Harrison Bailey's Father Makes Statement About Jeremy Pruitt

The Tennessee coaching situation has been in limbo for weeks, and there is no clear end in sight. However, on Monday night, Vols quarterback Harrison Bailey's father, Orvel, made it clear where his family stands with Jeremy Pruitt.

Orvel Bailey took to Twitter and said, "As much as we love Tenneesse. @HBailey_05 came to play for @CoachJPruitt PERIOD."

If you have followed my work for any period of time, you likely know how vocal I have been about the genuine relationship that Pruitt and the Bailey family have. Pruitt recruited Bailey as the future, so it is easy to see why Orvel feels this way.

  Despite COVID setbacks in fall camp that amounted to over 20 football practices or events missed for Harrison Bailey, he still managed to play significant time in the second half of the season and show signs of life at the quarterback position for Tennessee heading into next season.

Pruitt out recruited Michigan's Jim Harbaugh to land Bailey's commitment in late 2018. At the time of his commitment, Harrison told VR2 on SI, "If you know anything about me, I like to build stuff. I like taking a program that is not where he needs to be and taking it to where it should be. I like building stuff around me. I like to be the one. I want that responsibility."

Bailey was the cornerstone of Tennessee's 2020 class, and he will look to continue to build on the second half of this season heading into the Spring.

Between now and then, Jeremy Pruitt's job status will face criticism, at least until the ongoing compliance investigation is settled. Earlier today, the University issued a statement saying, "We take seriously our institutional commitment to NCAA compliance, and are reviewing regulatory issues that have been brought to our attention. As part of that process, we are currently working with attorneys Kyle Skillman and Michael Glazier with Bond, Schoeneck & King. We will provide additional information when it's appropriate."

Bailey went 48 of 68 for 578 yards and four touchdowns during his playing time.