Jeremy Pruitt Discusses If Fulmer Has Given Him Assurance on His Job Status for 2021

Jeremy Pruitt Discusses If Fulmer Has Given Him Assurance on His Job Status for 2021

Jeremy Pruitt has received warranted criticism over the past month and a half, and his job status for 2021 has been brought into question. Pruitt was asked about this during his Monday media availability. 

Specifically, Pruitt was asked if he had been given any assurance from Phillip Fulmer if he would return in 2021. Pruitt responded, " “You know what, we’ve been focusing on every day at practice, the team’s that we’re playing. All of that stuff is always at the end of the season. We’ve just been working hard to be the best that we can possibly be.”

There have already been three coaching moves made in the SEC during this unprecedented time, and Pruitt was asked if he was surprised by that. 

"It’s absolutely unusual circumstances, right? And nobody knows the circumstances around each individual job. I’ve got a lot of respect for all three of those men, and coaching against them, getting to know them, while I’ve coached in this league, I think they’ve done a phenomenal job at the places that they’ve been. It’s really the rough part on this, when there’s a coaching change, whether it’s somebody leaving or somebody getting another opportunity, the people that suffer are the student-athletes, because you build the relationships, recruiting them to come to a certain school. I’ve had it both ways, right? We’ve been fired before and we’ve got opportunities before, right? The worst part of it in either scenario is the people that you have created these relationships with and built a bond with to recruit them to come to a certain school, that’s the people that suffer in all this," he said. 

Pruitt is currently 16-18 as the head coach at Tennessee. He has an upcoming game with Texas A&M this weekend, and could potentially see a bowl opportunity given the no-win requirement for this post-season.