Things are not good for the football program at the University of Tennessee.
Rumors were happening for a while about a potential firing of Jeremy Pruitt, and those fears became reality on Monday as the Volunteers parted ways with its head coach after three years. According to numerous reports, including one from the Knoxville News Sentinel, the reason for the firing was Pruitt had multiple Level I and Level II NCAA recruiting violations in his tenure.
The murky situation has led to him and nine assistants being terminated.
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Also, there is the thought of his buyout. Pruitt was expected to get $12.6 million, but Tennessee is trying to mitigate that with a show cause.
With the NCAA digging into the matter, there is the question of does he return to the University of Alabama?
Pruitt, a native of Rainsville, Ala., had three different stints with the Crimson Tide.
He served as a Director of Player Development (2007-09), defensive backs’ coach (2010-12) and defensive coordinator (2016-17). In his two seasons at coordinator, he coached Alabama to allowing 12.5 points per game. The Tide generated 114 sacks, 43 turnovers (13 for touchdowns), 219 tackles for loss, 131 quarterback hurries and 25 forced fumbles.
He tutored three Unanimous All-Americans — Jonathan Allen, Reuben Foster and Minkah Fitzpatrick — and helped all three become first-round NFL Draft picks.
His defenses pitched four shutouts and allowed 30 or more points only three times in his career.
Pruitt youngest child, Flynt Anderson-Foster Pruitt, was named after two Alabama linebackers in Ryan Anderson and Reuben Foster. Although he was loved in his time with the Tide and coached the defense to a national championship in 2017, is the situation at Tennessee too much for Saban to look at right now for Pruitt?
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As much as Tide fans want to return to seeing a dominant defense and Pruitt would be an upgrade from Pete Golding, the NCAA will try to hit Pruitt with a show cause. If this happens, he cannot recruit. Maybe Saban could look at Pruitt as an off-field analyst or a position coach; however, is too soon to even discuss it?
Pruitt is in a mess right now and his hope is to get his buyout and avoid a show cause, if at all possible.
He did some great things at Alabama, but Saban may not be ready to bring Pruitt in yet.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith
