Randy Smith
The "Legions of the Miserable," aka Tennessee football fans, are out screaming for the head of Coach Jeremy Pruitt after his Volunteers suffered a fourth straight loss in the 2020 season. A loss to a team the Vols were supposed to beat, dropped them to 2-4 on the year after starting this COVID-plagued campaign 2-0 and ranked in the top 15. They've already started hiring new coaches, like Urban Meyer, and then there is always the Vols' "go-to" in situations like this, Jon Gruden.
I do know this - Phillip Fulmer isn't going to pull the trigger on Coach Pruitt this season, especially after signing him to a contract extension this spring.
But you can be sure there will be some changes in his coaching staff...... even more than we've already seen.
What happened to the Vols after the first two games? Wins over South Carolina and Missouri gave fans a false sense of hope as Tennessee faced Georgia in game three. And the Volunteers actually led at halftime against the Bulldogs only to come apart in the second half; a half they still haven't been able to come back from. Last year it was different. Tennessee started the season miserably, losing their first two games of the season, then beating Chattanooga before losing to Georgia and Florida, beating Mississippi State then losing at Alabama, dropping to 2-5 before turning things around and winning five in a row to finish 7-5. They even won a bowl game over Indiana, running their winning streak to six in a row, and things were really looking good for Tennessee football. That's when Phillip Fulmer decided to give Coach Pruitt a contract extension and that move looked even better when the Vols won their first two games of the season.
But.....here we are, likely sitting 2-5 again after this weekend's game against Texas A&M. And don't look for a big turn around like last year. In 2020, the final four games are against three nationally ranked teams and Vanderbilt. I easily see the Vols doing no better than 3-7. That's the big difference in this season and last.....a tale of two seasons if you will. One ends on a very good note while the other goes down the toilet.
Then there is the quarterback situation. Harrison Bailey got several snaps in the loss to Arkansas last week, but contributed no points. With Jarrett Guarantano suffering a head injury last week, I advise Coach Pruitt to prepare Bailey as the starter, then hand him the ball on Saturday. It couldn't make matters any worse than they are right now!
----
Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com