Jeremy Pruitt Evaluates His 2020 Coaching Performance
Jeremy Pruitt received a raise just before the start of the 2020 season, and he started things on the right foot. Despite multiple players missing an extended period of time for COVID and contact tracing, Tennessee traveled to South Carolina and took down the Gamecocks. Pruitt's team returned home to handle Missouri, but the wheels have came off since. Following a second half meltdown against Georgia, Tennessee has lost four games in a row, and it does not get any easier.
During Wednesday's weekly SEC teleconference, Pruitt was asked to evaluate his coaching performance for the season.
He said, "It’s all based off your record right? Based off our record, it’s not where it needs to be. That’s pretty obvious.”
Later in the conference, he was asked about coaches being evaluated differently this season due to COVID-19.
Pruitt responded, “It’s really kind of unusual. The circumstances are really kind of the same for everybody, but at the same time, nobody knows what the circumstances are for everybody too. What goes on in Nashville compared to Knoxville, Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge, obviously the circumstances have been different throughout the pandemic. And there is nothing you can really draw upon going into this season. No. 1, our first priority when we came back was the safety of our student-athletes. That is something we have really been focused on throughout this entire season, is trying to make sure we are COVID free and at the same time maintain some normalcy with the games and playing. Obviously, we want to win every game we participate in. We have not been able to do that, but our kids continue to work hard. We had a good day of practice yesterday. We all need to do better in our organization so we can be more productive on Saturdays.”
With four games remaining in 2020, Pruitt's career record at Tennessee is now 15-15. Tennessee still has games planned against Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt.
