There may be moves coming with Jeremy Pruitt. Now, I'm going to tell you what I do know, and I'm going to tell you what I don't know, ok. And I'm going to remind you where I've been this year on Pruitt, but it's been mainly on principle. I've done a lot of radio in Knoxville with Trey Wallace and the guys, and it's been in principle. This year, I told you guys on this show, and I've reiterated it when I've done radio in Knoxville. It had nothing to do with Pruitt, I said with ALL of college football, if I don't view your coach as being on the hot season before the season begins there's nothing that can happen in 2020, short of SCANDAL - mark that - that could make me change my mind. I'm just allowing 2020 to be a throwaway year, I decided that before the first game happens, because I know things were gonna get emotional as they always do, and no one thinks rationally when you're emotional. So now things are emotional and a lot of folks may not be thinking straight.
Having said that, there is a new wrench that has been thrown into things. So this week, our guys over at fanrunradio.com report that the Tennessee football program is being investigated by the NCAA and their own internal compliance department for recruiting violations and impermissible benefits.
A few things to note here:
1) it is fair to say that Jeremy Pruitt has not felt the full support that he thinks he deserves. I think that's fair to say reading the tea leaves.
2) I think it's fair to say some of those supporters that he wants behind him have looked at the results on the field, and they don't like what they see. So you have maybe some butting of heads there.
3) this report was very conveniently timed. I think there's a lot of merit to the speculation that a lot of you had. Keep in mind, this did not seem to come from a rival coaching staff or anything like that. It's an internal investigation, it's happening inside the four walls at Tennessee. Therefore, the folks that know about it are at Tennessee. The folks that can deliver that information for a report are inside Tennessee. And if someone's inside Tennessee that doesn't like where things are, and they have the motivation to leak this, then you can put two and two together and realize that, you know, there's things in these contracts, a lot of reasons that you don't make a move are buyout related. Well, if you've got some cause maybe you CAN make a move.
Now that's pure speculation. We don't know, and that includes me, I don't know that that's the case. But I would be lying if I said that I didn't think along with you that the timing of this report, right before kickoff of the final game of the year, where Pruitt doesn't really have time to talk about it. He's asked about it postgame and he acts like he's surprised, but I don't think he was surprised.
So where are we at right now? I would advise you to be VERY CAREFUL with just accepting consensus as fact. A lot of times in recruiting, in coaching searches, in rumors and innuendo maybe leading to a coaching change - a lot of times there is very little INFORMATION out there. There are very few actual facts, but there is really an unquenchable thirst for information, and so something has gotta fill that void. We got little in the way of fact, we got a ton in the way of interest, so some people find it and take it upon themselves to make things up. And so since you don't have any REAL information coming out, you latch onto something you read on a message board or something you saw on Twitter, and it can get carried a long, long way. And it can get regurgitated by a lot of people. Be careful with that. If it turns into consensus, and you think because you've heard 37 people say it, it's gotta be true.
There's one going around right now that Pruitt doesn't WANT to be there anymore, he really wants out. Do you know that? I don't know that. I've talked to several people around Tennessee, none of them know that. I'm just telling you, it could be true, but it ain't true because you saw it on Twitter. I can promise you that.
I will tell you what I have heard, and what I do know. I think that that staff is very uneasy. A lot of folks in the coaching world who have contacts at Tennessee would go as far as to tell you that moves are coming. Staff moves certainly are coming, that's all but inevitable. There are a lot of guys who, if the reporting is correct on this, and I have no reason to believe it isn't. I know the folks who are behind the reporting on this, so I have every reason to believe it is accurate and valid. If that reporting is accurate, then certainly you would expect staff moves.
Does that include the head coach? That's the big question. Is Pruitt gonna be given some kind of ultimatum? You gotta get rid of these guys or you're gone. Where does he stand on all this? Where does Fulmer stand on all this? Because Fulmer's guy is Pruitt. You gotta wonder how attached at the hip they are. And you gotta also wonder where does fulmer stand period right now. Like, where is his stock? What is his status as the AD right now?
What kind of timeline? I was asking folks that today that would know and none of them know. We're past the early signing day, we're after the end of the season. There is no line in the sand for if we're gonna do something we GOTTA get it done by that date. There really isn't that right now. Could be the new year, could be tomorrow, could be February 27th, I have no clue. And a lotta folks who I know to be knowledgae of Tennessee athletics, they don't really know either.
So if you've got folks out there telling you they know what's going on, hats off to em, maybe they do know. I would just very thoroughly vet them. Very thoroughly. That would be my advice to you.
