This has been a rough last couple of days for fans of the Tennessee Volunteers football and men’s basketball teams.
The biggest story coming out of Knoxville are reports that the Vols committed recruiting violations under head coach Jeremy Pruitt, who was recently fired along with nine other staffers. Most notably, the Vols were accused of handing money to recruits in McDonald’s bags.
The immediate fallout was the firing of Pruitt and his staffers. Since the team fired him for cause, they likely won’t have to pay Pruitt any kind of severance pay, but Pruitt is reportedly pursuing legal action against the university. That’s not my main focus here, however.
In addition, athletic director Phillip Fulmer will also be stepping down, though that was to be expected. Fulmer was never meant to be the long term fixture at AD, but this further shows how dysfunctional the program is right now.
In addition, the fallout has extended towards players and recruits. Four-star defensive end Dylan Brooks, who was the highest rated player in Tennessee’s 2021 signing class, has requested a release from his national letter of intent. Tennessee dearly needs help on the pass rush, so this loss is especially painful.
It has yet to be seen what the majority of the current players and signees are going to do moving forward. Shortly before Pruitt was fired, he and some others on his staff flew out to California to speak with star linebacker Henry To’oto’o. Reportedly, due to the NCAA investigation and Pruitt’s unknown future with the Vols, To’oto’o’s family was concerned and the linebacker was also unsure of his future in Knoxville. Obviously, Pruitt is gone, and we have yet to hear what To’oto’o’s next move will be.
I’m sure more negative information will come out of the program in the coming days, but it’s clear that the Vols’ football program is down pretty bad, as this investigation and fallout are the icing on the cake of a miserable 3-7 season.
At least we have basketball right? Well…
Monday also turned out to be a rough day for the Vols’ men’s hoops squad as well. There weren’t any NCAA violations in that regard, but the No. 6 Vols were walloped by the unranked Florida Gators in a 49-75 blowout yesterday. Tennessee will likely fall outside of the top-10 in the rankings now, despite their 10-2 record. The other loss also came against an unranked opponent in the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The issues of the basketball team are considerably minor relative to the catastrophic state of the football program, but nonetheless, Tennessee is in a bad way and is being mocked nationally both on the gridiron and the court.
I’m glad Pruitt is finally gone; it was honestly a long time coming. Pruitt’s inability to make adjustments at halftime doomed the team on multiple occasions. The blowout loss to Kentucky really sealed his fate. But now, the Vols are without a head football coach, and will soon be without an AD. Coaching candidates will notice this and might take caution at working in Tennessee, where you don’t know who your boss will really be until a new AD steps in.
The Vols have been eyeing coaching candidates such as Hugh Freeze (Libery), Jeff Fisher, Kevin Steele (Tennessee), Billy Napier (Louisiana), Jamey Chadwell (Coastal Carolina), Gus Malzahn and Bill O’Brien. I believe that the Vols will go the route of hiring an interim head coach, so I think that current defensive coordinator Steele will take the mantle while Tennessee looks for a long term option.
I think one option we can rule out is Freeze, or at least I hope he’s ruled out. Freeze, albeit a good coach, was forced out of Ole Miss for NCAA violations as well. The Vols are clearly mired in NCAA troubles, so this would be a horrible look. I’m hoping that they can land Chadwell, but if the Vols hire a head coach soon, my pick is Napier.
I see more players and signees leaving the team in the coming days, and it will be years before the Vols are respected and truly competitive again. Who knows when Tennessee will contend for their seventh national title, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
My message to fans is to keep hope. Part of being a sports fan is sticking by your team through thick and thin. Plenty of people across the nation were quick to hop on the Tennessee bandwagon back in 1998, but true fans will still love their squad through the trials of 2020 and 2021. Things will get better, how soon just depends on who gets the coaching job.
The basketball team suffered an embarrassing loss, sure, but they’re still 10-2 and in good shape to contend for an SEC title and a run at the national title. You can’t win them all. I think this setback will leave the team hungrier than they were before.
As always, go Vols!
Photo Credit / UTSports
