after listening to the head football coach of the Tennessee Volunteers speak, after being in his presence, and after watching his performance for the last three years, I believe it to be true.
Saturday night the Volunteers turned a 13–0 halftime lead in to a 24–13 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks to fall to 2–4.
It’s a safe bet the only winnable game left on the Vols’ schedule is at Vanderbilt. Tennessee will likely finish 3–7, an actual lower winning percentage than when Pruitt inherited a 4–8 team.
Is the sole reason for the program’s demise coaching? No. There are all sorts of factors, from a dearth of in-state football talent in comparison to Tennessee’s SEC peers to the Vols’ image, where a country song from 1967 markets the program in an increasingly hip-hop centric world.
If you believe fans wearing checkerboard overalls and hearing Rocky Top ad nauseum attracts urban, out-of-state football players, you’ve got much to learn about contemporary society.
