The Tennessee Volunteers still haven’t found a special and savvy successor to Phillip Fulmer. They still haven’t found the man they so desperately need to restore their football tradition. They HOPE Jeremy Pruitt will be that guy. His journey toward career fulfillment – and what he hopes is a lofty and proud place in Tennessee lore – begins Saturday in Charlotte against West Virginia, in a familiar SEC-ACC neutral-site clash in a growing Southern metropolis.
By Matt Zemek
Pruitt is the product of a dynamic SEC fans know very well: coaches going to programs they once considered their rival, either as a player or coach. Fulmer had every reason NOT to go to the enemy – Alabama – to seek Pruitt, but he did, and now the man who once coached at Georgia and Alabama will lead the Big Orange into battle. Everyone knows that Tennessee has to lead with its defense, but the Vols can’t neglect their offense.
It is not technically or factually true – hello, Erik Ainge – but on an emotional level, it sure feels that in the worst of times for Tennessee football, the last great offensive performance by any Tennessee team was Casey Clausen in The Swamp in December of 2001. This is and has been a shackled program; it is trying to break free of its chains. The process starts Saturday.
What to look for:
1 – GUM UP GRIER’S GEARS
Will Grier is no stranger to Tennessee. He dealt the Vols a crippling and familiarly painful loss in 2015. Now he is even better than the version who beat the Vols three years ago. Pruitt’s blitzes and defensive looks need to create confusion and provide opportunities for pass rushers to wreak havoc. If Tennessee can’t “get home” against Grier and make high-impact plays, it is hard to see a path to victory for the Vols in this contest.
2 – RED ZONE (ORANGE ZONE)
Red, Orange, whatever you want to call it, Tennessee’s defense has to stand tall inside its own 20, provided that it doesn’t allow 40-yard touchdown plays which alleviate the need for West Virginia to snap the ball inside the Tennessee 20. West Virginia WILL move the ball in this game. Grier is too good to be shut down. Tennessee isn’t good enough to EXPECT to dominate on defense, not at the beginning of Pruitt’s tenure. This is a game in which Tennessee will allow plenty of yards but must prevent West Virginia from gaining the most important yards on fourth and short or inside the red zone. If Tennessee can do that, WVU will gain over 400 yards but kick a lot of field goals, which will keep this game within reach.
3 – A QUARTERBACK ANSWER
Butch Jones never made sense as a hire for Tennessee, because he didn’t handle quarterbacks well in his previous stop at Cincinnati. Pruitt and his staff have to show they can teach the mechanics of quarterback play. A dynamic performance in Week 1 might be asking too much, but getting a low-mistake, third-down-converting game from Jarrett Guarantano and/or Keller Chryst would set the Vols on the right path. It would keep Grier off the field, which is something UT has to do on Saturday.
The Vols’ foremost needs are clear.
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