KNOXVILLE — Jeremy Pruitt has a lot of work ahead of him as he takes the reins of the Tennessee football program.

He has hit all of the right notes since accepting the job from athletic director Phillip Fulmer, but there is still work to be done as he places his blueprint on the program.

Balancing the double duty of recruiting for Tennessee and finishing his job at Alabama as defensive coordinator won’t be easy. But Pruitt’s work ethic points to him being able to handle it.

Fortunately, we prepared a handy to-do list.

Here are 10 things he must look to repair on Rocky Top:

1. The culture

The culture was broken under Butch Jones. Jones did a lot of heavy lifting early at Tennessee, but it fell apart and the team became divided. Pruitt discussed during his introductory press conference that players were lined up wanting to meet with him shortly after his arrival. Pruitt should not have an issue repairing the broken culture, now everyone must go all-in.

2. Developing players

Pruitt will have talent to work with this spring. There is not a lot of depth, however. So a priority has to be developing younger players who enroll early along with players who have been in the program.

3. Strength program

The strength and conditioning program lacked discipline under Jones. Jones elected to move on from respected strength coach Dave Lawson in favor of pleasing players in a more relaxed environment. The program never recovered and that was apparent on the field. Pruitt has stressed that his players will be bigger, stronger, faster and relentless. That attitude sheds light on that he is going to quickly address the strength program once the spring semester begins in January.

4. Handling the press

Jones didn’t handle media settings well. He was uptight and robotic while using cliches that did not sit well with fans. Pruitt has different characteristics that come easy to him, relating in all settings and should do well when it comes to communicating with the press.

5. VFL program outreach

The VFL program, which launched under Derek Dooley, has been a great avenue to keep former players involved with the program. The program became fractured under Jones. How fractured? VFL coordinator Antone Davis resigned due to a toxic environment. Pruitt’s communication skills can allow for the program to bounce back quickly and celebrate the Vols’ history.

6. Wide Receiver U

Tennessee was once known as the “Wide Receiver University,” specializing in breakout players at the position. The unit has taken a hit in the past five seasons as talented players on the outside have not been fully involved in the offense. Incoming coaches such as Tyson Helton will help get play-makers more involved.

7. Allowing assistants to coach

Under Jones, it was his offensive system, circumstances and personnel be damned. His inability to adjust over the past few seasons was an issue that went all the way to the locker room. Pruitt mentioned that he would have a balanced offense during his first press conference.

8. Placing players in position to win

Soon after Pruitt was hired, wide receiver Tyler Byrd let it be known he wants to play defense. Byrd tweeted a picture captioned of being on the dark side and insinuating playing his natural position in the defensive backfield.

Pruitt was played receiver and cornerback in high school, but was moved to receiver at Tennessee.

9. Attacking the recruiting trail

As the Jones era dwindled down, Tennessee began to receive backlash on the recruiting trail due to lack of performance on the field and decommitments were the result. Pruitt has already hit the ground running and has made a presence in the state of Alabama to start. The new Tennessee coach mentioned to not stress on the early signing period (Dec. 20-22) and to concentrate on the players he signs on the traditional signing day date in February.

10. Establishing an aggressive defense

For whatever reason over the past two seasons, the defense did not mirror the attacking style that Bob Shoop stresses. With Pruitt in charge and whomever he has as his defensive coordinator, he must ensure that his defensive assistants will coach to his style. It will be aggressive.