CFB: Tennessee Vols Relevant For All the Wrong Reasons

Jan 20

What an absolute dumpster fire the Tennessee Football Program has become. I can tell you one thing, I doubt Peyton Manning is going to be walking through those doors in Knoxville anytime soon because that’s about the only thing that could save this program from itself.

The school announced Tuesday the firing of HC Jeremy Pruitt after three underwhelming seasons in Knoxville, citing his performance on the field, and refusing to pay his buyout due to the alleged NCAA violations that happened under Pruitt’s watch.

Here’s the memo the school sent Pruitt: "The conduct by at least two assistant coaches and several recruiting staff members are likely to lead to an NCAA finding of Level I and/or Level II violations of one or more Governing Athletic Rules. The University also has concluded that these likely findings were the result of either your material neglect or lack of reasonable preventive compliance measures." Yikes.

Pruitt plans to fight the school over his buyout, which will drag the school even farther into the abyss of irrelevance. That, along with the sudden retirement of AD Phillip Fulmer, which ends a just-as-bad tenure as Pruitt. Turns out being a legendary coach doesn’t translate to being a qualified athletic director.

I guess that’s what happens when you let your fans dictate your football hires.

What’s even worse is that both Pruitt AND Fulmer signed unjustified extensions in the offseason. Outside of some solid (but now suspect pending investigation) recruiting, they had shown nothing to deserve an extension at all. 0-6 against rivals Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, and a 16-19 overall record. That doesn’t scream “bringing the program back to its’ glory days”.

Nine staffers along with Pruitt were let go from the program this week, so the blame is widespread. A report came out on Tuesday that alleged the Vols would stuff cash in McDonald’s bags and hand them to recruits on visits. I mean, come on.

I guess it really does just mean more.

The Vols haven’t won a major bowl game or won ten games in over a decade, and that trend doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon.